Gerard Schurmann celebrates his 93rd birthday (January 2017) with this third Toccata Classics album of his chamber music. His two piano quartets, downstream from Bartók, Shostakovich and Britten, present a wide range of moods, from broad and stately tempi topassages of driving energy and excitement. He was in his mid-seventies when he wrote Piano Quartet No. 2 but it buzzes with youthful vigour. Their quasi-symphonic ambit is contrasted with the tart miniatures of the Serenade for solo violin and the tail-chasing vivacity of Two Violins –written only in 2015. The musicians on this release are mostly based in the Los Angeles area. The Lyris Quartet, founded in 2008, has premiered the music of many living Los Angeles composers. This is the group’s second recording for Toccata Classics: they perform Gerard Schurmann’s First and Second String Quartets on TOCC0220.