From one of Australia's leading composers, Elena Kats-Chernin, Signum presents a disc of jazzy piano rags and melancholic musings, with duos for piano and violin of energy, romance and charm, with echoes of Debussy to Shostakovich. Two highly talented young UK artists - Sarah Nicolls (piano) and Nicola Sweeney (violin) - perform this previously unrecorded repertoire which is immediately appealing, yet has intriguing layers and depths that demand repeat listening. Elena Kats-Chernin is a composer who defies categorization and is probably best summed up as a force of nature. Her prodigious imagination has produced a vast body of work, unparalleled in range, drawing from all the musical traditions of the past and present. A virtuosic pianist and improviser, her compositions flow from her like a fountain. This CD is drawn from the small works she often writes for her own enjoyment - a cornucopia of rags, lbues and heart-melting melodies.