A celebration of Christmas from the Nativity through to Candlemas, in music from across sixteenth-century Europe: Renaissance polyphony at its finest.

Now that Christmas starts well before the beginning of December and finishes abruptly on the 25th (with the sudden assault of summer holiday adverts) it's good to be reminded that the official twelve days of Christmas run from the 25th until Epiphany, 6 January, a period which, in the Middle Ages, was one of continuous feasting. No looming 'dry January', threatening to turn the coldest, darkest time of the year into one of unwelcome abstinence.

For a celebration of the true twelve days, the London Oratory Schola Cantorum's 'Sacred treasures of Christmas' simply can't be bettered; sixteen tracks of glorious sixteenth-century polyphony arranged by liturgical season rather than geographical origin. There is something special about hearing sacred music sung in context, by a choir for whom it serves a sacramental purpose, especially so in performances of such excellence as these. One of the album reviews praised the Schola as 'without doubt cathedral standard', inviting comparisons with the nearby institutions of Westminster and St Paul's.

And for those seeking to extend the Christmas festivities even beyond Epiphany, the Schola offers the perfect excuse. The album concludes with music appropriate for Candlemas, commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem (Luke 2: 22-39, an episode which also gives us the words of the Nunc dimittis, set by numerous composers over the centuries), taking us all the way to 2 February. Tallis's 'Videte miraculum'—the last track—is a miracle in itself, not to be missed.