With three world-premiere recordings of works from three different points in his career, this disc provides an overview of the music of English composer
Kenneth Leighton. It opens with his
Vaughan Williams-esque Symphony for Strings, written when its composer was not quite 20. It closes with his Bartókian Concerto for String Orchestra, written when he was a bit past 30. And in the middle is his sui generis Concerto for Organ, String Orchestra, and Timpani written when he was a bit past 40. Always tonal, usually lyrical, and often dramatic,
Leighton's music fits comfortably into the more conservative side of the postwar English modernist world, and will likely appeal to listeners who enjoy Arnold, Berkeley and Rawsthorne.
These performances will likewise likely stand as definitive for the foreseeable future. Conductor
Richard Hickox has demonstrated both his understanding of and his sympathy for postwar English modernism in his dozens of recordings of composers ranging from Alwyn to
Vaughan Williams, and he proves no less perceptive and appreciative here. His ability to shape
Leighton's symphony and concertos into cogent and appealing aesthetic wholes is as impressive as his ability to elicit polished playing from the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales in works with which they could hardly have been familiar. Organist
John Scott covers himself with glory in the knotty keyboard writing of the Organ Concerto, particularly in the truly awe-inspiring final moments of the work's closing Choral and Variations. Chandos' digital sound is cool, clear, colorful, and close.