This is the first original coupling of Handel’s two St Cecilia odes on disc. Alexander’s Feast (1736) is performed in its 1739 version, for which occasion Handel set the shorter Ode for St Cecilia’s Day as an additional third part. Each is adorable, but hearing them programmed together made me wonder if they are best enjoyed separately. Dryden’s literary concepts in the two odes are deceptively subtle and do not complement each other successfully when both are forced into a single makeshift whole. However, it is fascinating to hear a reconstruction of Handel’s 1739 programme (albeit without any of the concertos that the composer inserted during and between the parts of the odes).

Collegium Cartusianum play with suppleness, unforced strength in extrovert numbers and sensitivity in quieter and more lyrical moments (eg the recorders in “Thus long ago”). Cellist Juris Teichmanis provides a smoulderingly erotic obbligato to “Softly sweet in Lydian measures”, whereas “Bacchus, ever fair and young” has surprisingly robust horns (other performances tend to aim for pastoral wit rather than the bucolic splendour conjured here). Simone Kermes’s melancholic delivery of the pitiful “He chose a mournful muse” is breathtaking; during “War, he sung is toil and trouble” her discomfort with the pronunciation of “bubble” will be forgotten in the wake of her grandstand cadenza (it’s a bit overwrought for my taste). The Cologne Chamber Choir is excellent: the voices in the opening phrase of “The list’ning crowd” seem to float effortlessly, dynamics and phrasing are meticulous in “The many rend the skies”, “Break his bands of sleep asunder” is sensational and the falling cadences evoking “heav’nly harmony” are beautifully balanced during the first chorus of the shorter ode. Harry Christophers’s gorgeous recording of Alexander’s Feast (the complete 1736 version including concertos) and the charming versions of the Ode for St Cecilia’s Day by Trevor Pinnock and Robert King remain the best accounts; but Neumann offers plenty for us to enjoy.