The rest of the CD is of miniatures, each memorable, and including first recordings. Of the latter, the songs include The Hag (Robert Herrick), a wild ride, Bridge’s orchestration full of demonic touches, and a thrilling experience. Of the texts by Robert Bridges, “I praise the tender flower” is a contemplative, lyrical setting, one with quiet ardor, which contrasts with the more animated and no less amorous setting of “Thou didst delight my eyes.” It’s hard to believe that these three songs have not been sung for nearly a century! Roderick Williams does them proud.

The music from Threads, a comedy by Frank Stayton, was published in scoring for “theatre orchestra”; the yearning first intermezzo contrasts with the skittish second, a delightful waltz. For similar scoring are the two entr’actes. The first, Rosemary, is a tenderly expressive creation that grows in wonderment before returning to nostalgia; the Canzonetta that follows is strangely gawky in places and colorfully scored to match its Mediterranean inspiration.

The remaining pieces are for strings. Two Old English Songs consists of the heartfelt “Sally in Our Alley,” devastatingly beautiful, so imaginatively arranged, and eloquently performed here. Second is the melody of “Cherry Ripe,” merely hinted at for a while as Bridge enjoys decorating the tune’s outline. The Valse-Intermezzo is courtly and refined, and, despite its charm, maybe a little long. Todessehnsucht (also a first recording) is Bridge’s sonorous and deeply felt arrangement of Bach’s “Komm süsser Tod” (BWV 478), while the lively dance, Sir Roger de Coverley, is given with buoyancy and athleticism (if without quite erasing memories of the versions by Boult and Britten, respectively for Lyrita and Decca). Hickox has recorded the full orchestra version of Sir Roger on Volume 3 of Chandos’s admirable series.

What might seem like a CD of Bridge off-cuts is, in fact, a substantial and worthwhile collection.