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Symphony No.2 op.140
Raff's Second Symphony is one of his freshest and most ingratiating creations. Written in 1866 it was soon overshadowed by the huge international success of the Im Walde and Lenore Symphonies. Written on a smaller scale than they or its mighty five-movement predecessor and lacking the programme's attached to most of Raff's exercises in the form, the Second does not deserve its neglect. It features a typically powerful opening movement, middle movements in which sombre religiosity is replaced by puckish good humour and a spirited, joyous finale. John White's masterly MIDI transcription faithfully preserves the winning character of this rewarding work.

I. Allegro	II. Andante con moto
III. Allegro vivace	IV. Andante maestoso - Allegro con spirito

Symphony No.3 Im Walde op.153
John White has excelled himself with this stunning MIDI realisation of one of Raff's most successful symphonic creations. Im Walde is a true programme symphony and in it Raff portrays a detailed written description of the sights and sounds experienced by a traveller in the German forest. The work enjoyed enormous success throughout Europe and the USA from the moment it was premiered in 1870 and was still being played long after most of Raff's music had been forgotten.

I. Allegro     In the Daytime. Impressions and Feelings	II. Largo      In the Twilight. A: Dreaming
III. Allegro asssai       In the Twilight. B: Dance of the Dryads	IV. Allegro       At Night. The living stillness of night in the                 Forest. Arrival and departure of the Wild Hunt,                 with Frau Holle and Wotan. Daybreak

Symphony No.5 Lenore op.177
Reckoned by many of his contemporaries to be his greatest composition, Raff's Lenore symphony is a work on an epic scale. It illustrates Bürger's gothic ballad recounting the story of the eponymous woman who curses God after her lover fails to return from the war, and suffers a dreadful fate in consequence. The first three movements set the scene for finale in which Raff illustrartes in music Bürger's tale. Once again John White has captured the symphony's epic scale and imaginative orchestration in a masterly MIDI realisation.

I. Allegro     Love's bliss I	II. Andante quasi larghetto       Love's Bliss II
III. Marsch Tempo - Agitato        Parting	IV. Allegro       Reunited in death, Introduction and ballad                 (after G Bürger's Lenore)