Members of The Nash Ensemble—in agreeably unexpected combinations—bring all their customary flair to a Piano Trio and Sextets by Ferdinand Ries. If posterity has tended to focus on his role as student, associate and friend of Beethoven, Ries the composer deserves to be better known in his own right, and July's Record of the Month offers an opportunity to get to know some highly engaging music in accounts by one of the most versatile groups performing today. Another overlooked composer is championed in Volume 84 of our Romantic Piano Concerto series, and Aloys Schmitt Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 features music from the byways of the Austro-German tradition in the early nineteenth century. The advocacy of Howard Shelley—who, as always, plays as though he's known and loved the works all his life—and the faultless support offered by the Ulster Orchestra are a proven and winning formula.

With Missa Faulte d'argent & Motets by Jean Mouton, Stephen Rice and The Brabant Ensemble celebrate the quincentenary of the composer's death. Their earlier album of works by Mouton was described as 'gorgeous' (BBC Music Magazine) and its successor is every bit as rewarding, confirming the distinction and originality of this near contemporary of Josquin.

The ongoing series dedicated to choice selections of our all-time favourite recordings—ones you might possibly have missed? This time: Remembrance from St Paul's Cathedral Choir (‘fine listening’—Gramophone), Liszt's Troisième Année de pèlerinage & other late piano works from Cédric Tiberghien (‘seriously classy Liszt, encompassed by a recording that allows every detail of Tiberghien’s playing to resonate’—BBC Record Review), and The Art of Melancholy – Songs by John Dowland from Iestyn Davies and Thomas Dunford (‘this is Dowland to treasure’—Gramophone). If you don’t know them already, a track from each is included on our monthly sampler which is free to download.

A debut Signum album from The Heath Quartet presents String Quartets by Alban Berg, Anton Webern and Arnold Schoenberg, three works written in the years 1905 to 1909. For Schoenberg's No 2, this sought-after quartet is joined by soprano Carolyn Sampson, a major work complemented by smaller compositions by two of his pupils.

New from Signum Classics this month we have the latest in Malcolm Martineau's indefatigable survey of French song. Performing The Complete Songs of Henri Duparc he is here joined by mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, tenor Nicky Spence, and baritones William Thomas and Huw Montague Rendall.

Bringing to fruition an acclaimed cycle—as well as marking the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth—the Hallé label this month proudly presents Vaughan Williams's Sinfonia antartica & Symphony No 9. The former work, RVW's 'No 7', received its premiere from the Hallé Orchestra (under Sir John Barbirolli) in 1953; No 9 was the composer's last major work, first performed just four months before his death in 1958. The Hallé's current long-standing maestro Sir Mark Elder conducts. Also available this month from the same forces is an attractively priced set comprising The Complete Vaughan Williams Symphonies, bringing together the recordings made over the last ten or so years.

Handel's Caio Fabbricio is one of those unusual works where most of the 'good bits' are not actually the work of the named composer. The genre of the 'pasticcio opera' allowed Handel—and his superstar cast of divas—to stitch together tried-and-tested arias with newly composed linking passages, and proved surprisingly popular. It's a milieu thoroughly enjoyed by London Early Opera and director Bridget Cunningham in a new recording for Signum Classics, the work's first.