Having had some disappointment reacquainting myself with Edward Rubbra (I still like his music but not nearly as much as I remembered - weird), so I was almost dreading listening to the Ikuma Dan symphonies, which I remember loving when I got the CD but have not heard it since. I needn't have worried - this is the real deal for me - absolutely stunning music by a brilliant composer. He also wrote many film scores, the most famous of which is for Samurai 1, 2, and 3 - I now have to actually watch those damn movies - I've had the Criterion Blu and Ray since it came out and have never even looked at a second of it.