Ophélie Gaillard (cello), Francette Bartholomée (harp), Dominica Eyckmans (viola), Jean-Philippe Merckaert (organ) Aparté AP014****

Belgium's Pierre Bartholomée (born 1937) has led a double career as a conductor and composer. The four works recorded here show a sophisticated ear for instrumental technique and sonority. Oraison(2007) for cello is an obsessive narrative with the convoluted clarity of a seanchaí, and moves towards a state of quiescence. Zigzag(2006) and Wintry Day(2007) are studies written for a harp competition, both busy works but in entirely different ways. The contrasting voices in Face à face(2009) for viola were inspired by the death of a composer colleague, Henri Pousseur. And the 40-minute Livre d'Orgue(1008), recorded on the impressive Westenfelder organ of Maredsous Abbey, sounds like a heavy distillation of the world of the late 20th- and early 21st-century organ. Fine performances. See url.ie/c6ew