In this fourth instalment of Weinberg string quartets, the Arcadia Quartet tellingly juxtapose one of his greatest works with two of his later and, in one instance, most radical such pieces.

Unheard for 60 years, the Sixth Quartet (1946) ranks with Weinberg’s defining masterpieces. Not the least distinguishing factor of the Arcadia’s account is the way that the six movements are rendered as a satisfying but by no means integrated whole; one initiated by the equivocal opening Allegro then intensified with a coursing Presto and an explosive Allegro. The gaunt Adagio searches in vain for a defining theme, then a restive intermezzo seeks out breathing space for the increasingly fractious course determined by the finale. Although the Arcadia eschew the visceral impetus of the Quatuor Danel or stark confrontation of the Silesian Quartet, their underlying technical finesse and emotional commitment duly reinforce this music’s stature.

Unfolding continuously, the Thirteenth Quartet (1977) extends its overall design by episodes akin to scherzo and slow movement; the whole infused with cumulative intensity which, allied to frequent usage of extended techniques, makes for a discomforting quality not assuaged by its anguished close. The Arcadia give the most probing account it has yet had and are hardly less inside the Fifteenth Quartet (1979). Its nine concise movements are variously interpretable with an ingenious sonata form implied by the aggressive ‘development’ of the middle three, framed by angular and thrusting ‘transitions’, headed by a double ‘exposition’ of fugitive inwardness then balanced by a ‘reprise’ whose relative poise engenders only the most tenuous of closures.

The Arcadia go a long way to conveying the essence of what could seem oblique or even intractable, enhanced with sound of demonstrable realism and abetted by David Fanning’s authoritative notes. Two thirds of the way through, this has emerged as a formidable cycle.