Charles Camilleri (1931-2009) aside, Maltese classical composers are not widely known. This new album from Navona gathers pieces by six younger ones, none of whom I have encountered before. All the works are complete and stand-alone in themselves, although two – Euchar Gravina’s three pieces (the lower case is intended) and Rih¯ (‘Wind’) by Alexander Vella Gregory (b1984) are extracts or recastings from larger works.

In three pieces: for orchestra and pre-recorded sounds, London-based Gravina (b1994) reworked material from kimika, a piece for the Maltese folk ensemble the banda, rescored for standard instruments but set vividly against a recording of the original version, inspired by the making and igniting of fireworks. Riħ is a suite of five brief, atmospheric interludes derived from Vella Gregory’s Sinfonija Beltija (‘A Valetta Symphony’, 2016). Mariella Cassar-Cordina’s Waiting also started life in a different format as a string quartet but is heard here for full string orchestra.

The most impressive work, on a disc that is something of a revelation, is Christopher Muscat’s Mesogeios (2017), a cleverly structured concertante suite in five sections (played without a break) for various Maltese exotica – including the zummara, zaqq and flejguta, all played evocatively by Francesco Sultana – percussion (including hand-clapped passages) and strings. The music’s range of expression is extraordinary, evoking medieval and Levantine music (perhaps a relic of the Knights of St John), as well as African and Balkan music.

Scottish listeners may recall Véronique Vella’s Fine Line, premiered in Glasgow in 2009, a nicely drawn tone poem with hints of the exotic, derived from Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. It and Xamm (‘Scent’) by Arthur Garzia (b1977) provide effective expressive and textural contrast. The orchestra give well-drilled performances, for which Sergey Smbatyan must take credit, and Navona’s sound is very clear.