Hitherto, recordings of Geirr Tveitt’s music have focused on his orchestral suites (12/94, 8/99, 6/01, 7/01, 4/02, 9/04) and piano music (3/98, 8/98), so this chamber programme is most welcome. The composer indicated that he wrote at least two string quartets, a quartet for four violins, two – possibly three – string sextets plus a concerto for string quartet and orchestra, and a ballet, Husguden (‘The Household God’), for an octet of flute, oboe, horn, harp and string quartet. Most of these were destroyed in the now infamous house fire in July 1970 that destroyed so much of his output.

Fragaria Vesca, a ‘flexible chamber music ensemble’ formed in 2006, open with one of the quartets, an eight-movement suite titled Frå ei reisedagbok (‘From a Travel Diary’). It is unclear which, since Tveitt suggested both quartets dated from the 1930s, but this Travel Diary, designated variously as No 1 and Op 5, depicts places around the Mediterranean – including the Via Appia, Tripoli, El Escorial and Seville – visited only years later, and results in a beautifully wrought Romantic work (harmonically 20th- rather than 19th-century). The other large piece, the 16-minute folk-ballet in 12 brief scenes Husguden (1956) is very different in atmosphere.

Both works receive very neat performances, although the recordings are close-miked and a touch claustrophobic. The two fillers are scored for a septet of string quartet, double bass, oboe or cor anglais and horn, and are based on two of Tveitt’s songs. In these guises they have a galumphing charm, as if being danced to by a troupe of infant pachyderms.