This fourth album by philharmonie zuidnederland includes works by Darius Milhaud, Charles Koechlin, Duncan Ward and Edward Elgar. Principal conductor Duncan Ward takes you on a symphonic journey with Darius Milhaud’s La Création du monde for small orchestra, after which we fly to the stars in Charles Koechlin’s mysterious Vers la voûte étoilée — Koechlin had first intended to become an astronomer. We then travel further afield with Ward’s own Fumes; Ward had studied in India with sitar legend Ravi Shankar before joining him in California. The album ends with Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Elgar portrayed fourteen of his closest friends in this enigmatic, humorous and moving work.

• Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36
• Koechlin: Vers la voûte étoilée
• Milhaud: La Création du Monde, Op. 81