With these two discs The Brahms Trio conclude a journey of discovery that I have found both edifying and exhilarating. Vol 4 has to be my favourite, with a wonderful combination of Anton Arensky’s D minor Trio (1894) and Sergey Taneyev’s D major Trio (1906). Both composers belonged to the Moscow school, with Tchaikovsky as their model, and yet these works make a fascinating contrast. Arensky’s trio immediately pleases the ear, and we might even call it ‘middlebrow’. Taneyev’s trio demands more effort from the listener and undoubtedly qualifies as highbrow art: there is high emotion, certainly, but classical craftsmanship and ingenious counterpoint are always in evidence.

These three Russian virtuosos present the two trios with equal conviction, summoning up different palettes of colours for some truly high-level music-making. In the Arensky, their natural, speech-like delivery of the melody and their flexible rubato tug irresistibly at the heartstrings. In the Taneyev, they play with great seriousness of purpose, and also rise to the occasion when the composer steps outside his normal boundaries in the ferocious Scherzo – perhaps a reflection of the violence that overtook Russia in the Revolution of 1905.

In Vol 5, The Brahms Trio invite us to set out into terra incognita: don’t be surprised if you have not heard of Vladimir Dyck (who left Russia for France), Constantin von Sternberg (who ended up in the USA) or Sergey Youferov (who disappeared without trace after 1917). Their three trios, all written prior to the 1917 Revolution, are very different and full of surprises. Youferov’s Trio is a relentless emotional assault, while Sternberg’s is the opposite: classical in character, attractive if rather lightweight. Standing above these in artistic achievement is Dyck’s Trio, written in 1910 after he had settled in Paris. This is a powerful and persuasive work ranging from grandeur to whimsy. The slow movement illustrates perfectly his economy of means, as he somehow wrings highly affecting music out of simple three-note motifs.

Dyck’s life story is colourful and tragic: born in Odessa, he studied in Paris with Widor and won a Prix de Rome in 1911. He worked in lighter genres, including silent-movie scores, and also made a beautiful arrangement in 1933 of Hatikvah, when it became the official anthem of the Zionist Congress (today it is the national anthem of Israel). He was still in Paris when the German occupation began; in 1943 he was taken from his Paris home and from there conveyed to his death at Auschwitz.

The three composers on this disc could hardly find better advocates than The Brahms Trio. On a dull day, you might pass these scores by, but this top-class ensemble restore their magic. Together with the excellent fourth volume and the preceding three (6/21), this ‘History of the Russian Piano Trio’ is a set to treasure.