For some years now Erkki-Sven Tüür has been routinely described as the leading Estonian composer. With this disc he not only justifies that label but lays claim to wider recognition.

Composed in 1998, his 35-minute three-movement Violin Concerto launches straight in with manic arpeggiati from the soloist that would not be out of place in a concerto by Ligeti – except that the gestures are more for the sake of expressive immediacy than for virtuoso game-playing. Tüür’s stylistic range encompasses neo-Romanticism (I picked up hints of Walton), neo-minimalism (shades of Adams), and even some Tavener-esque ecstatic melody as the slow movement strives to climb out of the depths before going somewhere altogether more esoteric (the Tavener idea comes back at the end of this movement, where Tüür originally planned to let the concerto end). Shades of folk music in the finale are not inappropriate to a work that feels all about re-engaging with tradition.

If anything the strongest affinity I detect is with Per Nørgård; not just because of the spiralling patterns, the occasional microtones and the metaphors of light and dark that Tüür’s textures bring to mind, but because like the Dane he has become progressively more interested in the in-between processes of his music, rather than in its individual ideas. That makes for challenging listening; but when the sense of continuity and purpose is so strong, the rewards are great. This is music that is exhilaratingly open to experience, without ever lapsing into silliness or cheap thrills.

Enormous responsibility is placed on the soloist, and Isabelle van Keulen shoulders it superbly. Both here and in the two equally recent orchestral studies (of which Exodus brings strong reminders of Tüür’s early activity as a rock musician) Paavo Järvi has the CBSO playing as though the music has always been in their blood. The recording captures the full range of Tüür’s orchestral colours, and the booklet includes an illuminating interview with the composer as well as helpful descriptive notes.