WILLIAM ALWYN (1905-1985): Elizabethan Dances, The Innumerable Dance - An English Overture, Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Strings, Aphrodite in Aulis - An Eclogue for Small Orchestra, Symphonic Prelude The Magic Island, Festival March.

Description: Two small works here receive their world premiere recordings - the exquisite five-minute miniature Aphrodite from 1932, a vision of the goddess scored for flute, two horns, harp and strings, and the ten-minute Innumerable Dance (1933), a fully-scored tone-poem representing the arrival of spring (suggested by a line of verse by William Blake), which can fully take its place among other English depictions of that most lovely time of year. The oboe concerto, a war work from 1943-44, is another English specialty - an expression of yearning for the peace and beauty of the English countryside while The Magic Island (1952) is another inspiration courtesy of Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Jonathan Small (oboe), Eleanor Hudson (harp), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; David Lloyd-Jones.