Reviews of music by the English composer John Pickard (b. 1963) have stated that ‘he has the technique and the temperament to emerge as one of the great symphonists of the 21st century’, even that ‘his place among the greats is secure’.

This second Toccata Classics disc of his chamber music – released to mark his 50th birthday – presents both his earliest and his most recent string quartets, No. 1 (1991) cast in a vast single paragraph 38 minutes in length and the five-movement No. 5 (2012–13) exploring a dialectic of conflict and resolution.

Both works are receiving their first recordings here.

This CD is released to mark John Pickard’s 50th birthday.

Paul Mealor of Military Wives fame on TV had John Pickard as his first teacher and writes in the booklet in this series: ‘on this disc there is music of introspection, solemnity, profundity and, above all, honesty that transcends styles and mere description. Melody, harmony, structure and drama are all here, but most of all, beauty and love of the sensuality of sound shine through’.

This is the the first recording of the Brodowski Quartet for Toccata Classics; further projects are under discussion.