In 1997, the Holst Singers and Stephen Layton produced a disc that immediately became a cult classic and a best-seller. 'Ikon', a selection of great Russian choral music from the 19th century, dazzled with its grand, opulent beauty. Now the same forces return with Ikon II. Many of the works recorded here are by composers whose names will not be familiar - but the extraordinary quality of the music is unmistakable and immediately enthralling. This recording centres on music produced by a group of composers linked to the Moscow Synodal School of Church Singing, famous for its choir (comprising men and boys) at the beginning of the twentieth century. These composers made, up to the time of the momentous events of 1917, a significant contribution to the future of Russian choral music, one that, while never forgotten in Russia, is now also coming to be appreciated in the West. That their work did not emerge from a vacuum is made evident here by the inclusion of music by earlier composers: Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), Mili Balakirev (1837-1910) and Cesar Cui (1835-1918).

This is a welcome reissue of a fine release, including several gems, performed with spirit and more than mere competence by the Holst Singers and Orchestra under Hilary Davan Wetton. The program starts out with the Two Psalms from 1912, scored for choir, string orchestra and organ, fine but not particularly memorable works. The Six Choruses for male voices and string orchestra op. 53 belong to a different league, but these complex pieces aren't exactly easy listening. The Seven Part Songs op. 44 are very fine works as well - they belong to the period of Egdon Heath and more or less to the same style; and they do indeed exhibit many of the same qualities; they really display Holst's ear for sonorities and delicate but interesting textures. At first listening they might come across as a little austere, but closer attention is rewarded by almost shimmering, subtle beauty. The Evening Watch op. 43 also belongs to the same group, but is in the end a less memorable work. The Nunc Dimittis is lovely.

Grechaninov was initially taught by Anton Arensky in Moscow, and then later, in 1890, he went to St Petersburg to study with Rimsky-Korsakov. It was he who influenced his style and helped him launch his professional career. After the Revolution, Grechaninov became increasingly uneasy in Soviet Russia, and in 1925 left for ever. In 1946 he took American citizenship. An unusually versatile and prolific composer, he wrote operas, symphonies, chamber music, over 250 songs, and a great deal of music for children. He has been described as the most representative composer of his generation writing for the Orthodox service. Vespers is part of the All-Night Vigil service, and Grechaninov's setting was composed, premiered, and published in 1912. This precedes Rachmaninov's setting by three years. It appears to have lain dormant for some eighty years until it was revived in America for its first performance of modern times in 1995.

Vaughan Williams's small-scale choral works are a comparatively lesser-known aspect of his art. The majority of these compositions arose from his folksong-collecting activities at the turn of the century; this recording brings some of his finest folksong arrangements together with other a cappella works. They cover the whole of the composer's long career. The Holst Singers are the foremost amateur choir in London. Under their musical director Stephen Layton they regularly perform on Radio 3 and Classic FM and in the major concert venues. The choir is joined for several songs by the renowned soloists Ian Bostridge and Michael George.

This pioneering new recording - a showcase for the virtuoso talents of the Holst Singers - presents all fifteen of Villette's unaccompanied choral works and his two motets for choir and organ. Pierre Villette might best be regarded as a stylistic bridge between Debussy and Faure on the one hand and Poulenc and Messiaen on the other. A world rich in the familiarities of Gregorian chant infuses much of his choral output, while ambitious chromaticisms and textural gestures create effects which are at once spiritual and sensuous. This is the music of private prayer set in the context of an incense-filled Gothic Uber-Cathedral. Under their long-standing director of music Stephen Layton, the Holst Singers have established themselves firmly at the top of the country's league of chamber choirs. This new programme can only enhance their justly deserved reputation.

The Holst Singers are acclaimed as one of England's greatest non-professional choirs. The talent and commitment of the individual members and the leadership of their mercurial conductor, Stephen Layton, ensure that their performances are always of the very highest standards. Veljo Tormis (born 1930) is - along with Arvo Part - Estonia's most famous living composer, holding an almost mystic status in his home country. He is also the passionate and practical torch-bearer for folk-singing revival, and the integration of an ancient cultural inheritance into thoroughly modern, post-Soviet lives. Interestingly, he trained at the Moscow Conservatory and was steeped in Soviet instruction during his early musical life. His music is almost all written for choirs; few other composers have been so committed to one genre. Tormis's choral specialization marks him out from Bartok, Kodaly, Vaughan Williams and Grainger, whose pioneering interest in folksong was ultimately limited to the use of textless tunes in instrumental or orchestral works. For Tormis, the words and the music are inseparable. The Holst Singers have recently been invited to Estonia to perform Tormis's music - a great honor, and a mark of their mastery of this repertoire.