The Gesualdo Six’s Wishing Tree contains rather more secular repertoire than they usually offer, here combining Renaissance pieces in celebration of nature with contemporary pieces, and a thread of folksong, such as Vaughan Williams’s delectable Bushes and Briars. Alongside older pieces from Josquin, Arcadelt and Gibbons (a gorgeous The silver swan) there are excellent contributions from Alison Willis (the susurrating The wind’s warning), Joby Talbot (the striking, antiphonal The wishing tree) and the ensemble’s director Owain Park (his dreamy Fantasia on English children’s songs). But, the secular character notwithstanding, perhaps my favourite track was David Bednall’s beautiful Put out into the deep, five-part harmonies with a crunchy edge, and the singers’ projection of the biblical text impeccable, even when the texture fragments. The singing is of the standard we have come to expect from the Gesualdo Six, as is Adrian Peacock’s production.

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