The Quintet is divided into a conventional ternary structure - fast, slow, fast - and traits of Classicism are to be found within the composition. The first movement veers toward sonata structure, the second contains elements of a rondo and the third is an unashamed fugue, albeit one based on an unusually elongated subject. Wagstaff's harmonic language is not tonal, but chromatics are never used gratuitously; there are frequent dustings of Romanticism in the music.

It is a highly listenable piece, with themes firmly stated and cleverly manipulated and momentum sustained throughout the twenty minute span. However, it is difficult to make the piano a convincing solo instrument in a work such as this and, excepting in the first movement's cadenza passages, Alina Kolonitskaya's expert solo work seems to blend with rather than stand astride the strings in ensemble passages. But then the balance is homogenous, and instrumental counterpoint emerges clearly.

The album booklet notes that the work's "overall sensibility is informed more by the rock experience", but I found no traces of such music anywhere in the composition. More detailed programme notes would have been beneficial not just here, but for all three pieces. Anothai Nitibhon's Dukkha apparently "represents life", but further explanation would have added enormously to the listening experience. As it is, the work's disparate, sparse and ambiguous sound world remains elusive. What do the microtones mean, if they are indeed deliberate? Why the thematic repetition between movements? Nitibhon's composition carries a certain awed momentum, and various passages stick in the cranium, but the overall picture remained, after two hearings, beyond my grasp.

Kim-Ho Ip's In Contact... seeks to "translate the gestures of Chinese calligraphy into musical sounds". The work opens with beautiful, watery, ambiguous pentatonic harmonies, and the composer moves forward exploring textures (delicately balancing string, flute and yang-chin lines) and relishing stylistic, dynamic and dramatic contrasts. Matthew Studdert-Kennedy's flute playing is athletic and airy; the Edinburgh Quartet, as throughout the disc, play responsively. But again, detailed programme notes could only have added to appreciation of the work.

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