The first of a three-disc series, much of this repertoire will be familiar to BMS members, although as Nathan Williamson points out in his informative and enthusiastic notes, it remains under-appreciated.

Berkeley wrote piano music from the mid-1920s to a few years before he died in 1989, but these two CDs contain less than two hours’ music.

This is a quite comprehensive survey, but should it be called The Complete Piano Works when there are others for piano four hands?

Here Ralph Vaughan Williams fervently reveals why one of his most communicative works is reverently worshipped by all. That potent Elder-Hallé combination unashamedly revels in this musical extravaganza.

Music aficionados who voraciously feed off the charming wit and harmonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams would do well to take note of this first of a series of releases which encompass the composer’s lifetime passion for folk songs.

For many churches with the right resources John Rutter is a hero… he has created a whole series of much-loved anthems and carol arrangements.

This is, in effect, a Schubertian journey that charts ecstatic love thence to melancholy and despair. There is a fine balance between the vocal means – romantic, withdrawn, only once specifically folk-like – and the varied piano writing which is colourful, clear, and sometimes turbulent.