Manchester-based Richard Whalley has built up a notable catalogue over two decades, with the calibre of performers on this first release dedicated to his music confirming the respect which it is accorded. The most recent piece, A Very Serious Game (2012), demonstrates the contrasting qualities evident in his work overall – three MC Escher lithographs providing inspiration for a triptych (and also the quizzical piano study Three Worlds of 2009 that rounds off the disc) which amply reflects their calculated anarchy. Oblique imagery also lies behind the continuous timbral shifts of Ad infinitum (2000) – its abstraction seemingly far removed from Tachophobia (2008), whose points of departure in Bach and Quentin Tarantino engender this four-movement suite with its scherzo culminating in the most dextrous pizzicato and a finale whose febrile velocity might be thought the apt evocation of a car chase. Most impressive is Intoxicating Orchids (2007), its six movements directly inspired by that plant’s array of scents, with significant roles for saxophone and harpsichord which are both highlighted and integrated within the framing ‘Stanhopea’; and with the four movements between them each focusing on different aural ‘scents’ such as amount to a chamber concerto as diverse texturally as it is intricate harmonically.

The performances could hardly be more finely attuned to the technical challenges, while the composer’s own booklet-notes set the scene succinctly (more detailed information can be found at richardwhalley.com). As a ‘feast for the senses’, Whalley’s music demonstrably has much to recommend it.