Celebrated in his day as the “Orpheus of Amsterdam”, Sweelinck’s rich and diverse vocal output has been overshadowed somewhat by his better-known keyboard works. However, several splendid choral recordings released during the past 20 or so years have gone some way to redress this imbalance, most notably from the Chapel Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge (under Richard Marlow – Hyperion, 7/99) and the Netherlands Chamber Choir (NM Classics). This superb new disc provides an ideal introduction, lasting just over an hour, nicely contrasting half a dozen of the French psalm-settings (based on the Protestant Geneva Psalter) with a selection of the Cantiones sacrae, Latin motets, published in Antwerp in 1619.

Sweelinck’s 153 published psalm-settings effortlessly blend an austere, imitative polyphonic style with the more sensuous Italian madrigal influence and its focus on expressive word-painting. They form a glorious culmination to two centuries of Renaissance polyphony.

The disc concludes with the 15-minute Te Deum, an understated, almost languorous treatment from which Daniel Reuss manages to coax the maximum effect. At the words “Miserere nostri, Domine” Sweelinck finally succumbs to some decadent – and most welcome – chromaticism. There is a sense, too, that the singers are relishing this unusual splash of harmonic colour.

The 18 fresh-sounding voices of the professional chamber choir Cappella Amsterdam produce a bright and transparent choral balance. Their intonation is flawless, the French pronunciation idiomatic and unaffected, and underpinned unobtrusively by the organ and lute continuo. The sleeve presentation and programme-notes are first rate.