These two works present two sharply contrasting sides of Malcolm Arnold: his limitless resources of knockabout fun, and a sense of existential tragedy. But each score presents its own surprises: the jocularity of the Grand concerto gastronomique – written for a Hoffnung concert – conceals some seriously good (though not seriously serious) music; and the delicately scored Ninth Symphony, written after five years when its composer had, in his own words, "been through hell", irradiates its emotional restraint and elegiac tone with moments of light and warmth. © Toccata Classics