Although both symphonies by the ethnomusicologist, broadcaster and composer Eivind Groven (1901-77) have been recorded before, this is the first time that these attractive works have been paired on disc. The First Symphony, subtitled Innover viddene (‘Towards the Mountains’), was completed in 1937 and revised in 1950. Composed in four movements, the symphony is imbued with the influence of the folk dance music that Groven played on the Hardanger fiddle as a child in Telemark and later collected from other parts of Norway. As well as asymmetric rhythms, the principal of continuous development and the harmonic language of the Hardanger tradition are also notable features of the work’s composition. With lithe and transparent scoring, the three faster movements are mostly extrovert and energetic but also feature passages that are both delicate and piquant. The slow movement, placed third and marked Largo, opens with a haunting melody for tuba and continues with music of a searching and sometimes tragic nature before concluding with a chord of Sibelian solemnity.

The Second Symphony, Midnattstimen (‘The Midnight Hour’), is written in a similar style to its predecessor, although with three movements instead of four. The first movement has a slightly more bracing and neoclassical feel than previously, while the emotions expressed in the centrally placed Andante are a touch deeper and more troubled, as might be expected from a work completed in 1943. Once again, the final movement brings the symphony to a rousing and optimistic conclusion, although whether intentionally or otherwise, the victory here does not feel as convincingly won as it does in the earlier symphony.

The orchestral playing under the Norwegian conductor Peter Szilvay is polished and persuasive, and has a convincing heft in climactic passages. The recording, made in the Kilden Performing Arts Centre in Kristiansand, lacks an element of depth but is well balanced and retains transparency in climaxes.