Bridge Quartet, Michael Dussek (piano), EM Records EMR CD 005 ***

English composer Norman O'Neill (1875-1934) was a member of the so-called Frankfurt Gang. Along with Roger Quilter, Balfour Gardiner, Percy Grainger and Cyril Scott, O'Neill studied in Frankfurt under Iwan Knorr, who landed his teaching job on the recommendation of Brahms. O'Neill's greatest success came as a composer of incidental music, and the chamber works here pre-date his first great theatrical success in 1909. The pieces have the air of works that were written for performers as much as listeners, and the style, which is anything but progressive, is leavened by an attractive lightness of manner. The performances are first-rate, and present the always well-crafted music (a candidate for the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, perhaps) in absolutely the best light. url.ie/fidq