To mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Irish-born composer Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), the world premiere recording of his String Quartet No. 2 "Highgate" and his String Quartet No. 4 "Harrogate" is released together with his "Variations on an Irish Folk Tune". This follows the release of Wood's sixth and final string quartet in a performance by the London Chamber Ensemble Quartet. The London Chamber Ensemble, also featured on this album, was founded in 2019 and is led by violinist Madeleine Mitchell. The ensemble has been praised for its 'passionate and compelling advocacy [and] captivating interpretations' (Gramophone). Charles Wood was born into a family of singers and musicians in Armagh, Ireland. He sang in the cathedral choir, became an organist as a student and gained experience as a string player, particularly as a violist. At the age of sixteen, Wood began to write chamber music. A year later he became one of the fifty founding members of the Royal College of Music and studied composition with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry. Wood in turn taught Ralph Vaughan Williams, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Herbert Howells and Michael Tippett. Two years after graduating in 1890, Wood composed a second string quartet, which he nicknamed "Highgate" (presumably after visits to his brother at Highgate Grammar School). Although the string quartet is somewhat reminiscent of Brahms, it shows Wood's emerging individuality. The unusual third movement, for example, uses a seven-bar ground bass in conjunction with a strict theme for his own instrument, the viola. in 1912, he undertook a journey that took him to Harrogate and soon completed his fourth quartet - hence the nickname. Woods uses Irish folk melodies and dance tunes as thematic material, such as in the captivating, reel-like rondo theme of his finale.