In 1982 Milton Babbitt received a lifetime Pulitzer Special Award in Composition for his “life’s work as a distinguished and seminal American composer”. The works on this disc show him at his most sparkling. Crystalline textures, sudden changes of direction and, above all, the celebration of phenomenal instrumental virtuosity, characterise this recording. Written over the space of eleven years, these chamber pieces demonstrate the same expressive power and richness that typify Babbitt’s larger-scale works.