Sunday's recital by the Vanbrugh String Quartet was given in the John Field Room rather than in the main auditorium. This meant that the music could speak with much greater impact and that the fortunate listener could more easily imagine that it was a private performance for his or her benefit. The name of Chamber Music presupposes an intimacy that is dissipated in the wider spaces.

Boccherini wrote over 100 string quintets (two violins, viola and two cellos), and Op 42/4 in F minor was only discovered recently, along with 49 others. As one might expect, it is good-humoured, tuneful music, which one can listen to without effort: the composer wished to please his patrons and did so in the most agreeable manner. The performance by the Vanbrugh and Louise Hopkins was fresh and beguiling, relishing the italianate melodies and sparkling harmonies.

One wonders whether Boccherini had an expressive purpose in using two cellos rather than two violas in his quintets; or did he just happen to have two good cellists? He certainly does not make use of them in the extraordinarily inventive combinations of Schubert. Schubert's gloomy masterpiece was compelling in its intensity; seldom have I heard such a passionate performance from the Vanbrugh. The dramatic episode which suddenly interrupts the calm of the slow movement was quite frightening, and the jerky rhythms of the scherzo were played with a fieriness that made the music seem to want to burst its outer skin. Tension was maintained in the quieter moments and Louise Hopkins on the extra cello brought an individual richness to the texture.

Mozart's first "Haydn" Quartet was played with the customary skill, but the two quintets were the best part of the recital.