Whatever the inspirations, these players are alive to them, just as they are alert to the technical demands lurking around every corner. These Arcadians also find haunting desolation.

If I was asked to recommend a Bartók cycle to a first-time listener intimidated by his spiky reputation, I’d send them straight to the Arcadia Quartet. Even for the aficionado, this spacious, big-hearted vision of Bartók as poet, dreamer and humourist has something distinctive and beautiful to say.

This is an excellent recording, one which I will be revisiting regularly, and one which is quickly becoming my go-to recording of the works.

It’s generous playing in every way, from the broad unfolding of the First’s Beethovenian argument to the compassion and patience warming the grave outer panels of the Sixth.