Voces Musicales are an Estonian chamber choir founded in 1999. Their only other disc currently available in Presto Classical’s database is a well-received programme of music by Arvo Pärt, described as ‘recent’ in the booklet but issued in 2010! The smoothly manicured sound evident on that earlier release (ERP, 12/10) recurs here, the 24 singers producing a richly blended, beautifully balanced sound, undeniably appealing to all but the most jaded of ears. If they have a fault, it is that their refinement tends to overshadow everything they sing.

All nine works, by Estonian and American composers, are premiere recordings. Kile Smith’s triptych Where Flames a Word (2004), setting texts by Paul Celan, is the oldest. Its central panel, ‘Conversation in the Mountains’, dominates to such an extent that the brief finale feels more like a coda than a separate movement. Pärt Uusberg’s Kodumaa laulud (‘Homeland Songs’, 2015) is more consistently balanced in that respect, a paean to Estonia’s natural beauty experienced through Ellen Niit’s poems. Evelin Seppar likes to set texts in English; Near (2012) uses extracts from five Elizabeth Barrett Browning sonnets – listen to the impressive opening on the word ‘How’ – while Sirelite aegu (‘At the lilacs’ hour’, 2016) sets two Estonian poets in translation.

Gregory W Brown – best known for being the brother of novelist Dan Brown and the composer of the Missa Charles Darwin – provides three recent works from 2014 15, including the title-track, A Black Birch in Winter. All three, like Uusberg’s, were inspired by writings about nature and landscape, including seasonal changes (Then) or the flow of elements (The Fabric of Streams). However, it is the final pair of settings by Marina Kõrvits that linger longest in the memory, dreamlike depictions of human interactions. Fine sound, fascinating disc, but it lacks a standout, truly fast-paced item for maximum contrast.