Chandos’s ‘Composer­in­Residence’ since 1998‚ Takashi Yoshimatsu (b1953) completed his Fourth Symphony in 2000. In the booklet‚ the composer tells us how he conceived of the work as ‘a buoyant mini­symphony…as much a toy box containing a miscellany of remembered sounds as a symphonic ode to the verdancy of spring – one could call it a “Pastoral Toy Symphony”’. As the drowsy langour of the opening bars immediately proclaim‚ Yoshimatsu possesses a sensitive‚ refined ear‚ and if it’s sheer escapism you’re after‚ then the soothing lyricism of his music will go down a treat. For much of the time‚ Yoshimatsu paints an enchanted dreamscape‚ a dash of birdsong here‚ the gentle brush of crotales there (‘Hovhaness meets James Horner’ just about sums it up). The second movement ‘Waltz’ teasingly quotes from Berlioz‚ Bruckner‚ Shostakovich and others; the succeeding Adagietto has something of the Mahlerian nostalgia of Malcolm Arnold’s slow movements. However‚ like Guy Rickards reviewing the First Symphony (1/01)‚ I remain unconvinced as to this inoffensive music’s symphonic credentials. I found the work stifling in its cosy‚ anodyne complacency. According to the composer‚ the Trombone Concerto (1992­93) derived its inspiration from ‘a vision of the galactic hunter Orion amusing himself with a wondrous machine called a trombone’. Cast in five interlinked movements‚ it’s a colourful display piece‚ as readily assimilated as it is rich in incident‚ whose formidable technical challenges are breathtakingly surmounted here by VPO principal‚ Ian Bousfield. The Atom Hearts Club Suite No 1 began life in the summer of 1997 as a commission from the Morgaua Quartet and takes its cue from four classic progressive­rock albums from the 1960s and 1970s (including‚ as the title suggests‚ The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother). The scoring for string orchestra is adept‚ but musically it’s a pretty thin brew. Performances and recording are exemplary‚ but there is little of genuine substance here.