When Heinrich Ströbel commissioned Olivier Messiaen to write a new piece for the Donaueschingen Festival, he took care to specify that the piano and the ondes martenot were to be strictly forbidden. (‘Attention, Messiaen! Cette-fois-ci, pas d'onde, pas de piano!’) Such a specification is liable to be read as a measure taken to guard against any possible revival of the sound-world of Turangalîla-symphonie (1946–8). In an effort to surpass the achievements of Turangalîla, however, Messiaen had moved rapidly and decisively in the intervening years. Brief periods of teaching at Darmstadt and Tanglewood led to an obvious surge of experimental works, followed by Réveil d'oiseaux (1953), Oiseaux exotiques (1955–6) and Catalogue d'oiseaux (1956–8), his first attempts at composing primarily with bird songs. With the completion of Chronochromie (1959–60), the aesthetic stance of most of the ensuing works was firmly in place.

Robin Holloway this year turns 60, the age when most composers feel able to relax a little, and graciously accept the marks of status – honorary degrees, birthday profiles, retrospective festivals and so on. But there's no sign of Holloway easing into a settled status and self-image. It has to be said this is partly because the traditional marks of status are not much on offer. The birthday commissions and tributes are thin on the ground, which he tries to be philosophical about. But you get the sense that if they were on offer, he wouldn't feel comfortable with them. Provisionality self-doubt, a permanent restlessness are the hallmarks of the man. That's true of any real composer rather than a career-composer, but it's especially true of Robin Holloway. Everything about him refutes his age and seniority, as if to acknowledge it in any way – even in unconscious things like body-language – would be a sort of betrayal. He has exactly the same slender frame he had when he arrived in Cambridge as a fellow of Gonville and Caius College in 1969, the same lean, delicately chiselled features, always registering a pained sensitivity as if the world is too bright or loud.

The language of every musical work can, if deemed necessary, be analysed. How each work responds to analytical prodding, however, varies considerably from work to work.

George Russell is 80. He is a band-leader. No, Tempo is not doing what everybody else is doing: dumbing down or getting on the bandwagon of cheap popularity. Nor are we in the least affected by the recent decisions of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and their ilk, to try do to jazz what they have been trying to do to classical music: replace musicians with trained dogs. George Russell is one of a very rare company of the most serious musician/misfits, one of the most innovative of jazz composers and theorists.

Julian Silverman's article and letter (Tempo 223, 224) are excellent, yet hard to accept in their entirety. I would love to agree with everything he says; instead, here I am writing in to tell him where he's wrong.

On David's last point, I am working on it. If I succeed, I'm not going to tell you all how. If I find I can't manage it, I'll go for adoption instead. Beneath the PRS I've always felt like a stray dog – or a member of an endangered species. But the officers of the society do well by their pets. I know: they send me their magazine, and there they all are, grinning expensively from their shiny pages. My own earnings from the PRS all these years, amount to 29p (no exaggeration). So I'd be well motivated to fetch papers for them, or whatever you have to do.

MESSIAEN: La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ1; Réveil des Oiseaux2. SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, EuropaChorAkademie c. 1Sylvain Cambreling, 2Hans Rosbaud; 2Yvonne Loriod (pno). Hänssler Classic 93.078 (2-CD set).

La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ. Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France c. Myung-Whun Chung. DG 471 569-2 (2-CD set).

Des Canyons aux Étoiles …. Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France c. Myung-Whun Chung, with Roger Muraro (pno), Jean-Jacques Justafré (hn). DG 471 617-2 (2-CD set).

Saint François d'Assise. Orchestre et Choeurs de l'Opéra de Paris c. Seiji Ozawa; José Van Dam (bar), Christiane Eda-Pierre (sop). Assai 222212 (4-CD set).

Saint François d'Assise. Halle Orchestra, Arnold Schoenberg Chor c. Kent Nagano; José Van Dam (bar), Dawn Upshaw (sop). DG 445 176-2 (2-CD set).

DUTILLEUX: Métaboles1; Cello Concerto2; The Shadows of Time3. 1Orchestra National de France c. Mstislav Rostropovitch; 2Arto Noras (vlc), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra c. Jukka-Pekka Saraste; 3Boston Symphony Orchestra c. Seiji Ozawa. Hlatus 0927-49830-2.

ELLIOTT CARTER: Steep Steps1; Two Diversions2; Oboe Quartet3; Figment No.24; Au Quai5; Of Challenge and of Love6; Figment No.17; Retrouvailles8; Hiyoku9. 1Virgil Blackwell, 2,8Charles Rosen, 3Stephen Taylor, 3Curtis Macomber, 3,5Maureen Gallagher, 3Eric Bartlett, 4,7Fred Sherry, 5Peter Kolkay 6Tony Arnold, 6Jacob Greenberg, 9Charles Neidich, 9Ayako Oshima. Bridge 9128

CARTER: Oboe Quartet1; Four Lauds2; A 6 Letter Letter3; Figments Nos.1–24. ISANG YUN: Piri5; Oboe Quartet6. 1,3,5,6Heinz Holliger, 1,2,6Thomas Zehetmair, 1,6Ruth Killius, 1,4,6Thomas Demenga. ECM New Series 1848/49

YUN: My Land, My People!; Exemplum in Memoriam Kwangju. Chorus and State Symphony Orchestra of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, c. Byung-Hwa Kim. Symphonies Nos. 1–5. Filharmonia Pomorska Bydgoszcz, c. Takao Ukigaya. Richard Salter (bar). CPO 999 165-2 (4-CD set)

‘Pierrot Dreaming’. MUSGRAVE: Canta! Canta!; Ring Out Wild Bells; Threnody; Pierrot; Chamber Concerto No. 2. Victoria Soames Samek (cl), Gabrielle Byam-Grounds (fl), David Le Page (vn/va), Matthew Sharp (vc), Mark Troop (pno). Clarinet Classics CC0038.

‘The Fall of Narcissus’. MUSGRAVE: Serenade; Narcissus; Impromptu for flute and cello; Wind Quintet; Impromptu No. 2 for flute, oboe and clarinet; Four Portraits for baritone, clarinet and piano. Victoria Soames Samek (cl), Members of English Serenata, David Le Page (va), Matthew Sharp (vc), Stephen Varcoe (bar), Rachel Masters (hp). Clarinet Classics CC0039.

MUSGRAVE: Memento Vitae; Helios; Night Music; The Seasons. Nicholas Daniel (ob), Scottish Chamber Orchestra c. Nicholas Kraemer; BBC Symphony Orchestra c. Jac van Steen. NMC (ANCORA+) D074.

‘Oriental Landscapes’. MUSGRAVE: Journey Through a Japanese Landscape. CHEN YI: Percussion Concerto. ZHOU LONG: Out of Tang Court. HOVHANESS: Fantasy on Japanese Wood Prints. Evelyn Glennie (perc), Singapore Symphony Orchestra c. Lan Shui. BIS CD 1222.

MICHAEL FINNISSY: ‘Lost Lands’. Dilok; Delal; Kulamen Dilan; Moon's gain' down; Runnin' wild; Keroiylu; Lost Lands. Topologies: Christopher Redgate (ob), Julian Warburton (perc), Philip Gibbon (bsn), Guy Cowley (E-flat cl), Andrew McNeil (soprano sax), Darragh Morgan (vln), Ian Pace (piano). Metier MSVCD92050.

FINNISSY: ‘Etched Bright with Sunlight’. Snowdrift; O, schöner Mai; Free Setting; Verdi Transcription No.10; Stanley Stokes, East Street 1836; Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sind; Alkan-Paganini; Etched Bright with Sunlight. Nicolas Hodges (pno). Metronome MET CD 1058.

MACMILLAN: Piano Sonata; in angustiis… I; Birthday Present; Barncleupédie; Lumen Christi; For Ian; A Cecilian Variation for JFK; Angel. MACRAE: Piano Sonata. Simon Smith (pno). Delphian DCD 34009

TUBIN: Symphonies Nos. 1–10. Gothenberg Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, Bamberg Symphony &Bergen Philharmonic c. Neeme Järvi. BIS 1402/1404(5-CDset)

NORBERT MORET: TriptyquepourlesFêtes1; Gastlosen2; Mendiant du Ciel bleu3. 1The Tallis Scholars; 2Fritz Muggler organ); 3Béatrice Haldas (sop), Philippe Huttenlocher (bar), Nederlandse Omroep Stichting of Hilversum, Maitrise de St-Pierre aux Liens of Bulle, Düdingen Women's Choir; Heiner Kühner, Catherine Moret, Claudia Schneuwly (organs), Basle Radio Symphony Orchestra c. Armin Jordan. Musiques Suisses MGB CD 6199.

ROLF LIEBERMANN: Furioso for orchestra1; Geigy Festival Concerto2; Medea-Monolog3; Les Echanges4; Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra5. 3Rachael Tovey (sop), 3Darmstadt Concert Choir; 2Alfons Grieder (perc); 1,2,5Simon Nabatov (pno); 5NDR Big Band, 1–5Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra c. Günter Neuhold. Naxos 8.555884.

BETTINA SKRZYPCZAK: Scène1; Miroirs2; Fantasie for oboe3; SN 1993 J4; Toccata sospesa5; Concerto for Piano and Orchestra6. 1Noemi Schindler (vln), Christophe Roy (vlc); 2Mireille Capelle mezzo-sop), Ensemble Contrechamps of Geneva; 3Matthias Arter (oboe); 4Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonia of Zlin c. Monica Buckland Hofstetter; 5Verena Bosshart (fl), Riccardo Bologna, Eduardo Leandro (perc); 6Massimiliano Damerini (pno), Philharmonische Werkstatt Schweiz c. Mario Venzago. Musikszene Schweiz Grammont Portrait MGB CTS-M 78.

RICHARD DUBUGNON: Piano Quartet1; Incantatio for cello and piano2; Trois Evocations finlandaises3; Cinq Masques for oboe4; Canonic Verses for Oboe, Cor Anglais and Oboe d'Amore5; Frenglish Suite for Wind Quintet6. 4,5Nicholas Daniel (ob), 5Emma Fielding (cor ang), 5Sai Kai (ob d'amore), 1Viv McLean (pno), 2Dominic Harlan (pno), 1Illka Lehtonen (vln), 1Julia Knight (vla), 1,2Matthew Sharp (vlc), 3Richard Dubugnon (db), 6Royal Academy Wind Soloists. Naxos 8.555778.

LEES: Symphonies Nos. 2, 3 and 51; Etudes for piano and orchestra2. 1Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz c. Stephen Gunzenhauser, 2James Dick (pno), Texas Festival Orchestra c. Robert Spano. Albany TROY 564/565 (2-CDset).

LEES: Passacaglia. PERSICHETTI: Symphony No 4. DAUGHERTY: Philadelphia Stories; Hell's Angels. Oregon Symphony c. James De Preist. Delos DE 3291.

FLAGELLO: Symphony No. 1; Theme, Variations and Fugue; Sea Cliffs; Intermezzo. Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra c. David Amos. Naxos 8.559148.

HOVHANESS: Symphony No 22, City of Light1; Cello Concerto2. 2Janos Starker (vlc), Seattle Symphony c. 1Alan Hovhaness, 2Dennis Russell Davies. Naxos 8.559158.

HOVHANESS: Symphonies: No 2, Mysterious Mountain; No 50, Mount St Helens; No 66, Hymn to Glacier Peak; Storm on Mt Wildcat, op.2 no.2. Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra c. Gerard Schwarz. Telarc CD-80604.

WILL TODD: St. Cuthbert. Patricia Rozario (sop), John Hudson (ten), Graeme Danby (bass); orthern Sinfonia Chorus, Durham Singers, Hallé Choir and Orchestra c. Christopher Austin. Mawson & Wareham Northumbrian Anthology MWM CDSP 56 79. (Distribution www.mwmrecords.co.uk or call 0191 232 8765; also obtainable online from www.tyalgumpress.com)

MYASKOVSKY: Symphonies Nos. 24 and 25. Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra c. Dmitri Yablonsky. Naxos 8.555376.

‘Lace Knots and Variations, and the Power of Sacred Physic’

MAGUIRE: Così1,2; Per Acqua3; Lace Knots1,4; Cummings Lieder5,2; Invenzione4. Inno a Dio3; L'Altro Quartetto4. 1Cristina Mantese (sop), 2Elisabetta Bocchese (pno), 3A Cappella Ensemble Lübeck c. Hartmut Bethke, 4Paul Klee String Quartet,. 5Julie Mellor (mezzo). New World 80602-2.