The Quartet No. 10 is built entirely from a four-note motif. Hill’s skill at thematic development and his experience as a quartet player are amply demonstrated. The first movement has a somewhat Elgarian wistfulness, occasionally descending to sentimentality, with the middle movements showing a contrapuntal skill not often credited to Hill and the last movement having some truly eloquent pages. The Quartet No. 11 is impressionistic in idiom and altogether more serious than its predecessor, although the two works were written in the same year. It has been recorded more than once before and is probably the best known of the quartets. The harmony is reminiscent of Delius, but the use of D-major tonality follows older procedures, though in an original way. The slow movement makes excellent use of the viola (no surprise to those who know the composer’s fine Viola Concerto) and has a haunting ending. The third movement is somewhat folkish, but again pays tribute to Delius at the end.

There is an energetic scherzo (Life as play), well-played by the Dominion Quartet and Richard Mapp, and the choral Gloria in Excelsis Deo. As vocal chamber music the finale is quite enjoyable…

…on the basis of this disc, I can highly recommend the series, both for committed playing and as first documentation of an important part of the quartet repertoire. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review