DG marks the imminent change of status of 20th-century music by launching a new 20/21 series. The Takemitsu CD confines itself to music from the last decade of the composer's life, five orchestral works framed by short brass fanfares. The dominating preoccupations are dreams, nature (sea, wind) and Japanese gardens, the music breathing French influences (Debussy, Messiaen) from every pore, the London Sinfonietta under Oliver Knussen magicking every last gesture of colouristically sensual allure. Characteristic persistent trills and gestures of flight permeate the two spatialised works by Boulez, one for orchestra (Ensemble InterContemp orain/Boulez), the other for solo clarinet (Alain Damiens). Strangely, given the severity of the composer's reputation, the over-riding impressions are of play, indulgence and enchantment. By Michael Dervan

Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians. Ensemble Modern (RCA)

Reich aficionados will understand immediately what a very special offering this is. It's not just the warm endorsement of the composer himself that counts (and he has performed the piece with Ensemble Modern), but the fact that this minimalist classic is being heard on disc for the first time without the composer's own ensemble.

In 1976, Music for 18 Musicians was Reich's biggest, most colourful piece. Until recently, there was no score, only parts written in shorthand, so the field was closed. Now the hypnotic percussive pulsing, with its rhythmically intricate weavings of throbbing clarinets and ethereal voices can at last take on an independent life. As a landmark of its time, it's well worth getting to know. By Michael Dervan

Harold Wright: Recitals 1 & 2 (Boston Records)

Harold Wright's playing is much more widely known than his name. Principal clarinettist of the Boston SO from 1970 until his death in 1993, he was a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and active in the Marlboro Festival, where he also featured in recordings. A mostly introverted player, his trademark was a soft-spoken flexibility. Typically he moulded the contour of a phrase with a gentle caress and avoided the straight-lining to which clarinettists are prone, etching with delicacy in passages where other players might tend to be simply aggressive. These two discs comprise unedited concert tapings. Vol 2 includes Schubert's Hirt auf dem Felsen (utterly haunting, with Benita Valente and Rudolf Serkin) plus works by Weber, Ingolf Dahl and Pierre Sancan (with Luis Batlle at the piano). Standards by Saint Saens, Debussy, Martinu, Poulenc and Lutoslawski fill Vol 1. By Michael Dervan