Composer Adam Gorb and librettist Ben Kaye have worked together for many years, and their operas and oratorios have been given numerous performances in the UK and internationally. The song cycle Beggars Belief is their fifth collaboration and addresses the subject of homelessness. Powerful and at times harrowing, it nevertheless contains flickers of hope for a better future.

The two piano pieces on this CD are markedly contrasting in approach – Deep Brain Stimulation, using a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease as a starting point is compact, unpredictable, uncontrolled and clangourous, whereas Ballade, in memory of the composer’s mother takes as its cue the legendary works by Chopin of the same name is expansive, reflective and nostalgic.

String Quartet no.2 is the earliest piece on the CD and dates from 2008. A short, serenade like work in four movements, it has been described by one critic as: …‘seeming to search after the wistful, viola-solo meditative quality that is to some the essence of Englishness’.

Sonatina for flute, viola and harp is intended as a companion piece to the Debussy work for the same combination. It is pastoral, tranquil, but explores some darker and grotesque areas before ending in flamboyant jubilation.

Overall, the disc shows an abundant variety of mood, form and colour that characterises Gorb’s approach to chamber music in its various present-day guises.