For his first recording with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, music director Kazuki Yamada chose three works by William Walton, as English music seems to be a good choice for an English orchestra. The two symphonies illustrate different phases in Walton's career before and after the Second World War. There is a 25-year gap between Walton's powerful First Symphony, premiered in 1935, and his more contemplative Second Symphony, dedicated to Georg Szell. Walton, who is now regarded as one of the most "British" composers of the 20th century, began as an avant-gardist, but from the 1930s onwards he increasingly oriented himself towards the English musical tradition of Elgar and Vaughan Williams. This brought him commissions for royal occasions, such as the march "Orb and Sceptre" for the coronation of Elizabeth II, whose 100th birthday we will celebrate in 2026. Kazuki Yamada, who will also become Chief Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in 2026, on his collaboration with the CBSO: "They have a special telepathy, a sixth sense. We can feel each other in the music, even without words. It's a real partnership, like a family. They welcomed me from the beginning, and now it's like a love story."