This re-release features Gerald Finzi's Requiem da camera, Britten's Deus in adjutorium meum, Chorale on an Old French Carol and Cantata misericordium, and Holst's Psalm 86 and Psalm 148. All are performed by Richard Hickox and the City of London Sinfonia with the Britten Singers and various soloists. Available at a special price on the Classic Chandos label.

The service of 'Compline' is the last of the seven daily services observed in monastic communities, taking place immediately before bedtime. It has over many centuries inspired incredibly beautiful compositions, and this release gathers together eighteen of the many lovely 'a cappella' choral motets, mainly from the Renaissance period, which were written to adorn the evening worship of the church. In addition, the 'Office of Compline', sung in English with its traditional chants, has been included in its entirety on a bonus CD. 'Lighten our Darkenss' sees John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers return to the austere surrounds and sumptuous acoustic of the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral, where many of their classic recordings from the 1980s and 1990s were recorded. It was, in all probability, the place where the monks of Ely sang Compline before the Reformation; its magnificent acoustics and architectural splendour and grace continue to make it the perfect setting for Compline today.

Despite the rich tradition provided by the former genre of the Passion of Christ set to music, only two works have been able to establish temselves permanently - the two monumental Passions by Johann Sebastian Bach. The Passion Oratorio by Johann Ernst Bach, the nephew, godson and pupil of Johann Sebastian, is one of the lesser-known works. With his explicit commitment to sacred music, Johann Ernst Bach occupies an extremely isolated position among the Protestant German composers of the second half of the 18th century. Although the religious works of both Telemann and J. S.Bach were, in his opinion, "admirable masterpieces", he strongly criticized the decay of sacred music during his own generation and demanded that this be counteracted by "artistic and regular styles of composition".