Have listened to Bate's 3rd Symphony three times already and will clock up many more. I didn't find it derivative which is often a criticism thrown at works from this time and place. May have imagined it, but buried in the opening there is a musical figure reminiscent of a similar theme from Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. Again, for a fleeting moment about at 4.10 during the second movement I am reminded of the same work. But most fleeting as I say, Bate has his own voice in this work. In a nutshell the first movement is powerful and the second, with an ageless quality, noble. The second movement is growing on me at a pace. As for the third = WOW Rock n' Roll meets Cossack dance! The most exciting and thrilling symphonic movement since Nielsen I have heard.
Pictures from Dante by Eric Chisholm is a cinematic work. The first half has echoes of "The Isle of the Dead" which I think has already been said, and the second half of Respighi. Again a strong work which should be heard separately from the Bate, I think. The coda is very effective.
That both these works are premiere recordings is depending how you look it either tragic or a joke.
