Lynn Raley reviews

As this latest Nimbus anthology of her recent output confirms, the American composer Augusta Read Thomas (b1964) has a gift for immediate communication, enhanced by a flair for titles and background programmes that provide the listener with useful ways into the music. The oldest piece here is Ritual Incantations of 1999, a sequence of three declamatory monologues for cello supported by vivid orchestral writing: David Finckel is the compelling orator at the heart of events.