Fain’s debut recording, ‘Arches’ (Image Recordings, 2008), featured new works for solo violin by Kevin Puts and Daniel Ott alongside an impressively controlled performance of Bach’s Solo Partita No 2 in D minor, and was soon brought to Glass’s attention during recording sessions for the composer’s cycle of Leonard Cohen poems, The Book of Longing (2008). Fain’s cameo performance on the latter work is heard on ‘I Enjoyed the Laughter’, played again by him here in a version simply called Book of Longing. One can see why Glass was keen to collaborate further: his transparent and direct style demands crystal-clear articulation and razor-sharp accuracy, attributes that Fain’s playing possesses in abundance.

The Partita for solo violin, composed especially for Fain in 2011, comprises seven movements, which (with the exception of the ‘Opening’) are grouped neatly into alternating pairs of songs, dances and chaconnes. The near absence in some movements of Glass’s trademark triadic ostinatos and scale passages will come as a surprise to some, maybe a relief to others; however, a minor-key darkness and intensity typical of the composer is sustained throughout. The fiery ‘Dance 2’ probably comes closest to ‘default’ Glass, and, as if to make the point, Fain’s brilliant, scintillating rendition of ‘Knee 2’ from Einstein on the Beach, previously heard on ‘River of Light’ (Naxos 8.559662), is also included.

The disc ends with a set of four Interludes for solo violin which form part of Glass’s Violin Concerto No 2. Again, Fain’s incisive playing cuts through, and is altogether more direct and immediate than Robert McDuffie’s live recording with Marin Alsop and the LPO (Orange Mountain, 12/10).