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Crosse has specialised in works for soloist and orchestra. Ariadne (1972) for oboist Sarah Francis, who recorded it [Argo LP ZRG 842], is an outstanding example; so is Thel for flute and Array for trumpet; and there are two Violin Concertos. There are two Symphonies too, the first recorded on an LP put out by Oxford University Press OUP 203.

The Cello Concerto (1979) was written 'in memoriam Luigi Dallapiccola', the major Italian composer who died in 1975, and it is based on a series of notes taken from his Piccola Musica Notturna. This is a worthy pairing. After all, Crosse followed his Oxford degree with study under Petrassi at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In many ways Crosse is a kind of English Dallapiccola and his music occupies a similar position -- much respected by the profession but still at a distance from the wider public. Alexander Baillie must be an ideal soloist for the Cello Concerto, which was premièred by Rohan de Saram at the Cheltenham Festival in 1979 with the Hallé Orchestra under Elgar Howarth. The soloist gets plenty of scope in the two manners of the work, elegy and scherzo. The Concerto is well placed last on this CD, allowing listeners to come to terms with Crosse in works which have some kind of dramatic programme before coming to this more abstract piece, which seems less personal and is perhaps over-extended. This is a tendency in later Crosse but I like the way in which everything is integral and there is no vacuous showing-off for the soloist. The Concerto is never forbidding and has some ecstatic moments such as the relaxed ending of the second movement [listen -- track 13, 8:16-9:10].

Finally, this CD -- a generous 77'36" with thorough notes from Andrew Burn -- deserves an unqualified welcome. NMC (in collaboration with the BBC Symphony Orchestra) is to be congratulated in raising the profile of Crosse in the record catalogue in the best possible way -- with three of his finest works. This release should do much to bring Crosse's music to the wider audience it so richly deserves.

To listen to the aural illustrations in this review, you may need to download RealNetworks' realplayer 8.