The emotional heart of the work – its essential ‘message’ if you like – lies in the quotation at the head of the score: ‘Rarely, rarely comest thou, Spirit of Delight’ – from Shelley’s Invocation – almost literally so, no doubt, when one considers that no fewer than six of Elgar’s closest friends had died during the preceding twelve months of the composition of the Symphony. ... the corporate playing of the BBC Symphony and the rich acoustic of the (then) recently-consecrated Coventry Cathedral combine to reveal the genius of the composer’s art anew. As an interpretation, Barbirolli’s account is exemplary: throughout this exceptionally difficult score, he has the full measure of the work – and it remains an object-lesson for later conductors.