This long and virtuosic piece from the Eton Choirbook conjures up for me the majesty and mysticism of the English countryside–a walk down a country lane on a rainy afternoon; a picnic among the ruins of an abbey; even a glass of bitter in a pub garden.

As you listen to this, imagine you are sitting in St Mark’s Square, Venice, with an Aperol Spritz.

The legend goes that Davis invited his musicians to record the 1959 album Kind of Blue with only sketches of melodies on which to improvise. They came up with this complete track on their first take.

This song reminds me of the 90s, when everything was simpler.

Purcell at his heartrending best. If you still feel the trauma of being forced to learn the recorder at school, perhaps this will ease your pain.

Martha Argerich’s recording of this wonderful piece is so indelibly marked in my mind that I can never, nor will I ever need to, listen to another version.

Britten is capable of any level of complexity, but he sure knows how to pare it back.

This is more a folk song than a carol, with enigmatic lyrics that evoke Arthurian legend. Jeff Buckley became aware of a setting of it by Benjamin Britten when he was at school, and was later inspired by Dame Janet Baker, no less, to record a version of it for his album, Grace. I love that he sings it at the same pitch as Baker but adds an extra high note at the end.

I remember as a boy treble finding this by far the most difficult piece we sang in my school choir. I also remember dropping out for large sections of it because it was so good and I didn’t want to ruin it by getting the notes wrong.

A brief interlude from one of my favourite films.

This smooth Slovenian jazz number (I just needed to write that) comes from the very left of field. I heard it on Radio 3 in the car a few years ago but, despite its catchiness, I didn’t catch its title. Only recently did I chance upon it again.

This is from one of my favourite albums of all time, lots of which Stevens recorded in a hotel room (though you wouldn’t necessarily guess). I think most of us can relate to that at this point.

I apologise if you have found a lot of this playlist fairly downbeat; but this final song should more than make up for it.