Lyubomir Pipkov (1904-74) belongs to what is called the ‘Second Generation’ of Bulgarian composers, Pancho Vladigerov undoubtedly being the best known, and Toccata Classics is performing a tremendous service to Bulgarian music in making his output more widely available. The first composer who will come to mind on listening to Pipkov is certainly Bartók, as pianist Dobromir Tsenov’s own highly detailed booklet notes do not shy away from saying. But that does not mean that the music sounds like an imitation of that of the Hungarian composer; Pipkov’s sources in the music of his native Bulgaria, together with what he absorbed in Paris from, among others, Paul Dukas and Nadia Boulanger, mean that his work has its own distinctive lyricism as well as an unpredictable rhythmic vivaciousness.

The music on this programme is presented in chronological order, beginning with the striking Ancient Dance from 1946 and continuing with two sets of short pieces, Spring Caprices (1971-72) and From 1 to 15 (1973). The two sets comprise character pieces, all shot through with characteristic Bulgarian rhythms, as detailed by Tsenov. While this is the foundation of Pipkov’s vocabulary, there is no sense of merely going through the motions and there is a tremendous variety of atmosphere in these works, which, in spite of not a little technical difficulty, would, I imagine, be a great success as teaching material.

Tsenov really has the measure of this music, and the recording is crystal-clear. The decision to render the composer’s first name, Lyubomir, as ‘Lubomir’ is bizarre, merely inducing as it does mispronunciation.