SOLO HORN SONATAS by BITSCH, STEVENS, EDER,...

SOLO HORN SONATAS by BITSCH, STEVENS, EDER, KETTIG, HEIDEN, SALONEN. Andrew Lewinter,horn; Paul Posner, piano. (EMI Classics) * *

Here’s an odd disc for a major label to bring out: It features a little-known performer playing music of small moment straight out of the depths of 20th-century academia. There are passing pleasures. Marcel Bitsch’s “Variations sur une Chanson Francaise” engages with its playful polytonalism and bright textures. Bernard Heiden’s Sonata has a memorable Bachian minuet with a tune. Helmut Eder’s Sonatine impresses through its severity. Esa-Pekka Salonen’s brief “Hornmusic I” is a student work (he was a horn player), accomplished but, with its almost Straussian theme and standard form, uncharacteristic of his later music.There’s some good playing caught in thrilling close-up but only aficionados need apply.

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