Christopher Gunning (English composer, born 1944) conducted by Kenneth Woods. This Signum release embraces Gunning’s Symphonies 10, 2 & 12 (in that order) and finds the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in top form under the devoted Woods, superbly recorded in Hoddinott Hall, produced by the composer. Definitive then! Gunning (who studied with Richard Rodney Bennett and Edmund Rubbra) is just as assured writing for high-profile film & TV projects (award-winning, too) as he is for the concert hall. All the music here (78 minutes’ worth) has wide appeal, and never for a second does its accessibility suggest a contrivance to be liked; these scores are written ‘from within’. As colourful and as romantic as it is, if sometimes with an edge, this is music that works just as well in ‘pure’ terms as it does pictorial ones, and Gunning’s orchestrations are very particular. I commend this release with enthusiasm! Signum Classics SIGCD593.