The most familiar groups of composers linked by nationality are probably the ‘Russian Five’ and the French ‘Les Six’. On the other hand, the ‘Turkish Five’ (Ahmet Adnan Saygun, Ferid Alnar, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Cemal Reşit Rey and Necil Kazım Akses) get relatively little press, an issue that pianist Beyza Yazgan aims to put right with ‘To Anatolia’, a recital largely made up of short pieces.

It begins with Saygun’s gently loping Meşeli (‘Oak-filled mountains’), leading into Alnar’s tuneful and subtly embellished On the Slope. The mood accelerates with Yazgan’s deft handling of the quick seven-beat patterns in Saygun’s first Sketch on Aksak Rhythms. If you don’t have five minutes for Ravel’s Jeux d’eau, then take 37 gratifying seconds over Erkin’s babbling brook. Rey’s Horon is a more extended seven-beat showpiece, while Erkin’s Five Drops suite organically fuses folk traditions and defiant dissonances. The suggestive ostinatos and sparse textures distinguishing Alnar’s Moonlight through the Curtain deserve a special mention, as well as the same composer’s slowly building, quasi-ceremonial Zeybek Dance.

Because the composers share a common sensibility and orientation, their pieces tend to stand out more when heard separately or a few at a time. In this regard, I would have welcomed at least one more longer multi-movement work to compliment Saygun’s vividly contrasted Sonatina, Op 15. While Yazgan unquestionably internalises Saygun’s idiom, she takes the third movement at considerably less than the Prestissimo evident from Gülsin Onay’s more buoyant and incisive recording (Aulos). And Yazgan’s sensitive and straightforward reading of the central Adagio con moto doesn’t match Onay’s exquisite tonal shadings and textural differentiation. However, a high level of thought, care and commitment clearly inform Yazgan’s programming and presentation, including her extensive annotations.