Remembered by ambitious amateur pianists for his Rustle of Spring, Christian Sinding was a more important figure in the music of his native Norway than this might suggest; there, in his time, he was second only to Grieg.

Trained in Leipzig, he fell under the influence of Liszt and Wagner, producing a large quantity of music that, although it enjoyed contemporary popularity, remains forgotten in today’s concert programmes. In revealing the inherent fervour of his four symphonies, this album enjoys sensitive and enthusiastic interpretations from the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra under Karl Heinz Steffens, for whom Sinding has become a composer close to his heart.