I’ve never met David Matthews, but he appears to be a generous soul. There’s hardly a piece in this collection – all premiere recordings – that isn’t dedicated to a friend, relative or colleague, and not one that doesn’t share Matthews’s characteristic mixture of melody, fantasy and master-craftsmanship. Matthews may have only four strings and a bow to work with here, but he’s clearly known a lot of sympathetic violinists, Peter Sheppard Skærved prime among them. And like the writers of Oulipo, he seems to regard formal restraints as a spur to the imagination. His musical references range from Nielsen to the song of a New Zealand tui.

The imposing Fantasia on Paganini’s Second Violin Concerto opens the disc; based on a cadenza and summoning the angular, brooding spirit of the great Italian in music that keeps threatening to evaporate in a shimmer of virtuosity. Skærved is fully on top of even its most stratospheric technical challenges, and elsewhere he sings Matthews’s long, questioning middle-register melodies with full-throated expression. He hums gamely along to the Three Chants and instantly finds the character and colour of each miniature, from the plaintive song of a tame magpie (Four Australian Birds) and a satisfyingly crunchy transcription of God Save the Queen to the pure, shining vistas of the fifth Prelude, composed atop Monte Maggio.

Few pieces last longer than three minutes, making this an ideal disc to dip in and out of. And with booklet notes from both Matthews and Skærved – including the revelation that the recording process has inspired Matthews to write further works for solo violin – it gives one the rare and rewarding feeling of being part of an ongoing creative dialogue.