These are heady times for Brianophiles with a spate of new recordings and comparative versions. So it is here, with premieres of Ave atque vale (1968), Concerto (1964), Elegy (1954), Third English Suite (1919‑21) and Symphony No 30 (1967), and first professional recordings of Burlesque Variations (1903), Fifth English Suite (1953) and Tenth Symphony (1953‑54).

The Tenth is a talismanic work, the first commercially issued (by the Leicestershire Schools SO conducted by James Loughran on Unicorn – nla), its sessions featured in an Aquarius TV documentary aired just before the composer’s death in 1972. The RSNO’s playing is stronger and Dutton’s recording state-of-the-art, making this the first choice. While Loughran arguably makes more of the Tenth’s volatile profile, pushing and pulling the tempi, Brabbins’s is straighter and tauter, cutting almost two minutes off the duration. After 39 years of Loughran’s, though, it takes some getting used to.

Brabbins’s direct approach suits the couplings, producing splendid accounts of the Third English Suite (coeval with the Gothic Symphony and surprisingly pastoral in places) and the orchestral Concerto. But the Thirtieth Symphony is the pinnacle of Dutton’s disc; an extraordinarily compelling polyphonic fantasy, one of Brian’s finest inspirations, punching far above its relatively modest weight and compellingly interpreted.

The works on Toccata Classics’ issue cover the full breadth of Brian’s orchestral career, featuring his earliest surviving orchestral score, the Burlesque Variations, and his penultimate work, Ave atque vale. The former is a touch uncharacteristic and lies squarely within the English tradition, curiously for a composer with such a reputation as a maverick. The BBC Scottish SO’s playing is, not surprisingly, considerably stronger than the City of Hull Youth SO’s, with Walker’s shaping more telling than Heald-Smith’s. Matters are closer in the final English Suite; the Leicestershire Schools SO account (conducted by Eric Pinkett), issued by CBS on LP, stands up well but Walker’s outpoints it. The suite possesses a subtlety belying the picturesque titles of its four movements or the whole, Rustic Scenes: “Reverie” for strings has a depth making it one of Brian’s deepest yet most appealing inspirations, succeeded by the delightfully relaxed scherzo, “The Restless Stream”. Elegy and Ave atque vale also receive committed performances, caught in excellent sound, too. Both discs are highly recommended.