Walton’s two symphonies make an ideal coupling, yet it is surprising how rarely they have been offered together. The BIS version listed above is highly recommendable, remarkably idiomatic for a non-British orchestra, but the new issue regularly outshines it in bite and romantic passion. This version of the iconic First Symphony even rivals the version that André Previn and the LSO recorded for RCA in 1966 (1/67R), a classic account that has comfortably stood the test of time.

What is so good about the new Hyperion performances is the control of tension. The first movement in particular depends on the build-up of repeated figures in extended crescendos, often one on top of the other. Yet Brabbins is masterly in such passages, and equally so in the haunted slow movement, the emotional core of the piece, from its chill opening flute solo onwards. There is ample bite in the second-movement scherzo, marked con malizia, and the ripe resolution in the extended finale with its unmistakably optimistic tone is satisfyingly warm, with each of the fugatos played with remarkable clarity, helped by the excellent Hyperion sound. The brief trumpet solo in the coda with its echoes of the “Last Post” has rarely sounded so tender. Usually, the Second Symphony of 1956‑60 is set in contrast with First, which reflected the darkness of mood of the 1930s, yet Brabbins remarkably seems intent on bringing out the similarities, for this is the most powerful account of this three-movement work that I can remember, most strikingly in the opening Allegro molto. The central Lento assai is then warmer than usual in its lyricism, while Walton’s tongue-in-cheek references to 12‑note rows in the finale are carried off with just the right touch of humour in the “raspberries” of the brass-writing. The big contrasts in dynamic and mood in the variations which follow are then highlighted, again helped by the recording.

The whole disc is a credit not only to the conductor but also to the quality of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, which can stand comparison with any rival, not least in the quality of the woodwind solos.