On the face of it this is a collection of familiar hymns and anthems sung by the choir of a ‘small church in rural southern Ontario’ (to quote from the booklet-notes) and given a Canadian flavour by the inclusion of some Healey Willan as well as a gorgeous a cappella setting of the Ave verum by the 60-year-old Canadian-naturalised composer, Imant Raminsh.

But the special gloss put on this disc of standard-fare Anglican church music is immediately evident with Paul Halley’s ravishing arrangement of Gordon Slater’s St Botolph (‘Jesu, the very thought of Thee’). The richly resourceful organ accompaniment played by Halley himself (with a 32-foot reed implying that St John’s Church, Elora, is not, perhaps, quite as small as the booklet would have us believe) underpins singing of the highest calibre. This is no mere rural church choir, but a group of university students and local graduates moulded into a very fine ensemble indeed by Noel Edison, whose hallmarks are discretion, understatement and unfailing sensitivity. While none of the other hymn tunes on the disc is arranged as fulsomely as St Botolph, all have delicate, nicely shaped and wholly idiomatic descants by either Halley or Stephen Crisp.

I don’t recall hearing such a beautifully crafted performance of Mozart’s evergreen Ave verum for a long while, and Harris’s classic Faire is the Heaven for unaccompanied double choir stands alongside the best in its richness, textural clarity and poise. Familiar and unremarkable though this programme is, given the beautiful singing and the crystal-clear Naxos recording, this is an immensely rewarding disc.