Delius, Elgar: String Quartets CD review – zest and passion

Villiers Quartet(Naxos)Elgar’s only string quartet, a masterpiece of the chamber music repertoire premiered in 1918, is well established. That of his contemporary Delius, dating from a year earlier, is more of a rarity. The composer was discontented with his first (three-movement) attempt and reworked the opening movement and the wistful “Late Swallows” slow movement. Both versions are included here, each characterised by boundless melody, unexpected major-minor shifts and rhyt