This inspired coupling brings together three of the most powerful small-scale early oratorios: Charpentier's Le Reniement de Saint Pierre, telling of St Peter's denial of Christ, lasts less than 15 minutes but is as wrenchingly emotional as any Passion, and its final chorus as Peter weeps is one of the most crushingly dissonant passages in the music of the 17th century; his story of the sacrifice of Abraham (pre-echoing Britten's first Canticle) is equally concentrated. Carissimi's Jephte is under 25 minutes and also ends with a chorus of weeping on the death of Jephte's daughter. To these affecting narratives (separated by instrumental interludes by De Brossard), La Nuova Musica bring superbly straight tone, unerring tuning and plangent phrasing.