The music of the Catalan-American composer Leonardo Balada has been well served by Naxos; this is the fifth recording of his work to appear on the label. His music’s stylistic trajectory moved from neo-classicism to atonality (in the mid-1960s), and then, some 10 years later, without renouncing atonal thinking, he began to incorporate the folk styles of his and other countries into his music, aiming, it would seem, at a kind of historical and emotional depth that he felt had thus far eluded him.

The results are curious. While one is not deliberately bounced from one distorted world to another, there is a real sense of dislocation in the rapid changes of texture and harmonic style, to frequently bewildering effect – in fact, the composer describes his technique as ‘surrealist transformation’. While this seems to me to defeat the expressed aim of lamentation in the Symphony No 6, it works to more impressive effect in the Concerto for three cellos, and Balada’s evident mastery of orchestration plays no small role in this. Though I don’t quite feel the triumph of the human spirit that the composer informs us is there, the three cellos with the orchestra produce some fascinating, magical sounds.

The Steel Symphony is the earliest work recorded here, from 1972, and is a homage to the steelworkers of the world, moving from the tuning of the orchestra to a sound world suggested by the machines and furnaces of the factories of Pittsburgh. It’s a colourful, more straightforwardly ‘avant-garde’ work than the others. Performances are absolutely outstanding and beautifully recorded.