Written at Elgar’s remote cottage during a period of autumnal repose for an ageing composer, the two chamber works on this disc let the latter days of WWI and the encroaching musical avant-garde pass them by, basking in the comforting glow of romanticism. Despite this isolation, the Quintet in A minor Op 84 has some extroverted moments and a restless vigour that the Goldner Quartet and Piers Lane capture with flair, well paced and never overly sentimental.

The quintet expounds Elgar’s gifts in exquisitely wrought miniature – one marvels at the economy of gesture and mastery of form with which he articulates such emotional extremes. It’s every bit the Elgar we know and love from his symphonies and ceremonial works: rousing English anthems subside into melancholy-tinged reflection; then pure Nimrod in the stately elegance of the Moderato theme.

Lane brings delicate detail to the fore even in the most impassioned outbursts – with Julian Smiles’ cello he gets to the heart of one standout recurring motif, shimmering and almost Impressionistic as it drifts like falling leaves.

The Quartet in E minor Op 83 is perhaps more rhythmically and harmonically adventurous, the Goldners dashing off rapid...