January's Record of the Month sees the Takács Quartet weaving interpretative magic on a wonderful trio of String Quartets by Stephen Hough, Henri Dutilleux & Maurice Ravel. Nearly a century and a quarter separates the earliest work on the programme from the most recent, yet the three complement each other perfectly—indeed, Hough's quartet (his first essay in the medium) was written specifically as a companion piece for the other two. The Ravel is a familiar favourite of the repertoire, while Dutilleux's Ainsi la nuit, like so much of this composer's extremely select output, demonstrates his fastidious ear and exacting standards.

With Piano Concertos by Carl Reinecke Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series reaches volume 85. Throughout a long and productive life, the extraordinarily versatile Reinecke was active as pianist, violinist, composer, conductor, arranger and teacher (among many illustrious names, his pupils included Grieg, Sullivan, Stanford and Bruch). The three concertos recorded here, with influences of Mendelssohn and Schumann never far away, are certain to bring the listener much pleasure, especially given such sensitive performances as these from Simon Callaghan, supported by Modestas Pitrėnas and the Sinfonieorchester St Gallen.

The ongoing series dedicated to choice selections of our all-time favourite recordings—ones you might possibly have missed? This time: An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell & other works by John Blow from Arcangelo (‘there is so much to enjoy in this superb collection’—The Guardian), Louisiana Story – The film music of Virgil Thomson from the New London Orchestra (‘Thomson's music is as American as apple pie and wonderfully evocative’—Gramophone), and Cloudburst & other choral works by Eric Whitacre from Polyphony (‘an intense and moving aural experience’—The Independent on Sunday). If you don’t know them already, a track from each is included on our monthly sampler which is free to download.

Teaming up this time with the NFM Wrocław Choir and conductor Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny Bob Chilcott's Canticles of Light is the composer's ninth album on Signum Classics. The title work sets three familiar Latin texts and the programme also includes Chilcott's tribute to Wilfred Owen Move him into the sun and a new piece specially written for the NFM Choir, plus complementary works by James MacMillan, Francis Pott and Cecilia McDowall.