BIS’s exploration of Sibelius juvenilia continues with this anthology charting the fledgling composer’s relationship with the quartet genre between 1885 and 1889. Only the E flat Quartet (1885) has been previously recorded, and in the Tempera Quartet’s characterful hands it leaves a more vibrant impression than on the Finlandia recording with the Sibelius Academy Quartet (the engineering is far more tangible and full-bodied, too). After a fluent if hardly gripping sonata-form Allegro (with faint echoes of Haydn and Schumann), the rest of the work throws up some intriguing glimpses of things to come, above all the second movement, where there are a couple of examples of rapid passagework that look forward to the slow movement of the Second Symphony.

Otherwise, it’s a case of feeding off scraps, albeit with some reasonably juicy morsels along the way. Kalevi Aho completed both the tiny Scherzo in B minor (1885) and notably more ambitious and characteristic Theme and Variations in C sharp minor (1888; listed by Sibelius as his official Op 1 until 1911). Another considerably more compact set of variations forms the last of the rather Schubertian Three Pieces. These also date from 1888, as do the Allegretto in D major and Andantino in C (charming minatures both, the latter launching with a rising idea for viola similar to that which opens the 1893 Karelia Overture). The 33 Small Pieces from 1888-89 last just 18 minutes: give or take the occasional flash of inspiration (No 12 amusingly foreshadows the ‘Dance of the Knights’ from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet!), it’s not exactly the most nourishing fare. By this time, Sibelius was nearing the end of his composition studies under Martin Wegelius at the Helsinki Music Institute and his growing maturity is amply demonstrated by the Andante – Allegro molto in D and Andante molto sostenuto in B minor, both of which sound like they were once part of a bigger, multi-movement creation.

So, an interesting but hardly mandatory survey, except perhaps for Sibelius’s staunchest admirers. BIS’s annotation is, as ever, exemplary.