This is Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981), father of the now better known Louis, but in his lifetime a hugely significant figure in Dutch music as a composer, organist and teacher. He is credited with sparking the resurgence in liturgical music in the Netherlands, but Andriessen composed in almost every musical genre, and this is the third instalment of a CPO series devoted to his orchestral works. The focus is the third of his four symphonies, which was composed in 1946 – the four compact movements, including an overture, sarabande and a final fugue, suggest a suite as much as something symphonic, but the extrovert sense of a work celebrating the liberation of the Netherlands is unmistakable, while to British ears some of the writing uncannily echoes Vaughan Williams. The Symphonie Concertante dates from 1962, but commutes stylistically between the 18th and the 20th centuries, while the overture Chantecler, inspired by Rostand’s play, is highly effective and attractive programme music that is played, like everything on the disc, with uncomplicated efficiency by the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under David Porcelijn.
