Boosted by the warm reception afforded to his early sonatas for violin and cello and First Piano Quartet, the 33-year-old Stanford penned what would prove to be his biggest chamber work in the spring of 1886. Lasting some 37 minutes and dedicated to Joseph Joachim, the Piano Quintet in D minor owes much to the example of the Schumann and Brahms quintets (one also wonders whether Elgar ever heard it). In its vaulting ambition, consummate polish and wealth of strong ideas, it’s a mightily impressive achievement all round; indeed, such is the music’s epic sweep, there are pages in the first and third movements especially which seem to cry out for orchestral garb. It’s also full of good tunes, not least in the playful scamper of the Scherzo and surgingly energetic and confident finale. A considerable discovery, in sum, which Piers Lane and the Vanbrugh Quartet do absolutely proud.

For the First String Quintet of 1903 the Vanbrugh are joined by violist Garth Knox (formerly of the Arditti Quartet) to give a passionate and stylish rendering of a piece of such beguiling facility and songful grace that one is amazed that it has lain neglected for so long. Of its three movements, the most individual and compelling is the extended concluding Allegretto, an entrancing theme-and-variations which not only manages to fuse elements of both scherzo and sonata-form finale but also effectively incorporates material from the work’s central Andante (an Irish lament in all but name).

The booklet essay by Jeremy Dibble is, as ever, a model of scholarly research and enthusiasm. Flawless sound and balance, too, from the experienced Keener/Eadon production crew.