Michael Tippett’s First Symphony was actually his second; the composer withdrew an earlier symphony from 1933 because the influence of Sibelius was too obvious. (Apparently this unheard work will be recorded for the first time in Brabbins’ series.) The official First was begun in prison, where Tippett was incarcerated as a conscientious objector, and completed in 1944 at a time of personal anguish for the composer.

Tippett’s music is never straightforwardly heart-on-sleeve, however. It is Beethoven who provides the formative influence both in form and sheer strength, notably in the rough-hewn Scherzo. Tippett’s idiosyncratically vibrant orchestration foreshadows the magical sound world of his opera The Midsummer Marriage, which would follow a couple of years later. The main challenge for...