Graden communicates the essence of the text without fuss and this reaps rewards in a wonderfully smooth-grained and sensitive Jesu meine Freude. Logic and balance prevail over surprise and passion in most of these readings...still an excellent version for those who seek in the Motets a clear, well-lit and equable path to the heart of Bach's personal and transcendental visions of devotion, death and salvation.

The acoustic setting for the recording is big and fully in scale for these powerful performances, though gentle subtlety is also very much a part of the musicianship here. The magnificent divided choirs of something like Komm, Jesu, komm are the clincher for me in this recording, turning Bach’s motets into something more like a guilty pleasure than a hair-shirt religious duty.