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The music of the Swedish composer John Fernström (1897-1961) will be an unknown quantity for most readers, I guess, but it is music I strongly urge anyone to check out. He was relatively prolific, having twelve symphonies, eight string quartets and much other music to his name, but relatively little is actually available (though his sixth symphony is available in two fine performances). The string quartets on this excellent disc charts his stylistic development from the genial and catchy, post-romantic idiom third - a truly attractive, folk-inspired piece with some marvelous ear-catching themes - to the more abrasive, Bartokian style of the sixth and the more reflective, nostalgic late idiom of the eighth. The sixth is an uneasy work, buzzing and hesitant but with a really spirited, spitefully folkish finale. The eight (`in the Dorian mode') is meditative and seems to look back to the composer's earlier post-romantic works; it is a relatively benign work, wistful but with a vibrantly attractive finale. I have not heard any alternative performances (Lysell quartet in no. 6 and no. 8, the Berwald quartet in no.8), but the Vlach quartet provides some really spirited playing and - as far as I can judge - some very convincing interpretive choices. Overall, this is a very rewarding disc, and one that really shouldn't be missed by anyone who enjoys post-romantic or early modern music.