Matthew Taylor's sense of musical architecture extends the symphonic tradition of Sibelius and Nielsen into the modern age – in his chamber music no less than in his orchestral output.

Though his String Quartets Nos 5, 6 and 7 were written in close succession, they are fundamentally different in design and feeling. Quartet No.5 adopts a pacifying process as a volatile Allegro unfolds into a spacious fugue before easing into a delicate lullaby. The core of the Sixth Quartet is a Romanza which Taylor wrote for his wife on their wedding.

The Classical clarity of the Seventh Quartet pays tribute to Haydn and Mendelssohn, two composers whom Taylor much admires.