For a composer who described himself as "just a Romantic old sod", Arnold Bax's orchestral music has a passion and conviction that are immediately gripping. Tintagel (1917) remains his best known work: Strauss and Debussy both find their place in this vivid evocation of place; the Arthurian legend evoked in full measure. Legend, escaping to another, probably make-believe time, is a quality that permeates everything Bax did. The Garden of Fand conjures up this "other world" to perfection; it's possible Bax's most sensuous work and, alongside the Second Symphony, his most imaginatively scored. The opening minutes are breathtaking in their beauty. November Woods is the other highlight here, Bax's equivalent of Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead, with a similarly brooding, even oppressive intensity. Northern Ballad No. 1 is more incisive, even Stravinskian, and there's the witty vignette of Mediterranean as welcome light relief. Excellent performances from Boult, controlled but getting the structures absolutely right. Go ahead, indulge yourself. --Richard Whitehouse