How good it is to have these deeply sympathetic performances (which were set down in the presence of the grateful composer at St Alban’s Church, Holborn, over one December day in 1975) restored to the catalogue. Richard Hickox and the St Margaret’s Westminster Singers bring to both these rapt and timeless Mass settings an unhurried, intuitive understanding and devotional glow that rewardingly complements Christopher Robinson’s lustier accounts with the Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge (Naxos, 4/01), as well as James O’Donnell’s lustrous Teldec recording of the sublime Missa in honorem Sancti Dominici with the Westminster Cathedral Choir (Teldec, 11/99). The two unaccompanied carols are special too, in particular the ravishing Dormi Jesu (Rubbra’s first published work, written in 1924 when he was a student of Holst).

With the mastertape sadly damaged beyond repair, Chandos had no option but to turn to a pristine copy of the original 1976 RCA LP. In the circumstances, the transfer to CD is remarkably successful, for the sound remains rich, clear and atmospheric. Detailed notes by the composer and Timothy Storey (in addition to an endearing reminiscence by Hickox, who at the age of seven had first met Rubbra at a Guy Fawkes party) enhance the appeal of a mid-price reissue that long-standing Rubbrarians (and I proudly count myself among their number) will surely want to own.