Ideal for confident young pianists keen to explore cutting-edge new music, the second book of Strides by Morgan Hayes adds five more distinctively original miniatures to the three ‘fugitive visions’ already published in Strides Book 1.

Propulsive rhythm and melody mark out turbid expressive territory in the first two pieces, while the third Stride explores ‘glacial’ octaves, and the fourth and fifth add new fantasy to a Bach sarabande and a chaconne.

Specific technical challenges in each p...