Martin Boykan (b1931), a native of New York City, is one of the US’s most distinguished composers. A pupil of Piston (at Harvard), Hindemith (Zurich and Yale) and Copland (Tanglewood), he also studied piano with Steuermann, helped found the Brandeis Ensemble, was the pianist with the Boston Symphony under Leinsdorf (1964 65) and is a distinguished figure in academia.

Previously, his music has appeared on New World (still available as download only), Albany and CRI; Bridge issued a disc of piano pieces in 2014 and this chamber disc makes a fine follow-up. All five works are from his main period of maturity so there is no pronounced stylistic progression between them. The single-minded purposefulness of the unaccompanied violin Impromptu (1993) is present in the Viola Sonata (2012) – compellingly played by its dedicatee, Mark Berger, partnered by Yoko Hagino – a concentrated three-movement work of greater weight than its 12-minute span might suggest.

Another dedicatee is on hand to render the work composed for him with equal aplomb, Curtis Macomber and the Second Violin Sonata (2009). This takes the form of a fast-slow diptych though there is more going on beneath its surface than that simple divide suggests. The Third Piano Trio, Rites of Passage (2006), is the longest work, has the most movements (five) and is the only work to receive more than a cursory description in the composer’s booklet note. Based on a set of silverpoint panels by his wife (Susan Schwalb), I found it the least involving piece here, lacking the impulse of the sonatas or Psalm 121 (1997), nicely sung by Pamela Dellal. Top-notch sound from Bridge.