Of all the composers of the experimental period in which he was writing, there were few who crystallised their musical identity into their chamber music with as much purity as Alexander Zemlinsky. As a result, it is surprising that there aren’t more recordings of his string quartets (whether readily available or in the pipeline), either as musical curiosity or simply because of their beauty – the array of influences from his multicultural background is so colourful you can almost see them shifting as you listen to the quartets in sequence.

The Escher Quartet manage the evolving landscape of these works seamlessly: their ability to absorb changes in style, melody and mood with the fluid grace of a figure skater not only makes sense of the kind of constantly morphing music that forms the basis of the Fourth Quartet but also makes interesting the sort of angular, mannerist material that defines the Third.

Zemlinksy’s quartets are not the easiest of his works to get to know, but the second two are a good place to start: they are less frantic (and free of his early Brahms influence) than the first pair and are great ambassadors for a composer inexplicably neglected when placed next to his contemporaries. The Escher may, though, simply be saving the mighty Second Quartet for last. Whether that will outstrip the thankfully reissued LaSalle Quartet version of 1980 remains to be seen; but if their first volume is anything to go by, it’s odds on. But whatever the reason, that the disc is designated Vol 1 is a promising indicator that a definitive set of the quartets will soon sit on the shelves, next to those of Zemlinsky’s more conspicuous contemporaries such as Berg and Bartók.