Both these pleasing discoveries date from Bridge’s fourth year at London’s Royal College of Music (and his first as a composition student of Stanford). Although the 17-year-old had originally enrolled to study violin and piano, he was increasingly attracted to the viola. During the winter of 1900-01, he made his debut on the instrument in Dvorák’s Terzetto and also took part in performances of Brahms’s Second String Quintet and Dvorák’s E flat Quintet. Not surprisingly, perhaps, echoes of both those masters pervade the B flat Quartet that Bridge wrote in December 1900. Winner of the RCM’s Arthur Sullivan Prize in March the following year, it’s a fluent and lyrical work, the two middle movements bringing fascinating glimpses of the composer’s early maturity.

The Bridge Quartet (who have been well recorded within a generous acoustic) prove persuasive advocates and are joined by Ivo-Jan van der Werff for the E minor Quintet, an even more stylish and resourceful piece completed in July 1901. Returning to the piece nearly a year after welcoming the Raphael Ensemble’s first recording, I was gratified to find how much of its material had lodged itself in my memory.

The Bridge players are intensely warm-hearted without ever quite matching the allure and exhilaration of their Hyperion rival. That said, this remains a very attractive release. The helpful notes come courtesy of the quartet’s viola player, Michael Schofield.