ANDRÉ JORRAND (b.1909): Symphony No. 1 for String Orchestra, Op. 3, Symphony No. 2, Op. 21, Symphony No. 3, Op. 22-23.

Description: These attractive and eminently approachable symphonies exude Gallic charm and elegance. While not lightweight, they avoid entirely the philosophic seriousness of the Germanic Romantic tradition, their undeniable emotional pull being in the direction of more human passions. Second-Viennese influence is missing entirely, along with any suggestion of brutality or primitivism. Showing the harmonic influence of Honegger, Roussel and Dutilleux, though generally less modern-sounding than all but the earliest works of the latter, these works may also intermittently bring to mind the airy, sparkling qualities of Poulenc. Fast movements are fleet and energetic; slow ones luminously passionate and meditative. The first and second symphonies are tightly and concisely organised; the third is freer in form, less 'symphonic' and more of an evocative, pastoral tone-poem with a light impressionistic touch. Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra; Robert Houlihan.