If this premiere recording of Stephen Hough’s String Quartet No 1 may be regarded as definitive—the work is dedicated to the Takács Quartet—those of the quartets by Ravel and Dutilleux are no less distinguished.

Forever timeless, forever modern: Paul Klee is one of those artists whose work never dates. Maybe that, and his innate musicality, is one of the reasons his art lends itself so well to such a wide variety of album covers: we’ve used Klee paintings on a range of covers from Bach and Beethoven to Schulhoff and Stravinsky, and they always feel appropriate to the composer and repertoire.

And now, the intriguingly titled 'Fish Magic' graces the cover of our new release from the Takács Quartet, an inspired album of French—and French-influenced—quartets by Ravel, Dutilleux and Stephen Hough. Perhaps that title offers a clue into one of the most enduring aspects of Klee's work: his use of figurative elements, however unexpected or incongruous. Were they not the creation of an extremely fastidious talent, these elements could appear almost—almost—like children's art.

Born in 1879, Klee was a near-contemporary of Ravel (born 1875) who likewise demonstrated an extremely distinctive palette throughout his own creative life. The string quartet was a relatively early work, written and first performed in the early years of the twentieth century when Ravel was still trying—in vain—to win the Prix de Rome. However successful that first performance (in 1904, by the Heymann Quartet) may have been, it's perhaps doubtful whether it could have rivalled the Takács's 'evocative, stylish playing', as Radio 3's Record Review put it, a judgement which applies equally to all the performances on this wonderful new release.