In 2009 The Sixteen’s “Padre Pio” (6/09) featured commissions from MacMillan, Panufnik and Will Todd. This new release featuring another British composing trio focuses on texts by two of the 16th- and 17th-century Spanish Mystics, St Teresa of Ávila and St John of the Cross.

Each composer has set the same three texts and much of the satisfaction of this programme derives from comparing their differing word-setting approaches. In general terms, Tarik O’Regan favours repeating, hypnotic ostinatos, whereas Ruth Byrchmore’s approach is more intense and dramatic. Roderick Williams’s innate lyricism bursts through and sounds the most naturally and comfortably singable.

Several highlights stand out: the organ outburst at the start of Byrchmore’s The Dark Night, which is reminiscent of Holst’s Choral Fantasia and the falling vocal shapes which seem to echo the “weep, O weep”, from Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia, and the melting harmonies of Williams’s Let nothing trouble you. Each of the three standalone pieces that complete the programme are remarkable. Williams’s O Adonai separates the singers both spatially and in terms of key, creating a haunting effect, while Byrchmore’s award-winning setting of Rossetti’s A Birthday grows from the fragile to a beguiling and exuberant intensity. O’Regan’s O vera digna hostia is exquisitely beautiful and wholesome. Robert Quinney gives splendid support on both organ and piano, and the recording is well-nigh perfect.