Royal Scottish National Orchestra * Alexander Brincken: Orchestral Music Vol. 2 CD

Alexander Brincken, born in Leningrad in 1952 and Swiss-based since 1992, writes in an accessible, expansive and unashamedly late-Romantic language. His grandiose Second Symphony of 1984-89, written for a huge orchestra of 114 musicians, has echoes of a number of earlier composers, among them Bruckner, Mahler, Richard Strauss and, especially, Franz Schmidt, whose walking basses help power Brincken's sense of momentum - all assimilated into a big-hearted style that blends dignity, lyricism and power. Written in Leningrad as the Soviet system began it's death throes, a time when Brincken was also experiencing personal trauma, this Symphony employs an epic canvas in it's unhurried articulation of a message of hope.