The fifteen two-part Inventions and fifteen three-part Sinfonias which comprise the majority of Bach's Preludes, Inventions & Sinfonias may have originated as pedagogic exercises for Bach's younger pupils (including his ten-year-old son Wilhelm Friedemann), but their modest origins are deceptive. In imaginative performances such as those by Mahan Esfahani, these 'tiny gems' (as Mahan describes them) reveal expressive depths to rival the major keyboard works, making considerable demands of the performer's musical mettle and offering incomparable rewards. September's Record of the Month is another unmissable instalment—the sixth—in a Bach series which continues to win universal praise.

Jacob Obrecht's Missa Scaramella is an ambitious project, testimony not only to the flawless voices of The Binchois Consort—who have few peers in this repertoire—and to their director Andrew Kirkman, but also to the editorial skills involved in reconstructing a lost masterpiece, a process described in the booklet as being 'part musical Sudoku, part detective work and part (re)composition'. The two major works by Obrecht included here survive only in varying states of incompletion, and their reconstruction allows us to appreciate some marvellous music which would otherwise be lost to posterity.

A spectacular new recording from Decca Classics brings us Shostakovich Symphonies Nos 4, 5 & 6 from the electrifying forces of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and their Chief Conductor Klaus Mäkelä. These are the three symphonies Shostakovich penned during the dark years of the 1930s—and rarely have their pent-up emotions been given such anguished voice as we find here.

Alexandra Dariescu has teamed up with conductor Tianyi Lu to record the Piano Concertos by Clara Schumann & Edvard Grieg, two works which remain to this day among their respective composer's most popular, despite in both cases being their sole contribution to the genre. This is Dariescu's third recording for Signum, and here orchestral support comes courtesy of the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Rebecca Dale's Night Seasons—both the eponymous work and the album itself—draw together a multitude of artists and stylistic influences to create a most alluring whole. As might be expected of a composer forged in the worlds of cinema and theatre, this is music which wants to be heard, and with consummate performances from cellists Steven Isserlis and Guy Johnston, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and—taking the lion's share—the expert voices of Tenebrae, this immaculately recorded new Signum album is quite a treat.

A new album from the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gianandrea Noseda brings together four Symphonic works by Carlos Simon—The block (a musical depiction of quintessentially African American urban architecture), Tales (a 'folklore symphony'), Songs of separation (featuring the mellifluous mezzo-soprano of J'Nai Bridges) and Wake up! (a not-so-gentle prod to any post-prandial audience members). On the orchestra's own label, this is a dramatic new collection.

LSO Live celebrates 25 years with an entirely worthwhile retrospective drawing together Czech masterpieces recorded over the past quarter century. Centred on Dvořák Symphonies Nos 6-9 under the distinguished baton of Sir Colin Davis (No 9 being the label's inaugural release), these recordings have been wondrously remastered and are here presented alongside works by Smetana (Má vlast) and Janáček (the Sinfonietta, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle).