Rotterdam-born Bernard van Dieren (1887-1936) settled during his early twenties in London, where his music enjoyed vociferous support from the likes of Peter Warlock and Cecil Gray. Composed between 1912 and 1914, his First Symphony is scored for five soloists, chorus and orchestra, and sets words from Die chinesische Flöte, a 1907 volume of ancient Chinese poetry translated by Hans Bethge (1876-1946) that also inspired Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. ‘Der Trunkene im Frühling’ makes an appearance in van Dieren’s work, too, where the bass soloist’s portamento at ‘Den ganzen, lieben Tag!’ (track 7, 2'19") leaps out in the context of a nocturnal, frequently delicate canvas which boasts much subtlety of texture and a notably adventurous harmonic palette (I was most reminded of Schoenberg). Highly imaginative touches and incidental beauties are legion, although, even after a number of hearings, I’m not yet convinced that the symphony adds up to an organic whole. Still, I do feel it’s worth persevering – which is precisely why recordings such as this are so invaluable.

The couplings are hardly less tantalising. The Introit to Topers’ Tropes from 1921 (intended as the orchestral prelude to a large-scale choral work based on ‘The Discourse of the Drinkers’ from Rabelais’s Gargantua and Pantagruel) rouses itself from hazy slumber to bacchanalian revelry over 13 quirky minutes. Delius meets Busoni in the Elegie for cello and orchestra, probably written around 1910 and another agreeably individual essay that contains some genuinely haunting inspiration.

I’m happy to report that William Boughton secures commendable results from a strong line-up of singers and his assembled BBC NOW forces; Raphael Wallfisch is at his customarily eloquent, self-effacing best in the Elegie. Excellently recorded in Cardiff’s Hoddinott Hall, and knowledgeably annotated by Alastair Chisholm, this is a most enterprising and fascinating release.