Jacob's Second Symphony, premiered on 1 May 1946 at a BBC studio recoding, was considered by one reviewer to be "perhaps the most stimulating work that has yet come from this composer". The reviewer remarked on the work's intensity of feeling, ranging from romantic excitement in the first movement, through poignancy and fury in the two middle movements to a mood of heroism in the final passacaglia. Four new works appeared in 1951, the year of the Festival of Britain: "Music for a Festival" (for brass and military bands), concertos for flute and for horn, and the cantata "A Goodly Heritage".