Johann Christoph Bach, the cousin of Johann Sebastian’s father, Ambrosius, has the reputation of being a musician’s composer, something of a hidden treasure. This recording from the English Baroque Soloists under Sir John Eliot Gardiner feels like a labour of love. But it’s not easy to explain what is so special about his music. As the late Richard Campbell noted in his typically thoughtful essay accompanying the disc, he’s a seeker after subtle effects that make their impact at once but deliver still more with repeated listening (late-night listening, this, perhaps with a whisky having similar properties). Nearly every piece has a singular gesture or feature that captures the imagination. And one feels the proximity of more distant German music, and even of Monteverdi on occasion.

The vocal soloists acquit themselves well in music that demands utter commitment, although just occasionally the last degree of refinement and control eludes them (as might be expected on what is otherwise a quite exceptional live recording). In a cappella formation, however, they offer some of the disc’s most memorable moments: not for nothing has the disarmingly simple ‘Welt, gute Nacht’ been chosen for the disc’s title. Among the instrumentalists one must mention Maya Homburger, who works wonders in the slightly over-extended dialogue ‘Meine Freundin, du bist schön’; but finally it’s fitting that the disc is dedicated to the memory of Richard Campbell, a fastidious and serious musician whose tragic death earlier this year has been much mourned, more so probably than he himself could have imagined.