Dunedin Consort; John Butt director ; Zoë Brookshaw soprano ; Joanna Songi soprano ; Sarah Anne Champion alto ; Guy Cutting tenor ; Chris Webb bass

Music played a crucial role in the Protestant Reformation, promoting congregational hymn singing and enhancing the rituals of worship with rousing festive melodies. John Butt and the Dunedin Consort offer a rich taste of works written to celebrate Christ’s birth, embracing sonorous rarities by Rosenmüller, Geist and Theile, the latter graced by a delightful lullaby, and a rousing instrumental Intrada by Samuel Scheidt, Chapel Master to the Margrave of Brandenburg. They close with JS Bach’s majestic cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV61, composed in 1714 for the first Sunday in Advent.