Osvaldo Golijov is a new breed of contemporary composer, a spiritual heir to the poet Pablo Neruda. In his essay 'On Impure Poetry', Neruda calls for 'a poetry as impure as old clothes, as a body with its food stains and its shame, with wrinkles, observations, dreams, wakefulness, prophesies, declarations of love and hate, stupidities, shocks, idylls, political beliefs, negations, doubts, affirmations, and taxes.'

Which is about as succinct a description of Golijov's music as you are likely to get. Whereas the previous generation of Adams and Reich maintained a cool minimalist rigour, Golijov is all over the place. His 'St Marks Passion' was a Latino take on the Gospel, with Cuban drummers, a Brazilian soul singer and Argentinian choir as well as classical singers, including his muse, the soprano Dawn Upshaw.

'Ayre' is a marvellously evocative 'companion piece' to Luciano Berio's 1964 piece 'Folk Songs'. Elsewhere, his tunes embrace Jewish, Arab and Christian elements and summon up medieval Andalusia, where the different religions managed to live together, however uneasily. Sublime melodies mix with dirty rhythms, while Golijov throws in some electronic sounds.

He may not be a major composer, and purists loathe him, but in spite of the kitsch, dirt and, occasionally, silly elements in his music, Golijov is an electrifying jolt of energy in an often sterile classical world.

Download: 'Ayre'