Mention of John Casken’s name will likely suggest works such as his invigorating tone poem for strings Darting the Skiff (5/95 – nominated for a Gramophone Contemporary Music Award), or his first opera Golem (8/91 – the winner that year). His current available discography (some 36 compositions) focuses on orchestral and chamber music (plus Golem) but there is more to Casken’s output, not least a fine body of choral music, of which the windtossed title-track is a gripping example.

Eleven choral pieces are collated in this splendidly sung programme by the Joyful Company of Singers directed by their founder, Peter Broadbent (they will celebrate their 40th anniversary together in 2028), with two instrumentals, including the evocative recent cello-and-organ duet Tree of Angels (2024). Casken’s choral writing is often demanding, manifest in the earliest work on offer, The Land of Spices (1990), with its exposed high lines and, yes, spicy harmonies. Later works such as Caedmon’s Hymn (2021) are recognisably the products of the same creative mind but expressive subtleties loom larger for the performers; so, too, in the next oldest item, Sunrising (1993), a compellingly restrained setting of verses by Sylvia Townsend Warner, composed as a gift to Durham Cathedral.

Although Barnsley-born, it is Northumbria with which Casken is most associated geographically, reflected in the programme. This may be works written for specific locations, such as Sunrising, or Returning from the Tomb (2013) for an Easter Vigil in Rothbury, Northumberland, or which have cultural resonances for the region, such as Caedmon’s Hymn. More important (at least for the composer) are the expressive connections and in his booklet note Casken groups the works into loose associations: ‘Sacred Shaper’, ‘Stone and Thorn’, ‘Fare Thee Weel’. This last group contains a substantial viola solo, From One Thread, magnificently rendered by Bridget Carey, and a touching Burns setting (Ae Fond Kiss), both from 2020, and Memorial (2014), a larger cantata setting Casken’s own text for two soloists, two percussionists and chorus.

Gems abound throughout the programme, few more affecting in my view than The Knight’s Stone (2011) with its haunting flute solo – imitating the flight of a falcon – hauntingly played by Philippa Davies. Métier’s sound, recorded (except for From One Thread) in Upper Norwood, south London, is beautifully resonant and natural. Recommended.