Nicole Paiement and the Ensemble Parallèle already have tremendous form when it comes to Lou Harrison. Their performance of his opera Rapunzel (New Albion Records, 1997) revealed what a sensuously textured and dramatically honed piece it is, and now they follow through with a disc of Harrison premiere recordings released to commemorate his death in 2003.

One slight moan – Elegy for Harpo Marx and David’s Lament are listed the wrong way round on the CD cover and the accompanying notes seem rather perfunctory, but the performances themselves are reliably top-notch. Mass for St Cecilia’s Day (1983-86) is one of those glorious examples of Harrison immersing himself in an alien tradition and respectfully transforming it into something to call his own. The work was written for a choir that specialised in the restoration of Gregorian chant, and Harrison devised his own modes that reflected the tradition while moving it on. The high level of invention he displays as unison melismas unfold is prodigious; meanwhile artfully conceived ensemble colours (left largely to the performer’s discretion) are supportively deployed.

The other extended piece, New Moon (1986), was originally written to accompany choreography by Erick Hawkins but stands up remarkably well on its own, despite its episodic structure. Harrison’s melodic material seems to flow directly from the natural grain of the heavily featured cello but never sounds hackneyed, and the sound world he evokes shimmers with painterly movement. Four “occasional pieces” demonstrate his mastery of the miniature, from the melancholy of In Memory of Victor Jowers to the bittersweet pathos of the Harpo Marx memorial.