The Dutch composer Jan [Pieter Hendrik] van Gilse (1881 1944) is new to me, but I see that CPO with the same forces as this disc has already recorded his four symphonies. A student of Engelbert Humperdinck among others, Gilse was clearly a serious heavyweight, but his music rarely found its way into print during his lifetime. This goes some way to explaining his obscurity, but, more significantly, he was one of those unfortunates who consistently find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gilse’s career was blighted by his refusal to succumb to Nazi blandishments. His two sons, who were active in the Dutch resistance movement, were captured and executed. Their deaths broke him.

There is nothing of the war years here. The Dance Sketches, I can tell you (unlike CPO’s booklet, which surprisingly lacks any information about the music), date from 1927. At 42 minutes in length, the work is not so much a concerto as a symphonic paraphrase with an important piano part, its three movements paying homage to the minuet (Tempo di menuetto moderato), the waltz (Hommage à Johann Strauss) and various dances from the 1920s (Quasi Jazz). Gilse obviously knew his Mahler and Richard Strauss, while the waltz (longest of the three at 18'04") features a simple Johann Strauss II salon pastiche constantly obliterated by some astringent Ravelian brutality. I would say Gilse’s gift for atmosphere and orchestration is greater than his gift for melody, but the work is certainly interesting, vividly recorded and played in commanding style by all concerned.

Though it is equally sumptuously recorded, I was not taken by the companion piece, a 21 minute set of variations dating from 1909 based on a Dutch children’s song. It’s a stolid, stately foursquare kind of theme and the variations are about as dull as they come. It sounds like a vehicle for van Gilse to exercise his orchestration skills and pay his respects to Brahms (who has nothing to worry about). I couldn’t wait for it to end.