The Romantic Piano Concerto - 46 YORK BOWEN (1884-1961): Piano Concerto No. 3 in G Minor "Fantasia", Op. 23, Piano Concerto No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 88.

Description: Two very different compositions here: the Fantasia is an 18-minute, single-movement work from 1908, presumably under the formal influence of the Cobbett Competition, which is quite in the flashy, brilliant-young-man manner of the First (available on Dutton Epoch) - punchy rhythms, plenty of catchy themes and sparkling virtuosity. The Fourth (1929) is a Romantic monster of 43 minutes (where each movement is longer than the preceding) where everything is on a larger scale and the Straussian-Rachmaninovian gestures predominate. Sorabji said that this was the greatest work for piano and orchestra ever written by an Englishman and, if you look closely at the particulars and wanted to be snide, you might say "that doesn't take much" but any lover of the Romantic piano concerto and the Grand Gesture will be more than gratified by this work. Danny Driver (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Martyn Brabbins.