Fortepianist Sezi Seskir and cellist Keiran Campbell's fine new recording of Beethoven's two cello sonatas captures the composer's many facets: nuanced, exciting, humorous, and often blazing with joy. Highly recommended.

Looking for ancient voices from his native Ecuador, Felipe Ledesma Núñez turned to ceramics and the sounds of his ancestors. He sees a problem in the humanities, 'that we are privileging the written word. And those kinds of systems are ill-suited: They cannot carry sound.'

Percussionist Rex Benincasa writes about adding sounds and spices to music where there's little or no historical guidance, from the European high Baroque to Mediterranean North Africa and the court of the Tang Dynasty. Much of what he plays was never written down.

Raphaël Pichon and his award-winning Pygmalion ensemble move from strength to strength. Their latest is a period-instrument Brahms 'A German Requiem' that's among the best sung and most rewarding versions available.