Spanning over 1000 years of choral music, the Armonico Consort’s second “Naked Byrd” anthology offers a thoroughly spellbinding programme, perfectly suited to the lofty and cavernous acoustic of Moreton Morrell’s Real Tennis Court, situated to the east of Stratford-upon-Avon. This must be the sweetest and least sweat-inducing “racket” ever to have been heard within its reverberant walls! The choral blend and recorded balance are of demonstration quality.

The music has a predominantly slow harmonic pulse, where vocal lines can float, suspensions can melt and the listener can relax and marvel at the singers’ superb breath control and rock-steady intonation. The mixture of the familiar and the new, ancient and modern is well integrated, the trio of world premieres fitting in with ease.

The opening Marian antiphon, attributed to the 11th-century scholar Hermann Contractus, calms even the most troubled spirit and provides a beautiful appetiser to the first sublime moment of the disc, Christopher Monks’s new take on Tallis’s famous theme. Kelly McCusker’s violin obbligato (worthy of Jan Garbarek himself) is topped off by Anna Sandström’s effortless soprano solo. Another soprano soloist, Kirsteen Rogers, excels in the second of two Hildegard of Bingen pieces, O virtus sapientiae.

Barber’s Adagio reworking and Tavener’s Funeral Ikos are expertly paced with climaxes beautifully judged. Another pair of modern gems are David Buckley’s setting from Isaiah, Strengthen ye, and Jonathan Roberts’s miniature Never seek to tell thy love. Another Blake classic, Tavener’s The Lamb, is sung with great affection and brings this disc of unending delight to a fine close.