Given the number of recordings now appearing, it was inevitable that Kaikhosru Sorabji’s 100 Transcendental Studies be tackled, and Swedish pianist Fredrik Ullén has taken up the challenge. Composed in 1940-44, the cycle constitutes the largest known collection of its kind – encompassing brief studies in piano technique and extended pieces amply illuminating the ‘parallel universe’ that is Sorabji’s creativity.

Right from No 1 it is clear that Sorabji’s conception of the study is all-embracing. No 3 scatters its melodic content over layers of intricate polyphony, while No 6 is a scintillating study in seconds (with studies for each interval to follow). The febrile whole-tone volleys of No 10 and the delicate interplay of melodic patterns in No 14 touch on different but equally characteristic aspects of Sorabji’s pianism – less so the Messiaen-like rhythmic unison writing of No 17. The liquid chains of fifths that inform No 18 and the coolly iridescent textures of No 20 confirm these studies as among the highlights of the cycle so far, with the cumulative rhythmic overlaying of No 23 likely to remain among the most technically demanding. The striding staccato chords of No 25 bring this first quarter of the cycle to a typically quizzical conclusion.

Those familiar with Ullén’s Ligeti (BIS, 1/97) will know that he has the dexterity and finesse to do this music justice without making light of either its innate difficulty or its protean imagination. Ullén’s observations on each study are succinctly informative, and those who struggle with Kenneth Derus’s essay can rest assured that Sorabji’s music itself is far more immediate – indeed, far more entertaining.