Naxos discs have taken flak from music snobs since their conception; some has been justifiable, some less so. With the Clare College Choir, Tavener and John Rutter involved, Naxos have pulled off a fantastic record which music connoisseurs will find hard to sniff at. Tavener's musical path leads us through a spiritual journey, discovering Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Hinduism, Mysticism and Sufism along the way. ‘Ex Maria Virgine', the main work, uses texts from Greek, Latin, English and Islamic sources and weaves them seamlessly into a multifaceted celebration of the ‘Eternal Feminine'.

The atmospheric chanting of ‘Verbum Caro' introduces us to the tonal landscape of the piece and the choir demonstrating an impressive clarity in their singing of the awkward melodic intervals. ‘Nowell! Nowell! Out of Your Sleep' uses a Stravinskyian rhythm to enliven the music before the beautiful haunting ‘Ex Maria Virgine' codetta (sung in various forms after each movement) calms us for ‘Remember O Thou Man'. Here Clare showed their wonderful full range of sounds, from intimate piano passages to joyous proclamations of praise with the bass and soprano voices particularly impressive. The frenetic ‘Ave Rex' and canonic ‘There is No Rose' were memorable, though the new tune of ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High!' may not catch on in the country's churches. The highlight of the recording for is the performance of ‘Rocking', which truly evoked its maternal subject matter and may well be on the next Classic FM Toddlers' Tunes disc. The finality of a reprise of Verbum Caro completed this work: challenging to listen to at times but extremely fulfilling.

The later tracks show off more of the versatility of the choir; blended like a good Scotch for the most part, though a few wobbling pedal notes in ‘A Nativity' and some sopranos struggling with a top B in ‘O Thou Gentle Light' proved them to be human after all.

This collection of Tavener's works, composed over two decades, has a remarkable continuity and is a sparkling example of what British classical music can be today. It delivers an exploration of clever compositional devices and new sound worlds, in this case inspired by ancient Byzantine culture, whilst maintaining a public listenability; so often lost on modern composers striving to find their own voice. At around six pounds this disc is a steal: just listen to it to soothe away the guilt.

Andrew Browning