Dvořák's String Quartet Op 106 & Coleridge-Taylor's Fantasiestücke make a particularly satisfying pairing in July's Record of the Month: two works which are complementary and contemporaneous, albeit from very different stages in their composers' careers. Dvořák's quartet is one of the first major works to result from his return to Prague in 1895 after a lengthy sojourn in the United States, while the Coleridge-Taylor (so much more than a curtain-raiser) is the creation of a precocious student at the Royal College of Music. The advocacy of the Takács Quartet makes for thrilling results in both. In Anthems, Vol. 1, Stephen Layton and Trinity College Choir Cambridge present a selection of eight examples (plus a dazzling organ solo played by Harrison Cole) which demonstrate the genre at its vigorous best. Recorded in the majestic surroundings of Ely Cathedral, favourites from Elgar and Howells sit alongside contributions from contemporary figures including Sir James MacMillan to prove that the composition of sacred choral works remains a vital, living tradition.

The fount of grace by Guillaume de Machaut is the latest issue in The Orlando Consort's survey of the music of France's great fourteenth-century composer-poet. The songs included here contrast the ideals of courtly and spiritual love with the world of pestilence, war and strife in which Machaut lived and worked, and include the extraordinary 'Lay de la fonteinne'. The performances, as ever, bring the age vividly to life.

The ongoing series dedicated to choice selections of our all-time favourite recordings—ones you might possibly have missed? This time: Kapustin Piano Music from Marc-André Hamelin (‘everything on this remarkable disc is played with a nonchalant aplomb and magical dexterity hard to imagine from any other pianist’—Gramophone), Prokofiev Violin Sonatas from Alina Ibragimova and Steven Osborne (‘one of those astute mergers of talent for which Hyperion is well known’—The Daily Telegraph), and Concertos symphoniques Nos 3 & 5 by Henry Charles Litolff from Peter Donohoe, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Litton (‘dash out and buy the disc forthwith’—International Record Review). If you don’t know them already, a track from each is included on our monthly sampler which is free to download.

Après un rêve – Belle Époque: Nights at the piano is a very personal journey for pianist Emmanuel Despax, a tribute to inter-generational bonds forged through poetry and music. Opulently produced, this new album from Signum Classics features music by Poulenc, Ravel and others, and the booklet includes carefully curated texts and translations to accompany the music.

On Signum, the London Chamber Orchestra has teamed up with cellist and conductor Simca Heled to record a programme of Music from the ghetto, with music—by Max Bruch, Daniel Shalit, Yehezkel Braun & Leib Ailenberg—which fascinatingly traverses wide-ranging approaches to the fusion of age-old Jewish and Western European musical languages.

The Traveller & Earth and Sky presents two new recordings springing from the long-standing bond between composer Alec Roth, conductor Jeffrey Skidmore and the expert singers of Ex Cathedra. Both works also belong to the rich seam of collaborations between Roth and poet Vikram Seth. On the Signum label, the choir is joined by the Britten Sinfonia, violinist Philippe Honoré and tenor soloist Mark Padmore.