Paweł Łukaszewski is a composer for whom choral music is not so much an expression of profound religious faith as a personal act of Christian worship. He first came to my attention a decade ago in a Hyperion disc sung by the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, and directed with almost proselytising zeal by Stephen Layton (A/08). I welcome this latest opportunity to revisit this magical blend of richly expressive harmonies, neatly woven choral textures and intensely effective handling of the a cappella medium.

Only two items from the earlier disc are duplicated here – Ave Maria and Beatus vir, Sanctus Martinus. Almost everything else on this new disc has been composed in the decade since the Hyperion disc was released, and it shows that little has changed in Łukaszewski’s stylistic idiom. The latest pieces – Adoramus te, Christe, Pater noster, Alleluia and the simply ravishing Regina caeli, all dating from 2014 – possess the same luscious and luminous qualities as the earlier ones. A slightly sharper edge to the focus seems a direct consequence of conductor Jan Łukaszewski’s businesslike approach, although unquestionably these Polish choristers have a lighter, less involved approach to Łukaszewski’s sumptuous sound world than their English counterparts.

I suggested in my 2008 review that the Trinity Choir possibly lacked the ‘warmth of tone such unashamedly expressive music demands’, but hearing these Polish choristers deliver it with such clarity and precision, I am inclined to revise my original opinion and suggest that, if anything, Layton’s performances were a trifle too warm and indulgent. The Polish Chamber Choir produce some gloriously agile singing in Beatus vir, Sanctus Adalbertus. Their clarity of texture and text is impressive, and their studied lack of self-indulgence allows us to relish the detail of Łukaszewski’s writing on its own terms. I might not find this disc so intensely lovely as I did the Hyperion disc but I do find its direct, unsentimental approach equally sincere and moving.