The Nash players do these deeply attractive and enjoyable works proud… in affectionate performances that revel in Coleridge-Taylor's idiomatic and challenging writing.

Suave musicianship and sonic warmth … The Nash Ensemble offers a vital and intellectually stimulating account of these rarities and their devotion repays the listener’s curiosity many times over. The playing is fresh and vibrant, not to mention poised and erudite … not as much as a single note will disappoint

Coleridge-Taylor is enjoying a decent innings at present. The performance of the 1895 Clarinet Quintet is superb: it comes as no surprise to learn that these consummate artists had given a memorable live rendering at the Wigmore Hall just a few weeks previously. The work emerges as a quite astonishingly mature achievement for a 19- year-old, its pleasing sense of architecture and ambition reinforced by the inclusion of the firstmovement exposition repeat. What's more, the slow movement is now revealed as so much more than just a songful interlude, its 'deepest sensibility' (to quote Lionel Harrison's admirable annotation) and wistful tenderness that recalls the ravishing Air from Parry's An English Suite.
The even earlier Piano Quintet (1893) may be marginally less assured but likewise manifests a tumbling lyricism and joyful spontaneity worthy of Dvorák, and well merits the entrancingly poised championship it receives here. The 13- minute Ballade in C minor for violin and piano was written in 1907 for the Anglo-Russian virtuoso Michael Zacherewitsch (1879-1953), who had made his debut at the age of 12 playing the Tchaikovsky Concerto under the composer's baton.
Backed up by a blemish-free production from the Keener/Eadon team and attractively presented, this has to be one of the most engaging releases of the year.

Coleridge-Taylor is enjoying a decent innings at present… now comes this wonderful Hyperion collection featuring the Nash Ensemble at its golden-tones and responsive best. …the 1895 Clarinet Quintet… emerges as a quite astonishingly mature achievement for a 19-year-old... The even earlier Piano Quintet (893) may be marginally less assured but likewise manifests a tumbling lyricism and joyful spontaneity worthy of Dvorák, and well merits the entrancingly poised championship it receives here.

It is all masterfully performed by the Nash Ensemble whose unforced yet vital performances are a constant source of joy. Immaculate recording.

The Nash Ensemble’s performances, as one would expect, are devoted and full of insight