It’s rare for conductors to provide sleeve-notes, rarer still for them to use the opportunity to commend their interpretation to the CD-buying public. But Robert Craft has never been one to hide his light under a bushel and praises his own version of Schoenberg’s Six Pieces for male chorus (1930) for its “accurate intonation, utmost clarity and balance of the polyphonic lines”, suggesting that the Simon Joly Chorale perform “with élan”.

And he’s right on all counts. Schoenberg’s choral writing requires lusty commitment to the cause, but also pinhead sensitivity to the complexities of his counterpoint. The level of contrapuntal synchronicity and dovetailing in the third piece, “Ausdrucksweise”, is pitched at a near-conceptual level. But Craft proves that fastidious balance and a lightness of touch are all that’s required to uncork Schoenberg’s ecstatic lyricism. The rarely performed Kol Nidrei (1938) for Rabbi-narrator, chorus and orchestra anticipates the set-up of his post-war A Survivor from Warsaw. David Wilson-Johnson (narrating in English) is a weighty presence, and the Schoenberg’s flinty beauty is eloquently expressed by Craft and generously shaded in by the Philharmonia.

The Six Songs, Op 8, for soprano and orchestra (1903‑04) are contemporary with Pelleas und Melisande and wear the influence of Wagner and Mahler openly, but harmonic itchy feet and the inquisitive arcs of Schoenberg’s melodic writing hint at what was to come in the very near future. The red-blooded Friede auf Erden and little known Ei, du Lütte are intriguing bonuses. The extracts from Moses und Aron make me wish for a complete Craft performance.