Night in its different aspects is invoked in this set, culled from the extensive discography of Jordi Savall’s several ensembles. I can well imagine that under proper test conditions (that is, at night) it works very effectively; that said, the roughly chronological approach seems overly logical, given the discontinuous and unpredictable trains of thought engendered in the hours of darkness (still, that’s nothing the “shuffle” function can’t fix). The whole gamut of performing ensembles is deployed here, from unaccompanied soloist to full orchestra. I particularly enjoyed Morales’s Parce Domine, familiar from the Hilliard Ensemble’s “Officium” project. Savall’s affinity with Iberian repertories has always been remarkable but I was also reminded how fine he is in the Bach Suites, or the Eroica. On the debit side, Pärt’s lullaby is hardly his most inspired creation, and Ferran Savall’s self-accompanied vocal improvisation on Les voix humaines introduces the one “cultural dissonance” in an enormously varied programme. It’s one of a few new tracks taken, I suspect, from as yet unreleased projects.

Several essays accompany the programme, including a personal reflection from Savall, seeming to take stock of his career to date; clearly a good deal of care has been lavished on this. Although it seems to me that in the age of iPods and downloads such compilations haven’t the relevance they once did, as an introduction to one of early music’s most versatile icons, this one’s worth recommending.