A Persian Requiem

The Battalia à 10 is played with great style and charm here. I like the use of two theorbos and a harpsichord and organ on the continuo lines. I have several recordings of this work. Savall's approach is a little more polite than Goebel's and a little more atmospheric than Philip Pickett's quite raw sound. I like all of them. Savall's is, perhaps, the most beautiful recording, even though it doesn't take advantage of the musical effects Biber suggests with as much relish as Goebel or Pickett…

This (mostly) live album from a pair of Iranian sisters is an absolute melodic feast. Sampling the range of music – from the classical modes of "Saghi Nameh" to the opening lush Kurdish theme of "Mina" – is a joy, and nowhere more than on "Dorna," where their voices shine, largely unaccompanied, on a more contemporary piece that manages to sound timeless. There are some fascinating little diversions, as when the lullaby "Gole Laleh" morphs into the spiritual "She's Got the Whole World in Her Hands" (note the gender change!) sung softly by guitarist Knut Reiersrud, who also brings a lot to this CD instrumentally. Apart from the lovingly sinuous voices, what impresses most is the rich, loving variety of sensual and exotic melodies filling the disc. It's close to a sensory overload – but stops short, just at the perfect point.

‘It went deeper down and reached higher up, it was bigger, broader, nobler and reached out more into the eternal than music as it is commonly understood and interpreted, or as any music than that heard by the great masters, has ever done. It is indeed a world heritage.’ Thus wrote the Labour MP Frederick Pethick-Lawrence after attending the premiere of A World Requiem on Armistice Night 1923, and his statement was typical of the audience reaction on that night.