Rumon Gamba’s recordings with the BBC Philharmonic in Chandos’ popular Film Music series are regarded as top choices in the repertoire, as much for the brilliance of the sound quality as for the musical interest. Released on the 100th anniversary of William Alwyn’s birth, this is the third volume of Chandos’ survey of the composer’s film music which ranges from the meltingly beautiful to the highly dramatic, and is both imaginatively scored and unfailingly attractive.

The previous two volumes in Chandos’ William Alwyn film music survey have received tremendous critical acclaim.

Most of the repertoire on this CD is rarely performed and all the arrangements are premiere recordings.


Alwyn contributed nearly 200 scores for the cinema, beginning his career in film music in 1936 with music for documentaries. In recognition of his services to the medium of film he was made a Fellow of the British Film Academy, the only composer ever to have received this honour.

The Magic Box was especially made for the 1951 Festival of Britain as an example of British film-making, and recounts the true story of a man who spent his career perfecting the art of the moving image. The Million Pound Note tells of two millionaires who test how far the simple ownership of a one million pound banknote could take a man in life. InThe Way Ahead, a group of men from varying walks of life are called up for active duty in WWII and are transformed into first class soldiers. Based on the children’s classic, Swiss Family Robinson relates the adventures of a family ship-wrecked on a desert island. The Rocking Horse Winner concerns a boy who can predict horse-race winners by riding his rocking horse, and amasses a considerable fortune. Geordie tells the story of a raw Scottish youth who becomes an Olympic hammer-throwing champion. The Cure for Love is a comedy about a soldier who returns on leave to discover that his girlfriend has not been faithful to him; matters are complicated by the appearance of a rival for his affections. Penn of Pennsylvania tells of William Penn who establishes a new colony in America so that he and his fellow Quakers can escape their continual persecution in England. The Running Man concerns a couple who attempt to defraud an insurance company, but whose plan goes awry when the insurance investigator falls in love with the wife. Finally, the documentary The True Glory shows the campaign in Europe from D-Day to the fall of Berlin.

Hickox conducts all this music with total commitment and it is beautifully played and recorded.
Following on from his well-received recordings of Dyson’s Canterbury Pilgrims and Quo vadis?, Richard Hickox again reminds us of his unrivalled mastery in the British choral-orchestral repertoire, particularly in terms of balance and pace. The two soloists Mark Padmore as a herald and Neal Davis as Nebuchadnezzar, bring character to the performance, but it’s the excellent BBC Symphony Chorus that drives the narrative with its incisive singing.
This very agreeable collection is an excellent addition to the Dyson recordings that Chandos has sponsored and is very well recorded.
The sound throughout is splendid.
A fine showcase of a melodically gifted and subtle English composer of film scores.
Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic do a grand job with this music, eagerly piling spectacle upon spectacle.
Like the second volume in this series, this is a beautifully produced compendium of William Alwyn scores, played to perfection by Gamba and the BBC virtuosos, and captured in resplendent sonics. Again Philip Lane gets high marks for his work reconstructing and arranging the scores for concert performance.


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