This first release in a new series dedicated to the orchestral works of the American composer Edward MacDowell centers the First Piano Concerto, played by Xiayin Wang with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by John Wilson. The various romantic influences that shaped the style of the First Concerto include the music of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, and Grieg, while the technical demands on the soloist reveal MacDowell’s prowess as a pianist. Two symphonic poems are included, both new to the WFMT library: Lancelot und Elaine, MacDowell’s Second Symphonic Poem, inspired by Tennyson’s Idylls of the King; and Lamia, the Third Symphonic Poem, based on the poem of the same name by John Keats. Neither symphonic poem was published nor performed in the composer’s lifetime. MacDowell had planned another symphonic poem, based on the French mediaeval tale La Chanson de Roland, but the work was never completed; the two fragments included on this album are all that remain. MacDowell’s most famous piece, “To a Wild Rose” from the set of ten piano miniatures Woodland Sketches, completes the program in the orchestrated version by Victor Herbert.