In the middle of the 20th century, the English composer William Walton wrote music against the odds; symphonies, orchestral and choral works and an excellent opera, Troilus and Cressida. This was at a time when anything other than the unpopular offerings of the second Viennese school was considered heresy by the musical establishment.

As with so many other ‘tonal’ composers from that period he’s been shamefully neglected by concert promotors. Enter the Variations on a Theme by Hindemith. It...