John Sheppard, Media Vita – Stile Antico (Harmonia Mundi)

It is more than 20 years since the Tallis Scholars recorded Media Vita and though their performance remains peerless, Stile Antico's recording has many attractive qualities.

The first of these is a very lovely alto blend, which remains a constant in a programme that contrasts Sheppard's ecstatic Latin polyphony with the quiet simplicity of his English motets. "I Give You a New Commandment" is similar in subject and style to Tallis's "If Ye Love Me", while "The Lord's Prayer" is one of the finest I've heard.