French composer Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) is said to have been a perfectionist whose aim was quality over quantity, which explains his modest output. If you ignore his film scores from the 1940s but include the violin and cello concertos, he only wrote about ten orchestral works. He was already 35 when he composed his Symphony No. 1, an impressive first outing in symphonic form brimming with activity, which despite having been conceived in 1951, would have seemed antiquarian when compared to the advanced serialism and musique concrète in favor at the time. There's a famous anecdote about Pierre Boulez greeting him by turning his back on him at a performance of this symphony, simply because of their opposing outlooks over the path 20th century French music should be taking. With that said, Dutilleux's music is still individualistic and unconventional enough to warrant active and attentive listening.

Structurally, this symphony forms a long arc as it begins quietly, and trepidatiously builds within the inner movements only to fade away again at the end. It recalls the sound of Ravel and Roussel, but with innovative orchestration techniques, such as very liberal use of percussion instruments including the gong, bass drum, tam-tam, xylophone, glockenspiel and crotales, all of which enhance the textural and timbral effects very well. The plucked, ostinato double bass lines that open the first movement lay down the foundation for the whole edifice, as other instrumental groups of the orchestra, at various stages, reiterate the same motif but with ever increasing determination up until the brass section proclaims it with finality. The following movement marked Molto vivace would put any orchestra's stamina to the test, and is a great example of Dutilleux's grasp on orchestral writing and how to mesh various fabrics together without showing the seams. The Intermezzo, with its limping rhythm introduction brings to mind some of Allan Pettersson's symphonic music and ends in an enigmatic fashion. The final movement opens forcefully with the clash of cymbals and gongs amongst a throng of instruments, and quickly leads to a set of variations showcasing splendid writing for the string sections, and great passages where various groups unite to build impressive climaxes. The music gradually recedes in a flurry of refined orchestral details and eventually fades away with expressive melancholy. Henri Dutilleux is definitely a composer that deserves to be extricated from the fringes and repatriated to the central repertoire.

This Naxos recording also presents another prominent work, Métaboles from 1964 as well as Les Citations (1985-90), all performed with skill and conviction by the Orchestre National de Lille, a fine ensemble founded by conductor Jean-Claude Casadesus back in 1976. Over the years they've released over 25 recordings covering everything from Darius Milhaud to Richard Strauss with some highly recommended, as I'm sure this one will be as well.