The London Piano Quartet brought an interesting and exciting programme to Nicholas Yonge on 30 January. They opened with a ​Dvořák Piano Quartet which I cannot recall having heard before. This is a relatively early work, but all the accustomed hallmarks of the composer were evident - flowing lines, memorable melodies and a mastery of musical development and discourse, all of which the Quartet members easily and pleasingly conveyed. Ensemble was excellent, and the melodic lines passed around the instruments with an easy and natural grace. In their hands the music said what it had to say, and moved on naturally to the next part of the musical argument.

The John Hawkins piece (Blake Visions) inhabited a very different sound world. The composer's experience in book design served him well in capturing the febrile and nervy nature of Blake's personality. The Quartet were able to convey all this and more, and by the evidently close attention and listening, evident in all the performances, they were able to draw the audience into the piece and involve them in exploring the widely differing musical elements on show. Their performance left me wanting to hear the piece again - immediately!

The Brahms Op. 25 Quartet with its "gypsy" finale brought the concert to a close. There is a school of thought (to which I confess I subscribe) that says that most of the composer's music written after meeting Clara Schumann is to a greater or lesser degree an expression of his unrequited love. Certainly Brahms writes with enormous passion in this piece and the textures are frequently near-orchestral. Only the Op. 34 Piano Quintet surpasses it in intensity.

Once again, the London Piano Quartet were more than equal to the task of communicating the passion Brahms pours into the piece, and the final bars were astonishing - I have never heard them played so quickly or with such dexterity.

These players obviously love their job, and have no qualms in communicating it. The physical flourishes of the violin, the broad and frequent smiles of the Cello, and the evident enthusiasm of the Viola were all natural extensions of the joy they brought to their playing and to our experience.

For various reasons I have been unable to attend a concert in this season so far. On this evidence I have been away too long!