Astro Cats is the second in composer John Carbon’s series of solo piano collections pairing feline characters with astrological counterparts, the first being Astro Dogs. However, whereas in Astro Dogs, each sign of the zodiac is represented by 12 different breeds of domestic dog, in Astro Cats only three domestic breeds of cat are represented, the remaining nine being wild felids including a lion, a tiger and a hyena (it’s more closely related to cats than to dogs) and one wild card, the Cheshire Cat.

Personal as well as astrological associations influenced the music, says Carbon, which was also inspired by the behaviours common to the animals including pouncing, crouching and sprinting. Carbon’s writing is rich, colourful and impressively individual and Steven Graff a sympathetic and gifted interpreter. My one complaint is that Astro Cats feels like a hostage to its subjects, the listener constantly trying to discern the character of the animal from the music when the truth is, the music is good enough to stand on its own four feet.