Building on the legacy of Rory Boyle’s own youthful studies as a clarinettist and pianist, the works on this new portrait disc span a near forty-year compositional period, from the Sonatina – written as a gift to Boyle’s teacher Lennox Berkeley – to Dramatis Personae and Burble, written for the present performers. Fraser Langton’s communicative flair in this music – with its striking rhythmic energy and refreshing absence of sentimentality – is infectious, while pianist James Willshire already has an acclaimed solo album of Boyle’s piano music to his credit (released on Delphian in 2011, Boyle’s sixtieth-birthday year). Together, and joined by Rosalind Ventris on viola in the concluding trio, they bring to life the composer’s inventiveness, humour, and unfailing sense of melodic line.