Time was when Steve Reich’s music was the exclusive domain of his own ensemble: then he was signed to Boosey & Hawkes and his scores were eagerly picked up by a second generation of interpreters. The result has done nothing but good for Reich’s music as “outsider” groups inevitably bring fresh nuance to works designed for a specific pool of musicians. The London Steve Reich Ensemble – who trade under the great man’s name with his blessing – was formed by students from the Royal Academy of Music in 2005 and they quickly demonstrate that Reich’s sleeve-note claim that “these performances pulse with life” is more than puffery. Eight Lines – a 1983 rewrite of the Octet – is less sour than the Reich Ensemble’s own recording, and sits comfortably in a conversational slipstream that is highly rewarding. Piano Phase is monumental and steely, again a point of departure from the original.

But most intriguing is the Sextet from 1984, a work that has been unfairly neglected on disc since Reich’s recording. Scored for a trademark ensemble of keyboards and mallet percussion, Reich focuses on how he might make the ensemble sound more instrument-heavy than it actually is. Curvaceous bowed vibraphone strokes are a beautiful counterpoint to the inherently brittle ensemble attack and are judiciously highlighted. The cleanness of the recording certainly helps: low-register piano figurations have a throbbing clarity that creates telling perspective against the rest of the ensemble. The harmonic vitality of the finale generates Herculean energy that the London branch of Reich Inc don’t sell short.