Continuum, co-directed by pianists Joel Sachs and Cheryl Seltzer, have been playing Roberto Sierra’s music for some 40 years now. This Naxos disc offers a generous handful of Sierra’s chamber and piano works composed between 2010 and 2019.

What struck me most forcefully from this assortment is the overall sense of stylistic unity. From the most aphoristic of the seven Piezas cortas (‘Short Pieces’) – the fifth is barely 30 seconds – to the pair of more meaty sonatas and Fuego de ángel (‘Angel Fire’) Sierra’s language remains remarkably consistent. I wouldn’t describe it as tonal, exactly, but there are tonal elements, and while the rhythms are complex, they often create a clarifying groove, as they do in the first of the Piezas cortas, which isn’t too far in spirit from the syncopated playfulness of Nancarrow’s early piano rolls.

Throughout the programme, Sierra’s craftsmanship shines through. In the third of the eight Piezas íntimas (‘Intimate Pieces’), for example, he takes another Nancarrow-like melodic and syncopated pattern and deftly transforms it into something touchingly lyrical and tender – and all in the space of a minute.

Sierra’s predilection for herky-jerky rhythmic patterns is found in the finale of the Violin Sonata, too, but it’s the incantatory slow movement (with a faint whiff of the exotic) that I find most haunting. There are few special effects in these works – rapid waves of harmonics in the first movement of the Viola Sonata (at 2'14") barely qualify – and, in fact, the composer’s ability to create drama from purely musical means is yet another reason his music is worth attentive listening. I love the almost Beethovenian way he builds tension in the ‘Misteriosa danza’ movement of Fuego de ángel (starting at 2'15"), for instance, yet as with everything on this album, the composer’s unique voice is never in doubt.

The performances are all excellent, with particularly fine playing from violinist Renée Jolles, viola player Stephanie Griffen and, of course, Continuum’s veteran pianists/directors.