The Sixteen have been champions of the Eton Choirbook for years. Here is a thoughtful juxtaposition of some of that wonderful polyphony with contemporary works commissioned through the Genesis Foundation. Beginning with the beguiling simplicity of the plainsong Nesciens Mater, we are treated to the long arcs of Walter Lambe’s setting of the same text, contrasting with James Phibbs’s poignant homophonic treatment.

One of the highlights is Phillip Cooke’s rhapsodic riff on William Cornysh’s sombre Ave Maria, Mater Dei. Cooke uses two off-stage sopranos interacting with the main choir to create an ethereal sound world that conjures up the lost world of Tudor music. In the middle of this garden of musical delights stands James MacMillan’s...