Angela Hewitt's contribution to the great man's sestercentennial is predictably fine: Beethoven Variations, a programme of comparatively lesser-known works for solo piano, demonstrates all of this remarkable pianist's poise, wit and profound musical intelligence to perfection. October's Record of the Month is one of pure, civilized pleasure from start to finish. Much the same could be said of Johann Baptist Cramer Piano Concertos Nos 1, 3 & 6, a second Hyperion volume of works by a distinguished contemporary of Beethoven and the seventh in our Classical Piano Concerto series. Howard Shelley, directing the London Mozart Players from the keyboard, displays his usual immaculate pianism.

The radiant textures of Jaakko Mäntyjärvi's Choral Music exert a powerful and immediate appeal, the contemporary Finnish composer's musical language a distinctive fusion of ancient and modern. His extensive Evensong setting evolved with performances by Stephen Layton and Trinity College Choir Cambridge in mind and the results are outstanding, as only to be expected in recordings from this source. And with volume 10 of The Complete Songs of Johannes Brahms an important Hyperion series comes to an end. Mezzo-soprano Sophie Rennert joins Graham Johnson in a recital spanning four decades of Brahms's creative life, from his debut as a Lieder composer in 1853 to a selection of the German folksongs published in his final years.

On their own label, The Choir of King's College Cambridge has recorded Bruckner Mass in E minor & motets. Accompanied by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in the glorious acoustic of their 'home' chapel, this final recording under the direction of Sir Stephen Cleobury comes highly recommended.

The festive season begins early on Signum Classics with a trio of choral albums to cheer the darkening evenings. Queen's College Choir Oxford has recorded A Ceremony of Carols, the programme enfolding Britten's perennial favourite with an inspiring sequence of works old and new; Be all merry is a further trademark confection from the multi-faceted University College Dublin Choral Scholars; while A winter's night introduces to the label Winchester College Chapel Choir in an ambitious programme of Christmas music for choir, brass quintet and organ.

Three turbulent symphonies (by J C Bach, Vanhal and, of course, Haydn) are interleaved with vocal flights of fancy (Gluck and Mysliveček) in a second volume of Sturm und Drang. This Signum Classics series from The Mozartists, director Ian Page and, here, mezzo Ida Ränzlöv continues to thrill.

A second Signum EP in their series The Library once again gives The King's Singers the opportunity to set down old favourites alongside new arrangements, here ranging from a Japanese lullaby to a new work by James MacMillan via, of course, The Beatles and Freddie Mercury …

The London Chamber Orchestra and conductor Christopher Warren-Green make a welcome return to Signum with three sublime works for string orchestra by Vaughan Williams, Dvořák & Suk. Recorded live in 2019, this celebrated concert at London's Cadogan Hall fully captures the quintessential Englishness of the 'Tallis Fantasia' before exploring the connections between two delightful Czech serenades. All things are quite silent is the debut commercial recording for The Choirs of Pembroke College Cambridge and their trailblazing conductor Anna Lapwood. The programme comprises much of the choirs' favourite music, a good proportion of it relatively obscure.