Though there are versions that have a weightier choral sound, the advantage of this one is that the Requiem’s words (which so fuelled the composer’s creative imagination) and all the details of Biber’s complex musical tapestry cut through with glassy clarity. Intense but never histrionic, the performance captures the work’s power and its intimacy.

These are rarities on record all right, linked by a rich and serious tone well suited to Vox Luminis’s familiar strengths. It is a pleasure to find Lionel Meunier’s marvellous ensemble devoting time to them.

As ever, Vox Luminis wear their musicology lightly, bringing no less vivacity and expression to these performances than they would to well-known staples of the repertoire.

Beautifully touching performances from Vox Luminis directed by Lionel Meunier with the instruments of the Freiburger BarockConsort. Could easily be a top recommendation for the requiem alone but Biber’s Mass for the Dead is surrounded by music that gives us a fuller picture of the emerging styles of German Baroque music at the time. The recording seems to glow with the same graceful sincerity as the performances.