US-born but resident in the Netherlands these last three decades, Ron Ford has latterly been active as a recording producer and arts administrator – to the extent that he largely ceased composing several years ago. This conspectus of his work, drawn almost entirely from the 1990s, suggests his creativity – while not overly individual – is far from without interest.

To take the works in disc order: Salomé Fast draws on extracts from the biblical narratives of Matthew and Mark via a setting (in the now defunct West Aramaic language) the starkness of whose vocal writing finds contrast in appropriately lurid colouring as evoked by the ensemble. Comma, intended as a theatrical interlude, provides a moment of reflection before Chain – a sequence of elaborating and often conflicting variants for wind band with antecedents in similarly hard-hitting ensemble pieces by Andriessen. Westron Wind is less a setting of than a paraphrase on the medieval text, its rhythmic deftness recalling its balletic origin, and emphasises a more subtle dimension in Ford’s music – as does the quietly purposeful writing for string quartet of The Disk, in which the composer relates the personable and ultimately intriguing narrative element. Al-Fatiha takes the first verse of the Koran (heard in the original Arabic), electronically treated so its implorations are gradually enfolded within the wind ensemble in a transition from quiet intimacy to declamatory fervency.

The whimsical and poetic tones of the music box in Liedje voor Annette (2003) conclude this varied and, for the most part, absorbing overview of the composer’s music. Quality of performance can hardly be gainsaid given the presence of such as the Asko Ensemble and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, while the booklet-note is succinctly informative. Even were Ford not to write any further works, the significance of his contribution to Dutch new music cannot be doubted.