This is the second volume in a series devoted to the works for strings by Béla Bartók, with James Ehnes the featured soloist. Earlier this year, Ehnes recorded the Violin and Viola Concertos (CHAN 10690), which was made Disc of the Month in Gramophone magazine.

The Artemis Quartet pairs Brahms’ intense first quartet with his lighter-spirited third quartet, both works that the Artemis’ cellist, Eckart Runge, describes as “remarkable and multi-faceted”. He says that “Brahms marries a Romantic spirit with the structure and forms of Classicism. There is an almost symphonic approach in the writing, but at the same time the quartets are imbued with a sense of warmth, immediacy, friendship and love that is interwoven with a more spiritual, timeless beauty”.

Frederieke Saeijs’ Linn debut sees the Dutch violinist realize a lifelong ambition to put her personal stamp on Ysaÿe’s homage to her chosen instrument and its celebrated virtuosos.

'Prayer' offers the listener an intimate and meditative musical journey, with poignantly chosen pieces. Sol was inspired to record this album from her experience of playing the piece 'Prayer' by Swiss-born Jewish composer Ernest Bloch as an encore in her concerts.

Music in the family: Conductor Christian Benda interprets the music of his Bohemian ancestor Georg Anton Benda (1722-1795). This appealing cross section of the symphonies of Georg Anton Benda, who was highly respected by Mozart, which includes six rarely performed symphonies in three movements. All pieces performed by the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra and conducted by Christian Benda.

A fellow student of Rachmaninov’s at the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied under Arensky and Taneyev, Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) occupies a unique sphere in Russian music. Rejecting the vocal and folkloristic music that occupied most of his contemporaries, he wrote exclusively for piano and for orchestra. His musical language constantly evolved over the length of his life, passing from the early influence of Chopin and Liszt, through a Wagnerian period, before reaching an atonal style that gazes far into the future of the 20th century’s sound world.