Before the First World War rendered all things German anathema, Schumann’s a cappella works, like Mendelssohn’s and Brahms’s, were choral society staples. Today they are probably the most neglected area of his entire output. Not all these settings are free from Lederhosen heartiness – the side of Schumann that wears least well – or Biedermeier blandness. But the range and depth of the best of them, above all the magnificent works for double choir, Op 141, may come as a revelation. Highlights elsewhere include a mixed-choir version of ‘Heidenröslein’ – without Schubert’s piquancy but full of sentimental charm – the tender, touching setting of Burns’s ‘John Anderson’ and the chromatically lush ‘Die Lotosblume’ for men’s chorus, just as sensitive in its response to Heine’s verses as the famous solo song in Myrthen.

When his first album with Bach arias was released by Sony Classical in early 2019, the young Dutch countertenor Maarten Engeltjes received much praise for the "enchanting character" (opera glasses) of his voice. Now the master pupil of the counter legend Michael Chance sings three famous cantatas by J.S. Bach: Ich habe genug, BWV 82, Ich will den Kreuzstab gern tragen, BWV 56 (both are actually really excellent pieces for baritone) - and Vergnügte Ruh, beliebtte Seelenlust, BWV 170. Once again he is accompanied with great sensitivity by the Ensemble PRJCT Amsterdam.