Faced in 2020–21 with an unexpected break from concert life, cellist Alexandra Mackenzie and pianist Ingrid Sawers devoted much time instead to furthering their longstanding interest in unfamiliar repertoire.Trawling through libraries, both online and in person, they unearthed a treasure trove of short pieces by female composers, some hiding behind bland initials such as ‘A. E. Horrocks’.

Dating from the 1880s to the 1950s, these intimate, quietly powerful works include miniatures by the Scottish cellist Marie Dare and two delightful songs by Gwendolen – later Avril – Coleridge-Taylor, here newly transcribed for cello. A total of fourteen works are presented here, all but five in premiere recordings.

Every one of them deserves to be better known.