Schumann’s works for solo instrument(s) with piano are often subsumed within multi-composer recitals so it’s more than worthwhile to have a programme such as this, presenting a selection of them in affectionate and technically irreproachable performances. Practice rooms and audition halls have rung for generations with the sound of music such as the clarinet Fantasiestücke and the oboe Romanzen – works that are integral parts of the young musician’s training as he or she develops technique and repertoire. And, whether Schumann’s inspiration is fairy-tale (Märchenbilder, Märchenerzählungen), a more general fantasy or a specific player (Ferdinand David in the First Fiddle Sonata), his craftsmanship is nearly always utterly idiomatic, the product of a veteran songsmith blessed with a wholly Romantic imagination.

The five woodwind and string players of the Nash Ensemble respond ideally to this music – music which surely they have known and loved throughout their playing lives – and Ian Brown is an ever-sensitive collaborative pianist (so much more than a mere accompanist in works by such a piano-centric composer). Picking comparisons is invidious and anyway this particular sequence is surely unique on disc. Unique and compelling from beginning to end: if one were pressed to choose highlights one might commend Richard Watkins in the horn Adagio and Allegro, Lawrence Power in the viola Märchenbilder, and Power and Richard Hosford in a really fantastic performance of the Märchenerzählungen. The oboe Romanzen played a major role in the soundtrack of this formerly oboe-playing reviewer’s childhood and Gareth Hulse’s performance transported me happily back to the many hours spent imbibing its technique and atmosphere.