For 15 years now‚ Piers Hellawell has been building a steady reputation as a musical non­conformist. The present disc features two concerto­type works from either end of the last decade‚ and a string quartet work that demonstrates his imaginative approach to instrumental textures to the full. Quadruple Elegy (1990) takes as its starting point the political upheavals of 1989‚ and marks the outset of the blues­inflected harmonic idiom that the composer evolved over the next decade. The incisive violin figuration and melodic slides of ‘Baku’‚ the irregular dance measures of ‘Tibilisi’‚ and the rhapsodic motion of ‘Timisoara’ are concluded by the irridescent calm of a homage to Jan PalacÊ–Êfallen hero of the 1968 Prague SpringÊ–Êwhich ensures a musical focus to balance the conceptual framework. The Still Dancers (1992) draws on examples of natural phenomena in a novel approach to string quartet composition. Onomatopoeic invocations preface each of the three movements: respectively animated (with a hint of 1980s Reich)‚ impulsive and graceful (with attractive Cage­ian percussives). The work has more recently been performed in the context of prints by Jean Duncan‚ which would have been good to have as a CD­ROM component on the disc. Inside Story (1999) is as much a non­ as a double concerto. Violin and viola are on equal terms with the orchestra throughout‚ appearing in the vivacious opening movement as linear continuities in often dense and elaborate textures. Although no extra­musical associations are at work here‚ the progress of the second movement from soaring recitative‚ through a series of increasingly diverse variations‚ to the excitable close suggests a programme played out in sound. Committed performances by all concerned‚ a natural sound balance‚ and detailed notes round out a well­planned overview of an engaging and still­emerging compositional talent.