The beautifully crafted music of Buxton Orr (1924-97) has been shockingly neglected. Here is a composer, born in Scotland, who held an important position in the academic musical world but whose music is far more than just academic. He was for long closely associated with the left-wing composer Benjamin Frankel, with whom he studied.

This two-disc collection is centred on Orr’s two string quartets. The First (1977) is in a flexible form of nine linked sections which in effect form a brief introduction and four movements. The tonal idiom is not likely to disconcert anyone who enjoys the Bartók quartets, though Orr’s thematic material is never as striking and one would welcome more melodic ideas which stick in the mind. Orr is adept in controlling his many speed-changes, which the Beethoven Trio, joined by the violinist Andrew Roberts, control with a feeling of spontaneity. After some sharply dramatic sequences, the 23-minute work closes in reflective mood.

The Second Quartet (1985) consists of four distinct movements. The hushed close of the Con moto first movement leads into a deeply reflective Adagio with sustained melodic lines leading to more fragmentary development. The scherzo is the most clearly Bartókian movement, leading to the final theme and variations, with the solo violin enunciating the theme and with comments from the other three instruments in satisfyingly clean-cut writing.

The String Trio (1996), one of Orr’s last works, is in a more compact form of three movements lasting just under 15 minutes. The Adagio first movement leads into the central Andante resoluto, with melodic writing never quite developing into a memorable tune, while the Allegro vivace finale is attractively vigorous if a little short-winded.

The Duo for the unlikely combination of Baroque violin and double bass was commissioned by the artists who perform it on the disc, both plainly devoted to the music. In effect it sounds rather like a Baroque trio sonata with a figured bass which has no harmony folded in. Altogether an attractive collection of music that deserves to be better known, beautifully played and recorded.