The exploration of Sir Donald Tovey’s music on Toccata Classics continues with two highly contrasted chamber works. The bright, classically-oriented Variations on a Theme by Gluck, op.28, for flute and string quartet written in 1913 receives only its second-ever recording here, and it is the only one now available. The Piano Quintet from thirteen years earlier is an expansive, Brahmsian work of symphonic scale: it is almost an hour in length. The Piano Quintet receives its first-ever recording here.

The Ormesby Ensemble – here Susan Brooks, flute; Olga Dudnik, piano; Robert Atchison and Jacqueline Hartley, violins; Bill Hawkes, viola; David Jones, cello – was founded by Robert Atchison in 2008 as an extension of the work of the London Piano Trio. The group specialises in works for all sizes of chamber ensemble, with a preference for highlighting works by less well-known composers. The group has performed at a number of festivals, making frequent appearances at the London International Festival. This is one of a series of recordings of Tovey’s chamber music now in preparation.