While all of Louis Karchin’s music here is highly enjoyable and rewarding for both participants and listeners, the most memorable moments occur in his Barcarole Variations (2015) for violin and harp, each a jewel, which stands out even beyond its automatic recommendation to all violin-harp duos on the circuit. Dedicatees Renée and Susan Jolles, the daughter-and-mother combination from the Eastman and Manhattan Schools of Music, give performances that are virtuoso in an intimate way, alert to every change in sound and nuance.

Not that Karchin’s Chamber Symphony from 2009 isn’t full of wonderful cascades of similarly inventive sound on a larger scale. It is recorded here by the commissioning Washington Square Ensemble – 14-strong, with no viola, plus conductor for the occasion – in a performance that demonstrates why, despite an occasional sense of standing around, it has been played at Indiana University, the University of Iowa and the Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood.

Static movement becomes less of an issue in the shorter pieces. Karchin’s lovely Postlude for trumpet and piano is the second of two works the composer has written for Sam Jones, in this case with a bucket mute. The rolling waves of his Rochester Celebration, commissioned by the Eastman School of Music to honour Barry Snyder, is played with rich, romantic freedom by Snyder’s student Margaret Kampmeier.

The recordings, which were made in and around New York City, each capture the vivid palette of musical sounds that Karchin wields so effortlessly. Christopher Carey’s booklet notes give a detailed account of the music.