Beck’s performances do them proud, bringing together all five pieces in one recording for the first time. Spanning much of the composer’s creative life, from 1953 to 2003, the sonatas offer a superb introduction to Walker’s music. It ’s possible to point to this or that influence – European modernism, serialism, folk songs – yet these ingredients are always forged into something new.

Though Walker was himself a formidable pianist, there's very little virtuosity for its own sake, and his supremely imaginative approach to variation-form (notably in the central 'Bell' movement of Sonata No. 3) is a joy, as is the clarity and palpable affection of Beck's playing throughout.