Until I began my research into this CD I was convinced that nothing of any cultural value could ever have come out of Croydon. (I lived there for several years.) And here I sit happily corrected as I have learned that Samuel Coleridge-Taylor lived there for a significant part of his life. From an early age Coleridge-Taylor showed an extraordinary aptitude for the violin, and he enrolled at the Royal College of Music in 1890 to study the instrument. There, his interest in composition developed. He went on to study with Stanford and was regarded as one of his most brilliant students - high praise indeed when one considers that Stanford also taught Bliss, Bridge, Holst, Howells, Ireland, Moeran and Vaughan Williams! It was in 1893 that the Piano Quintet received its first public performance. The critic of the Croydon Advertiser used the word ‘astonishing’ in his review, but sadly it seems that the quintet was not played again for another 100 years. The revival of such works as this and the Ballade for violin and piano, which has a majestic yet serene quality, is of interest because they display the makings of a great composer; but it is the final work that is the jewel of this disc. The Clarinet Quintet was written in 1895 as a response to Stanford’s comment that after Brahms’s, no one would be able to write a quintet that was not influenced in some way by his. Coleridge-Taylor took up this challenge and on inspecting the result Stanford remarked ‘you’ve done it, me boy!’ On hearing this work for the first time it struck me as quite extraordinary that it has not been performed more frequently; it would make an inspired coupling with the Brahms, for instance. The first movement Allegro energico opens with a punchy clarinet theme which sets the tone for its entirety. Then comes the Larghetto affetuoso which starts with a homogenous string background over which the clarinet presents to us the theme, the development of which has a delicate English pastoral quality and is uncommonly beautiful. The final two movements are based on folk-like material, the Scherzo being delightfully playful in nature while the Allegro Agitato sounds Dvorákian in places - hardly surprising, since Dvorák was a composer much admired by Coleridge-Taylor. The Nash Ensemble plays with their usual brilliance and conviction and I would heartily recommend this disc to any chamber music enthusiast.

Reviewed by Dawn Cooke