Listeners know Sir Frederic Cowan best as a composer of graceful and happy music which often has for subject 'the fresh open air of England'. Here he is in more serious vein, and this Fantasy of Life and Love is a full-sized orchestral poem. He has given us no clue, beyond its title, to the images or thoughts it expresses, and the hearer is left to exercise his own imagination. It begins with a stern movement with two closely allied tunes, and after some stress and conflict, passes to a tranquil mood with a melody which the clarinet begins. It soon grows more strenuous and impassioned, and though there are again one or two quiet moments, it is the thought of striving which mainly prevails, until we reach another broad, impressive section near the end.