This unique anthology of concert overtures should prove as popular, for the music is similarly illustrative and entertaining. Some of these works are rare in the catalogue and one of them has never before been recorded. They demonstrates Arnold’s versatility, for they cover a broad range of musical moods - the comic "Tam o’ Shanter," the pastoral "A Sussex Overture," and the hilariously inventive "A Grand Grand Festival Overture," a piece which was enormous fun to record, for the orchestral line-up includes vacuum cleaners and a floor polisher, played, on this recording, by the management of the BBC Philharmonic!

Beckus the Dandipratt, Op.5 (1943)
Comedy Overture for Full Orchestra
Allegro ma non troppo

The Smoke, Op.21 (1948)
Overture for Orchestra
Vivace ma non troppo - Andante con moto - Tempo I
- Andante maestoso - Tempo I

A Sussex Overture, Op.31 (1951)
For Herbert Menges and the Brighton Philharmonic Society
Allegro con brio

Tam o’ Shanter, Op.51 (1955)
Overture after the Poem of Robert Burns
To Michael Diack
Poco lento - Allegretto - Vivace - Allegretto - Allegro - Allegretto - Andante con moto - Allegro - Allegretto e sempre accelerando al presto - Presto - Vivace - Lento molto - Presto

A Grand Grand Festival Overture, Op.57 (1956)
Allegro con brio - Molto meno mosso e maestoso - Vivace - Molto meno mosso e maestoso - Presto

Peterloo, Op.97 (1967)
Overture for Orchestra
Andante con moto - Allegro vivace - Con fuoco - Lento - Andante con moto - Maestoso

Anniversary Overture, Op.99 (1968)
for Orchestra Allegro giubiloso

The Fair Field, Op.110 (1972)
To William Walton with the greatest esteem and affection Vivace - Allegro con brio - Lento e maestoso

A Flourish for Orchestra, Op.112 (1973)
Giubiloso - Allargando - Meno mosso

premiere recording:
Robert Kett, Op.141 (1990)
Overture
Lento e maestoso - Alla marcia

BBC Philharmonic
Kathy Jones - principal vacuum cleaner
Helena Miles - sub principal vacuum cleaner
Chris Hoyle - section vacuum cleaner
Fiona Macintosh - principal floor polisher
Yuri Torchinsky leader
Rumon Gamba