Anyone who suspects that a whole disc of Australian horn trios might be a) niche or b) dull better think again. Quercus Trio, a Melbourne-based horn trio comprising Carla Blackwood (horn), Elizabeth Sellars (violin) and Rhodri Clarke (piano), has picked a sextet of composers with a diverse range of tonal languages and melded them into a satisfyingly varied whole.

Their definition of Australian is composers who identify (or identified) to some extent as such, and whose music has been influenced by the landscape, culture, audiences and/or something more subliminal. The latter is probably true of British-born Roger Smalley (1943–2015) whose Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano opens the program. A confirmed modernist, Smalley’s work develops out of a tone row but is never dry or dull. A lively “Allegro energico” is followed by a dazzling, occasionally haunting set of variations, and winds up with a thrusting rondo that would be almost Mahlerian if it didn’t teeter on the very edge of tonality. The playing is remarkable – especially from Blackwood whose technique throughout the challenging horn part is nothing short of miraculous.

Larry Sitsky’s...