You would be hard-pressed to find a more illuminating disc than this latest offering from Arcangelo…There’s nothing overfamiliar about the captivating freshness and buoyancy that both chorus and instrumentalists bring to a much-loved warhorse…Cohen plays the theatricality of the JC Bach to the hilt, while acknowledging the homage to JS in the opening of CPE’s setting.

For [JS's] perennial masterpiece, Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo snap into their festive sparklers with grand authority and lithe ebullience, sweeping effortlessly from verse to verse with considerable purpose...Arcangelo’s voyage into the sons’ Magnificats is no less well paced or astutely textured...Cohen and Arcangelo bring us an illuminated Bachian constellation of three canticles colliding in captivating relief.

Cohen and Co. will convince you that the two Magnificats from the lesser-spotted Bachs deserve to be up there with JS's masterpiece: all three works really dance, and there's some top-drawer solo work, not least from the firm-toned, agile tenor Thomas Walker and the fresh-voiced mezzo Olivia Vermeulen.

Cohen drives uplifting, beautifully phrased performances, with crisp playing and fine singing from Arcangelo. Even if you already have JS Bach’s Magnificat on disc, you’ll discover you need this too.

Each Magnificat is different in length, tone and emphasis, although with enough common echoes to underline the family tree and the sense of musical history progressing. That’s one reason to buy the album. The other is the unfettered vivacity of Jonathan Cohen’s group Arcangelo. These are no shrinking violets.

Choir and soloists are equal to those characteristics, delivering a sturdy and dignified performance.