The three contrasting works on ‘Shifting Directions’, the new recording by the Texas Tech University Contemporary Music Ensemble, run a total of 26 minutes, which raises a question: why not include more pieces by the represented composers – Joan Tower, Jennifer Jolley and Jennifer Higdon? All of their scores are vibrant, confirming that listeners would get a much bigger bang for their buck/dollar/pound/euro if the album had been at least twice as long.

Luckily, a lot of enterprising musical activity is packed into these short works, starting with a whiff of familiarity. Tower’s Petroushskates (1980) begins by paying tribute to the ‘Shrovetide Fair’ opening of Stravinsky’s 1911 ballet score as depicted by flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Swirling carnival figures give way to a dreamier episode that leads to more bustling activity, yearning violin and cello lines, and a return to the opening brightness. It’s six minutes of Tower-ing delight.

Jolley also celebrates an icon, Trisha Brown, in Blue Glacier Decoy (2018), inspired by the postmodern choreographer’s 1979 dance work Glacier Decoy, which had a set (black-and-white projected photos) and costumes by the artist Robert Rauschenberg. Jolley’s score anchors piano and vibraphone chords and undulating figures beneath motivic layers built by flute, clarinet, bass clarinet and alto saxophone. Throughout the piece, a recording of Brown giving instructions to dancers provides a key to the connections between visual and sonic images.

The title of Higdon’s Zaka (2003) refers to the verb meaning ‘to do the following almost simultaneously and with great speed: zap, sock, race, turn, drop, sprint’ – which only tells part of the story. A smorgasbord of zapping and racing ideas for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion leads to delicate textures and ardent interplay before more ritualistic dropping and sprinting propel the piece to a socko ending.

The members of the Texas Tech ensemble bring crisp definition and expressive flair to all of the repertoire under director Eric Allen. If only they’d been given the opportunity to display their estimable gifts further.