How good to be able to welcome four more additions to John McCabe’s still-meagre representation on disc. Dating from 1969 and cast in five interlinked sections, the Concerto for Piano and Wind Quintet makes an arresting opener. As ever with this rewarding composer, high-quality invention goes hand in hand with an idiomatic instrumental resource and keen sense of proportion. Next comes Musica notturna for violin, viola and piano, written in 1964 for the Hallé’s then leader, Martin Milner. Inspired by ‘the contrasting moods and aspects of a great city at night’ (to quote from McCabe’s own booklet-notes), it’s another tightly argued creation that cleverly combines elements of variation and passacaglia form. Jumping forward over three decades, Fauvel’s Rondeaux (1995-96) for clarinet, violin and piano is a colourful and appealing single-movement essay in eight varied sections that utilises material from the 1994-95 ballet Edward II (Hyperion 5/00). Similarly, the eight minatures for wind quintet that comprise Postcards (1991) have their roots in an earlier work, namely a set of eight Bagatelles for two clarinets from 1965. An entertaining and eventful sequence they make, too, the concluding ‘Fantasy’ drawing the threads together with satisfying cogency and wit.

All in all, then, a most valuable survey. No praise can be too high for The Fibonacci Sequence’s polished and dashingly committed performances of this enjoyable repertoire. What’s more, both sound and balance are beyond criticism. Do investigate.