Now 82, Jean Francaix has earned respect and affection during his long career, even if he has hardly fulfilled the promise he made at the age of nine on hearing of Saint-Saens's death: ''I shall replace him''. None the less, he shares with that master both fluency and fine craftsmanship, as well as a refreshing aversion to the pretentiousness afflicting a couple of stronger Gallic figures. His music has something in common with that of Ibert and, in Britain, Sir Lennox Berkeley (also a Nadia Boulanger pupil), who admired it. Berkeley was not alone among the musicians of his generation and the String Trio was recorded for RCA by Heifetz, Joseph de Pasquale and Piatigorsky a quarter of a century ago, I note that AS (9/90) called it ''typically brief, slight, but cleverly written'': fair enough, but in this case brevity is the soul of wit and I enjoyed this deft new performance by a British family ensemble, although the vivid recording has a touch of roughness.
The Quartet for Cor anglais and String Trio is all the more welcome in that this lovely instrument undeservedly languishes with little solo repertory. Another musical Marwood, Caroline, joins her family here to good effect, and it seems appropriate that this work, written in 1970 for Janet Craxton's London Oboe Quartet, should emerge on a British disc. Like so much of this composer's music, not least the cheery First Wind Quintet, it has a distinctly jazzy bounce and geniality, reminding us that, in his seventies, he wrote a piece called Mozart new-look, it also demonstrates that the cor anglais can do other things besides playing slowly and wistfully. Of avant-gardism there is no trace: Francaix has always gone his own way—and, like Sir Malcolm Arnold, paid a price, at least in the short term. The two wind quintets are wittily played by fine musicians including the oboist Nicholas Daniel, and the recording, made in a different location from that of the Marwoods, offers good sound and balance.'