Here we have the seventh commercially released recording of Ronald Stevenson’s 1962 Passacaglia on DSCH, based on the four-note D-E flat-C-B natural pattern that spells out Shostakovich’s initials, plus an hour’s worth of previously unrecorded compositions. James Willshire’s pianism often evokes Stevenson’s own incisively sprung rhythms and sharp dynamic contrasts (the Fanfare towards the beginning of Part 2), along with the natural ebb and flow of his rubato. At the same time, Willshire’s generalised articulation holds less interest in comparison to the character and specificity one finds elsewhere. Take, for example, the First Episode’s opening upwards unison pianissimo scales in triplets, so literal and uneventful in Willshire’s hands, next to the witty, rapier Murray McLachlan (Divine Art) and electrifyingly shimmering Raymond Clarke (Marco Polo). Similarly, Willshire’s austere articulation of the triple fugue’s first section pales next to McLachlan’s brisk, light and imaginatively pointed rendition. And no one quite gauges the inside-the-piano glissandos like Stevenson in his out-of-print 1988 Altarus remake (10/98).

However, the ‘new’ works showcase Willshire’s poetic strengths: try the Nocturne that pays homage to Field by chanelling late Fauré, or the composer’s youthful, Hindemith-like two movement Sonatina No 2. Grainger’s big slabs of chords and Busoni’s restless modulations inform the 1949/50 Waltzes, in contrast to the Bax Variations’ textural delicacy. The 1955 Pizzetti Variations’ terse linear trajectory foreshadows similar moments in the Passacaglia. In sum, Willshire’s DSCH may not warrant an unqualified recommendation, yet its excellent sound and additional music cannot be discounted.