In the catalogue of Britten’s compositions those involving a chorus, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment, loom large. They stretch right across his working life, beginning in 1929 and ending with the Welcome Ode, Op 95, his last completed score finished a few months before his death. The four pieces recorded here belong to the first half of that period; the earliest of them dates from 1933, the latest from 1949. They are all modest in their demands, requiring at most an organ to support the choir and add a touch of colour to the music.