Kevin Puts wrote his Marimba Concerto (1997, rev 2021) while a graduate student at the Eastman School of Music. It represents, he says, his ‘most direct and unguarded voice as a composer’. You can hear this openness in the way he treats the first movement’s lovely melody, turning it over and over as if not wanting to let go of something so precious. With its bright orchestral colouring and harmonic optimism, the music sings with a clear American accent. That said, the lyrical slow movement (just for strings) might appeal to those who love Finzi. In the moto perpetuo finale, he brings back the first movement’s melody to tie the strands neatly together, although the abrupt ending sounds non-committal for such deeply committed music. Ji Su Jung plays the intricate solo part with precision and an easy grace.

I’m less taken with The City (2016), composed on a commission from Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony. It was initially presented in concert with an accompanying film (although the music was composed first) and, as with much of Puts’s work, the music does have an unabashedly evocative, cinematic quality. The rhythmic energy of the opening, with its echoing volleys of percussion, made the strongest impression. Despite Puts’s ability to craft sophisticated transitions, the 22-minute score feels episodic, and attention wanders.

I was, however, thoroughly engaged throughout all of Moonlight (2018), his Second Oboe Concerto (the title reflects inspiration from Barry Jenkins’s Academy Award-winning film). In the first movement, the solo part arches over unsettled harmonies, leaning on dissonances as if in an aria of heartbreak. Repeated notes and motifs give the second movement a sense of urgency, and in the run-up to the cadenza, Puts builds rhythmic tension masterfully. If you want a taste of Puts’s ability to create a sweeping cinematic vista, the finale has it (starting at 1'24"), although it’s the coda that moved me most. Listen to the oboe take wing at 5'28" – it feels transformational yet of a piece with what’s come before. Moonlight is, to my ears, Puts’s finest orchestral work to date. The Baltimore SO’s principal oboist Katherine Needleman plays her part with riveting expressivity. And, indeed, all three performances are first-rate, as is the recorded sound.