A lone trumpet call over a barren orchestral landscape conjures the first world war. Vaughan Williams served as an ambulance driver during the war and the slow movement of his Symphony No 3, the “Pastoral”, draws on his memories of e in war-torn France.

Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra play the symphony from the heart and the music soars. A glowing performance of the much-loved 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis' also raises the spirits and there are two bonus items in the 'Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus' and the Overture to 'The Wasps'.