Pretty much every successful chorus has to do a Christmas disc or two sooner or later--the Tallis Scholars are no exception. Happily, it's no crossover attempt: the music Peter Phillips has selected fits right into their repertory, and the performance is up to the group's usual high standard. The music ranges from the Middle Ages (English carols such as the gracious "There Is No Rose" and the boisterous "Nowell Dieu vous garde") through the Renaissance (motets by Josquin, Byrd, and Victoria) to the early Baroque (lovely arrangements by Praetorius of the familiar tunes "Lo How a Rose," "Joseph lieber, Joseph mein," and "In dulci jubilo"), and from the simple "Lullay: I Saw" for two tenors (one of the earliest English carols) to gorgeously rich settings of "Ave Maria" for seven voices by Philippe Verdelot and for eight voices by Tomás Luis de Victoria. --Matthew Westphal

• Noël: Carols & Chants for Christmas - Anonymous 4 (4 CD Set)