Perhaps the name of Jim Parker is not well known – but his music is loved worldwide. Composer of numerous film and theatre scores, he is best known for his television music which includes Foyle’s War, House of Cards, Midsomer Murders and House of Elliott among many more. He has won the British Academy Award for Best TV Music on no less than four occasions.

This brilliant album collects a number of Parker’s recent compositions which are not directly for TV but still have a marvelous pictorial quality and display his remarkable talent for memorable melodies and coloration, whether it be the recorder acting like a Peruvian pipe, or violins emulating the hurdy-gurdy.

Light music albums of this quality are very rare these days and this is a joyful gem. The first three suites are scored for string quartet (some with recorder, harp and bass); Hoofers (named for stage dancers) is a suite for oboe and piano of individual pieces: ‘The Flying Scotsman’, ‘The Lonely Ballerina’, ‘Banjolele’, and ‘Hoofers’.