This recording showcases the results of the fifth iteration of the annual RůŽičková Composition Competition, which invites composers to write for baroque violin. The competition’s founder, Ada Witczyk, is joined by violinist Simon Standage and harpsichordist Dominika Maszczyńska. The playing is solid and spirited, though the continuo might have provided more swing, and when the note-spinning gets more than usually intense (as near the end of Salvatore Passantino’s chaconne-inspired Ostination) the pace noticeably flags. Otherwise, the composers are credibly represented. Whether the selection is representative of what was submitted only the members of the judging panel could tell, but it seems a shame that the possibilities of the baroque violin (as opposed to its modern avatar) are so little exploited, to say nothing of the harpsichord. The aesthetic of what’s offered here is decidedly uniform, not to say monochrome, with a great deal of wrong-note pastiche, including an incomplete final cadence straight out of PDQ Bach.

Weirdly, pastiching extends beyond the Baroque to all kinds of tonality, whether appropriate to these instruments or not (hints of Fauré, Viennese waltz, even Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale); if there’s any ironic intention here it is hard to discern. Honourable mention might go to Alexander Unseth, the youngest composer here by some distance, whose writing carries a stronger sense of stylistic purpose (unapologetic pastiche, if you like), particularly the first movement of his One of Seven; but on this showing at least, the competition’s stated intention to bring baroque instruments into the 21st century rings quite hollow.