The Saint Lawrence String Quartet turned twenty in 2009 and, to celebrate, arranged for the commissioning of five short works for their ensemble. They've been playing them in concert for a while and this disc makes them available to everyone.

If there's one thing that these pieces have in common, it's that each starts out sounding as though it is going to be taxing for the listener. In fact, they do present some difrficulties, but also definite rewards. Each one seems to make more sense as it goes along and, upon second hearing, doesn't sound all that scary after all.

Sepia Fragments by Nova Scotia composer Derek Charke uses a kind of variation form incorporating disparate elements. Complex at first it eventually resolves into a chorale-like ending.

Although Montreal composer Brian Current sets out to "evoke the childlike magic of singing simple songs ... which when sung in a round often seem to produce more than the sum of their parts" in his logically titled Rounds, I needed more than one listening to catch the spirit.

Suzanne Hébert-Tremblay is a member of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières and teaches at the Collège de Lanaudière. À tire-d'aile (in a flurry of wings) is inspired by the songs of birds from the St. Lawrence River and environs. It is easier to hear the overall sprit of the idea than to respond to the various birds represented, but that proves to be enjoyable in itself.

Allaqi is an Innuit word referring to a clear patch in a cloudy sky. This piece by West Coast composer Marcus Goddard is highly satisfying and the most obviously beautiful of the five offerings in this collection.

Finally there is Table at the Bushwakker by Elizabeth Raum, probably the best-known of the five composers here. It depicts a Saturday night at the Bushwakker Brew Pub in Regina, one of the top five brewpubs in Canada according to the Globe and Mail. Further description here would be superflous.