Edward Gregson, for 12 years Principal of the Royal Northern College of Music (1996-2008), is here represented by a sequence of works written between 1968 and 2009, all of them strong and beautifully crafted. Earliest is the Music for Chamber Orchestra, commissioned for the English Chamber Orchestra to play on a tour of South America under Daniel Barenboim. Sadly, Barenboim rejected the work, though it is now hard to see why. It is in effect a four-movement symphony for strings which effectively exploits substantial oboe and horn solos.

The rejection of that work led to Gregson’s completely abandoning the idea of writing for orchestra, and he turned instead to writing for brass bands. When he next wrote for orchestra in the Trombone Concerto (1979), his extra skill bubbled over in a work full of fun, written originally for the first BBC Young Musician of the Year, Michael Hext, and here gloriously played with the abandon of youth by Peter Moore, still only 14 when in 2008 he, too, became the Young Musician of the Year. The range of effects Gregson conceives on the trombone, no doubt thanks to his experience writing for brass bands, is breathtaking as played by Moore. In a single movement lasting just over 15 minutes, the work ranges wide with a cadenza which brings in spectacular sliding glissandos as well as flutter-tonguing. The final section has a jolly marching theme leading to a rousing conclusion. If anyone wants to sample Gregson’s music, this is the first work I would suggest.

The most recent work here, Two Pictures, dates from 2009. The first is slow and reflective, the second fast and brilliant, and, as in the Trombone Concerto, Gregson makes prominent use of the clatter of Chinese blocks. The final work, A Song for Chris, is a cello concerto written for Christopher Rowland, and here beautifully played by Guy Johnston. There are four compact sections, lasting in all 18 minutes, with distant echoes of Shostakovich which hardly detract from the distinctiveness of Gregson’s writing. A splendid showcase not only for the composer and the two excellent soloists but also the BBC Concert Orchestra, excelling itself under Canadian conductor Bramwell Tovey. Brilliant, cleanly focused Chandos sound, too.