St John’s Choir in Christopher Robinson’s time as Director has distinguished itself in many ways but perhaps most especially in its capacity for real, convincing, communicative liveliness. The strong impression is that they mean what they sing. The opening of Finzi’s God is gone up is a good example: ‘with a triumphal shout’ has the freshness of a recent triumph about it. In the face of such enthusiasm – and, more generally, with the sound of such fine choral singing ringing in the ears – one has little incentive to insist on comparisons with other recordings, or indeed to do anything other than simply enjoy. A comparison does have to be made, even so, with the Finzi Singers who included all of these works in their programme recorded in 1990, and several others as well.

It is those extras that most urge a pause for deliberate choice. Excellent as the Finzi Singers are, they yield to St John’s in several respects – the sound of the women’s voices is less right for the church music than are the wonderfully trained Cambridge trebles, and, though never dull or inexpressive, they don’t have quite the relish and zest in their words. In addition, the new recording on Naxos gives a sense of more vivid, immediate contact with the voices, the Finzis being slightly recessed in their more reverberant acoustic. But the extra works in the Chandos disc are a real enrichment: the Three Short Elegies of 1926, highly attractive settings of poems by Drummond of Hawthornden, All this night, one of Finzi’s most assured and energetic choral pieces, and White-flowering days, his delightful contribution to A Garland for the Queen. With these in mind, and with a choice to be made between the two discs, I’d be inclined to favour the Finzis.

Meanwhile, let’s suppose the new one appears in some enlightened shop and the ‘Shall I/shan’t I?’ dilemma calls for resolution on the spot. Then, surely, have it! This is music to come back to, and the performances (by organist as well as choir) are winningly alert and sensitive. And, after all, it’s going at the Naxos super-bargain-price.