Although he is remembered today mainly for his choral works, Anglo-Irish composer Charles Villiers Stanford produced a huge output of other music, including ten operas, seven symphonies, several concertos and a sizeable body of chamber pieces. These include eight string quartets, three of which are given their recording premieres on this attractive collection on the British Somm label, played with great elan and sensitivity by the excellent Dante Quartet.

The Third Quartet, which Stanford dedicated to his friend Joseph Joachim’s quartet, is the most substantial and was popular when it was first performed in 1898. Stanford composed it while he was on holiday in Milan, and it does have a passionate and Mediterranean feel. Although...