Timothy Roberts’ artistic guidance of His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts deserves top plaudits here. Sit back and imagine the elderly and ailing Bach treated to a homage from an imaginary group of students and friends in Leipzig in the last months of his life. Anna Magdalena has been ‘in on the idea’ and a programme has been chosen‚ particularly to cater for his old Stadtpfeiffer friends. These are the local folk who blow brass of all sorts and wish‚ just a little‚ that Bach had given the antiquated cornets and sackbuts a bit more to do over the years. The imagination rarely fails and here HMSC assume the principal role in the gathering‚ with mature settings of great chorales acting as the main pillars of the programme. And what a cornucopia of subtle and variegated blends of instrumental timbres‚ where awesome compositional technique and intense Affekt seem to endure marvellously in the respectful and poignant timbre of old brass. While there are both comic and charming exposés of Bach’s art‚ such as in the Goldberg Canons – where the chortling instrumentation relishes the intellectual brush with witty contrapuntal ingenuity – there are also some profound visitations between Bach and the past masters of cornets and sackbutts. Aus tiefer Not appears‚ after a maverick Sinfonia to BWV29‚ in a richly evocative vein. This grand six­part organ edifice fits like a glove into the noble and imposing world of the antique. Where the organ pedals divide in two‚ the brass provide a ringing endorsement of Bach’s mature ‘gothic’. This may seem paradoxical as one gets further away from the age of Monteverdi in which these instruments thrived but Roberts has‚ with the exception of Allein Gott (which is just too unwieldy for the listener)‚ irradiated Bach’s root engagement with abstract counterpoint in a medium which serves it so well. The vocal quartet add a great deal to the success of the programme with sensitive and committed contributions. Admiration extends also to Jeremy West’s hauntingly beautiful cornet playing in the Orgelbüchlein version of Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein; there is an unbearably poignant fluidity to the phrasing in this exquisitely ornate paraphrase. Perhaps I have too much of Dinu Lipatti’s poetry in my ears‚ playing the Bach­Busoni Nun komm‚ der Heiden Heiland to be entirely persuaded. It is still effective here in all its velvety glory‚ despite a few moments of unsettled intonation. I was a little less enchanted with the one originally scored work‚ the burial motet‚ O Jesu Christ‚ meins Leben Licht (BWV118) where the instrumental lines are neither vocalised nor mercurial enough. This is music where the performers tread on egg shells‚ admittedly. A special recommendation for a most delightful and unusual disc.