The Maggini Quartet’s tireless exploration of the British string quartet repertoire continues in fine style with this indispensable anthology devoted to Alan Rawsthorne (1905-71). Launching proceedings are the Theme and Variations for two violins from 1937, a bracingly inventive 15-minute essay that secured Rawsthorne’s reputation as a major new voice. The rigorous First Quartet of 1939 (itself pre-dated by two unpublished essays in the medium from 1933 and 1935) is also cast as a theme and variations; its economy of thought and fastidious polish will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Rawsthorne’s exhilarating Symphonic Studies and piano Bagatelles completed the previous year.

Premiered by the Griller Quartet at the 1954 Cheltenham Festival, the Second Quartet again yields plentiful nourishment and stimulation for both head and heart. Written in 1965, the Third Quartet is at once the most searching and tightly organised of the three. Not a single note is wasted, while the central Chaconne manifests a distinct kinship with the brooding Sarabande slow movement from Rawsthorne’s Third Symphony (1964).

We have, of course, come to expect the highest standards from the Maggini/Naxos alliance – and this new issue does not disappoint. Inquisitive readers can rest assured that the Maggini’s performances are as deeply pondered as they are powerfully communicative: theirs is music-making of entrancing skill, cogent drive and tangible dedication. Boasting sound and balance of impressive realism, in addition to lucid notes by John Belcher of the Rawsthorne Trust and the composer himself, it’s got to be one of my discs of the year.