The now regular visit by the Doric - loosely, one could say, artists in residence - brought on Saturday another evening to savour: Sympathetic and tasteful playing and a programme to challenge the mind.

Haydn’s Quartet in D minor Op 76 No 2 - nicknamed Fifths because of the series of descending fifths by first violin in the first moment - is not the most frequently heard piece by Haydn but comes majorly into its own in the third movement where Haydn is at his most imaginative and unvonventional.

The Doric captured the restlessness and drive, John Myersough’s cello firmly in the driving seat, and the canon, at a distance of only one bar, was clean and unmuddied.

A newish piece, The Four Quarters, by the outstanding pianist, Thomas Ades, is worth hearing again.

If it brought echoes of Vivaldi then it was intentional. It’s intensely atmospheric, spooky in parts; not everyone’s cup of tea but in the hands of the Doric becomes fascinating in mood and potential. It’s the way the Doric embrace this sort of composition that makes them essential to the musical life of today.

And Beethoven’s Quartet in E flat, Op 127, from his later years, as a fitting end to this concert. It was played with lush chording, youthful vigour and clarity.