Just get the whole ballet, gillymor! Gorgeous. And Mother Goose while you're at it.

I like Renaissance too, Helen. Go back a bit further still and try Hildegarde of Bingen, or any of the medieval composers who evolved music away from plainchant. Years ago I bought a treasurable CD of Spanish medieval music called Cantigas de Amigo, performed by Ensemble Alcatraz with the Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble. The Cantigas are seven songs by Martin Codax but there's lots more on the album besides. The arrangements and harmonies are very much the products of modern imagination but it's all so beautifully done.

I have a bit of a blind spot about quite a lot of baroque music. It's just me but I've never grasped what Vivaldi's all about and much of Handel passes me by. The glorious exception is Bach. In fact I listened to the B minor Mass this afternoon. I love his concertos and cantatas and treasure the Goldberg Variations. The Passions are a bit too stop-start for me in spite of their glories and I have to wait until Mrs Steve's out of the house before I can put on anything with organ or harpsichord. One thing I can't countenance is Glenn Gould and those Goldbergs. The whole world may disagree with me but I think he just completely gets in the way of the music. Shoot!