The rehabilitation of Peter Philips, a prolific but until recently all but neglected RC contemporary of Byrd, continues apace with this dazzlingly sung compendium of Latin motets composed in exile from his Protestant birthplace. Most of the pieces are from the 1612 collection Cantiones Sacrae Quinis Vocibus and reveal an ear-catching facility for experimentation even within the most conservative of forms.

The satin-soft, luminous sheen of the mixed-voice Convivium Singers is exquisitely attuned to diaphanously beautiful music pregnant with the quiet promise of release in religious ecstasy and shot through by the emotional longing for home. A beautifully presented booklet with excellent notes adds to the already considerable pleasure. My discovery and disc of the year by far.