June's Record of the Month is something very special indeed. As James O'Donnell bids farewell to Westminster Abbey Choir to take up a post with Yale University, Choral works by Vaughan Williams, MacMillan & Tavener stands as both a fitting testimony to his twenty years as Organist and Master of the Choristers at the Abbey, and as a further demonstration of the magnificent standards the choir regularly achieved during his tenure. This is a deeply satisfying collection of music, much of which has historical links with the Abbey and the great State occasions with which it is forever associated. The ensemble may have been formed less than ten years ago, but during this time The Gesualdo Six and its director Owain Park have established a formidable reputation for intelligently planned programmes, flawlessly performed. William Byrd's Mass for five voices & other works amply satisfies both criteria, with the Mass interspersed by a number of complementary Latin motets of extraordinary and intense beauty.

It isn't every day that cellist Alban Gerhardt gets to front a saxophone quartet plus piano combo, but that's exactly what's on offer in Phantasy in blue. Alban and the Alliage Quintett deliver their unique take on Tchaikovsky (you hadn't previously suspected the Blues influence on his Rococo Variations?), Vivaldi, Falla and Shostakovich, ending with a riotous version of Gershwin's masterpiece.

The ongoing series dedicated to choice selections of our all-time favourite recordings—ones you might possibly have missed? This time: Ferruccio Busoni's Piano Concerto from Marc-André Hamelin, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder (‘a spine-tingling experience’—Gramophone), Moszkowski Piano Music from Seta Tanyel (‘a thoroughly enjoyable 69 minutes’—International Record Review), and the Bach/Sitkovetsky Goldberg Variations from the Leopold String Trio (‘there are times when holding one's breath is inescapable’—BBC Music Magazine). If you don’t know them already, a track from each is included on our monthly sampler which is free to download.

Echoes is a third 'mixtape' album on Signum from the thought-provoking Orchestra of the Swan, this time with guest conductor Philip Sheppard and encompassing repertoire from around the world and across the ages as you have never heard it before.

Beethoven Symphonies Nos 4 & 5 comprise the second release in Gianandrea Noseda's complete cycle with the National Symphony Orchestra on the orchestra's own label. These committed performances were recorded live during concerts at Washington's John F Kennedy Center in January 2022.

New from Signum Classics this month we have Vidi speciosam – Sacred choral music. Graham Ross conducts The Bevan Family Consort—fifteen members of this most illustrious of singing families paying their respects to former generations in a programme of much-loved works by Victoria, Tallis, Holst and others.

Gianandrea Noseda's cycle on LSO Live continues with Shostakovich Symphonies Nos 6 & 15. These two lesser-known works date from 1939 and 1970/1 respectively, the former a deliberate step back from the radicalized Romanticism of No 5, and the latter what was to be the composer's final, almost valedictory, contribution to the genre he so defined for the century. These performances by the London Symphony Orchestra were captured live at the Barbican in October 2019 (No 6) and February 2022 (Nos 15).

Music to hear … Music for lyra viol from 1609 by Alfonso Ferrabosco Junior finds Richard Boothby alone and marvelling at the complex intricacies of this composer—English born and bred, his name notwithstanding—and his extraordinary 'Lessons' for viol. This new album from Signum Classics presents thirteen examples, predominantly lavish explorations of Elizabethan dance music.

New from 1equalmusic we have Elegy, an intriguing sequence showcasing the composition and conducting of Michael Rosenzweig with the string players of Fifth Quadrant and the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Samuel Barber's justifiably famous Adagio leads into the title track—the 'contrapuntal tour-de-force' that is Rosenzweig's Elegy—and a stunning performance of Mozart’s third violin concerto with soloist Pavel Minev, the programme being rounded off with Rosenzweig's Fugue marking 525 years since the Battle of Barnet.