Bax composed the last of his three mature string quartets between May and September 1936, inscribing it to the Griller Quartet who gave the first performance on the BBC National Programme the following May. An appealing, cogently structured 37-minute work, it is cast (unusually for Bax) in four movements, the joyous first of which ‘was probably influenced by the coming of spring in beautiful Kenmare’ (to quote the composer’s own descriptive notes in The Radio Times). An Irish flavour also permeates the bardic Poco lento, while the third movement’s ‘dreamy, remotely romantic’ trio melody is eventually cleverly welded to the ‘rather sinister and malicious’ scherzo material (try from the fugato passage at 7'26"). The vigorous finale builds up a fine head of steam and incorporates a wistful backward glance just before the close that is entirely characteristic of its creator.

Baxians have had to wait over two decades for a digital successor to the Amici Quartet’s pioneering LP (Gaudeamus, 11/79 – nla), so I’m delighted to report that the Maggini Quartet forge a well-paced and concentrated interpretation, playing with assurance, infectious rhythmic snap and heartwarming dedication. They are joined by violist Garfield Jackson for the haunting Lyrical Interlude from 1922 (a reworking of the slow movement from Bax’s ambitious String Quintet of 1908), and there’s another rarity in the shape of the lovely Adagio ma non troppo centrepiece from the 1903 String Quartet in E major that Bax orchestrated two years later as his first tone-poem, Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan. (You can hear Martyn Brabbins’ première recording of the latter on Chandos, 6/01.)

Throughout, the sound is faithful in timbre and the balance most musically judged. Next up from the Maggini on Naxos is a Frank Bridge cycle – a mouthwatering prospect! In the meantime, don’t miss this outstanding disc.