The life of Leo Ornstein (1893-2002) is of a fascination such that his music often tends to be overlooked. The output for violin and piano gives a fair account of its strengths and failings; not least the two numbered sonatas – the earlier (1915) as poised expressively as its successor (1916) is emotionally unstable. Lacking in both is any real certainty of purpose, as Ornstein juxtaposes often striking ideas without an underlying continuity emerging. No such failings affect the Hebraic Fantasy (1929), whose long-breathed eloquence is shared by the undated Third Sonata, which extends this to form a 12-minute movement of convincing thematic evolution and formal unity.

Uneven music this may be, but Francesco Parrino and Maud Renier render it with undeniable technical finesse and emotional commitment. At just under an hour this would have made for relatively short measure on disc (though a Waltz is also listed on the composer’s dedicated website at poonhill.com – is this extant?), so Ornstein’s three pieces for flute and piano have been included. The Prelude (c1950) enlivens its pensiveness with Eastern melodic overtones, while the Intermezzo (1959) exudes a more capricious yet still understated manner. A Poem (1979) is a brief and appealingly winsome miniature from this composer’s productive old age.

Stefano Parrino is well suited to these pieces, with the whole recital given sound of warmth and clarity. Booklet-notes are informative if not uncritical, and this disc is worth investigation by those drawn to Delius and Cyril Scott, or the more conservative works of Ives and Cowell.