Britten did not compose his symphonies in any conventional sense and this work is probably is closest to the idea of a "normal symphony." I have no less than three recordings of it (mainly because I wanted the couplings) but I still listened to this on the radio. Written in the memory of his parents it is a deeply felt and moving work. (And commissioned by the Japanese government not long before the Second World war; probably best for Britten that the Japanese withdrew the commission as they didn't like the Christian references). Along with the Cello Symphony and the suite "A Time There Was", I think it is finest of Britten's purely orchestral works.
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