Something fairly improbable but thoroughly refreshing. Margit Kern is an accordion player not just of astonishing skill but also with a campaign to increase its repertory by commissioning new works. And the main importance of this release is the three works for accordion and – of all instruments – shawm, all composed last year, each lasting a bit over 10 minutes (one of today’s formes fixes). The established American composer Sidney Corbett uses the instruments in a straightforward manner, producing an orthodox but beautifully turned piece. The awesomely prolific young German composer Sarah Nemtsov goes to the edges, asking both performers to sing, crunch bits of paper and so on, with results that are thoroughly attractive and make one want to hear lots more of her music. Samir Odeh-Tamini, from Palestine, stretches the boundaries in other ways, demanding extremes of virtuosity in a piece that in is in many ways immediately recognisable as Near Eastern.

Since the first two contain allusions to several songs by Machaut, Kern and Katharina Bäuml place them in a context of Machaut’s music, also played on accordion and shawm. In the Messe de Nostre Dame they omit the third Kyrie, the ‘Amen’ of the Gloria, the entire Credo and the Benedictus and Ite. But their performance of the music is elegant and lucid throughout, the shawm always on the top line. They treat the songs a bit more freely, even sometimes introducing some embellishment. But once again the textures are beautifully clear, especially in the famous ‘Ma fin est mon commencement’. Joachim Steinheuer contributes an authoritative and helpful booklet-note (with English translation).