Some works don’t define their era but merely recall it. So listeners would have to be rather fascinated by the Biedermeier world of 1840s Germany to love Louis Spohr’s Der Fall Babylons, the last of several oratorios written by a composer now best known for his many violin concertos. Early on, you wonder how such music, which is agreeable in a middling sort of way, could be overlooked. Soon, you discover that what you hear in those opening moments is what you get, at least throughout most of the 60-minute first part. The characterisation of the Israelite liberation from the Babylonian Belshazzar has such well-mannered sameness that you rejoice at the appearance of momentary counterpoint in the Chorus of the Jews that ends Part 1, before realising how much aural expectations have been lowered in a piece whose 11 characters have generic names such as ‘A Jewish Man’, with musical characterisation to match.

The second half has bits of invention, with some out-of-left-field solo wind- and violin-writing that convey otherworldly omens in the air. The recitatives take on some dramatic heat. The lightly accompanied vocal writing of the Quartet of the Jews is the one bit I’d welcome hearing again, but that only accounts for a fraction of this 100-minute piece. The finale conveys a certain grandeur if only because so many ideas, however mediocre, are piled on top of each other. Braunschweig’s Louis Spohr Society would no doubt disagree vehemently. But any composer revival requires empathy well outside of the core followers. And I don’t see that happening, at least with this recording.

The performance is that of a good provincial choral society with conductor Matthias Stanze keeping the large oratorio forces in line. But this is a piece that needs special pleading, assuming that such a quality is possible with music so limited in range and expression. Most of the soloists do their job, some better than others (such as mezzo-soprano Anne Schuldt in a variety of roles), while others are barely worthy of the microphone that recorded them.