As autumn continues in the northern hemisphere and the temperature outside falls, the instinct it to turn to more cozy settings, which is perfect for chamber music. Two outstanding releases covered this month fit that bill. One is violin sonatas by the friends Brahms and Schumann, performed by the husband-wife team of Yuuko ShioKawa and András Schiff. The other features chamber works by Igor Stravinsky, conducted by Barbara Hannigan (pictured). Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and long-time accompanist Kathryn Stott say a heartfelt “thank you” to each other as she retires from performing on the album Merci. There are also several piano albums, new American compositions, and the first of the holiday music to explore.

John Andrews, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – Grace Williams: Orchestral Works

Apollo’s Fire, Jeannette Sorrell – Bach’s Coffeehouse

Benjamin Appl – The Christmas Album

ARC Ensemble – Chamber Works by Frederick Block

Alison Balsom, Pinnock’s Players, Trevor Pinnock – Baroque Concertos

Juliane Banse, Johan Reuter, Manfred Honeck – Walter Braunfels: Jeanne d’Arc

Tzimon Barto, Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Christoph Eschenbach – Bartók: The Piano Concertos

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Manchester Camerata, Gábor Takács-Nagy – Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 10

Alessio Bax – Forgotten Dances

Antoine Bernheim, Daniele De Prosperi, Stefano Parisse, Elena Tsvetkova – Paisiello: La finta amante

Bevan Family Consort – Christmas with The Bevan Family Consort

Leon Botstein, TON (The Orchestra Now) – Exodus: Kaufmann, Rubin, Tal

Courtney Hershey Bress, Colorado Symphony, Andrew Litton – Michael Daugherty: Harp of Ages

Benjamin Bruns, Soraya Mafi, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra, Patrick Hahn – Andrew Lloyd Weber: Requiem

Cappella Romana, Nadia Tarnawsky – A Ukrainian Wedding

The Cardinall’s Musick, Andrew Carwood – The Byrd Edition, Vol. 13: Infelix ego

Zlata Chochieva, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Karl-Heinz Steffens – Works for Piano and Orchestra: Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tsafsman

ChromaDuo – What I Saw in the Water: 21st-Century Works for Guitar Duo

Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe – Gesualdo: Silenzio mio – Il quarto libro di madrigali

Johan Dalene, Peter Friis Johansson – Souvenirs

Nick Davies, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra – Henning Sommerro: Borders

Jeremey Denk – Ives Denk

Simone Dinnerstein – The Eye Is the First Circle

Peter Donohoe – Chopin: Waltzes; Schumann: Abegg Variations; Ravel: Valse nobles et sentimentales

Doric String Quartet – Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 2

James Ehnes, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner – Sibelius: Violin Concerto; Serenades; Humoresques; Earnest Melodies; Suite

Eighth Blackbird – David Lang: composition as explanation

Ensemble 96, Current – Pax

Marcus Farnsworth, Eric McElroy – Gurney: Songs, Vol. 2

Ádám Fischer, Danish Chamber Orchestra – Haydn: Late Symphonies, Vol. 4

Edwin Fischer – Bach: Book 2, The Well-Tempered Clavier

Juan Diego Flórez – Flórez Zarzuela

Mao Fujita – 72 Preludes: Chopin, Scriabin, Yashiro

Barbara Hannigan – Stravinsky: Chamber Works

Nikolau Harnoncourt – Bach: Messe in H-Moll

Richard Hickox – Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony

Steven Isserlis – Music of the Angels: Cello Concertos, Sonatas & Quintets by Luigi Boccherini

JACK Quartet – John Luther Adams: Waves and Particles

Alexandre Kantorow – Brahms, Schubert

Ian Koziara, Bradley Moore – Silenced: Unsung Voices of the 20th Century

Rafael Kubelik, Czech Philharmonic – Smetana: My Country

Paul Lewis – Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 4

George Li – Movements

Bruce Liu – Tchaikovsky: The Seasons

Nikolai Lugansky, State Academy Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Ivan Shpiller – Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 3 & 4

Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia – Mozart: Sonata for 2 Pianos in D major; Schubert: Fantasia for Piano, 4 hands in F minor

Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott – Merci

Jacek Muzyk, Daniel Kerdelewicz, JoAnn Falletta – The Golden Age of the Horn: Concertos for 2 Horns – Hoffmeister, L. Mozart, Pokorný, Witt

Marius Neset, Leif Ove Andsnes – Who We Are

Víkingur Ólafsson – Continuum

Poiesis Quartet, Nancy Maultsby – As We Are

Jean-Guihen Queyras – Bach: Complete Cello Suites – The 2023 Sessions

Thomas Reiner, Interpreti Veneziani – Italian Baroque: Trumpet Concertos

James Ross, Eloise Irving, Malcolm Riley, Kent Sinfonia – Royal Throne of Kings: Ralph Vaughan Williams and Shakespeare

Sandbox Percussion – Michael Torke: Bloom

Yuuko Shiokawa, András Schiff – Brahms, Schumann

Ksenija Sidorova – Crossroads

Pietro Spagnoli, Matías Moncada, Sesto Quatrini – Donizetti: Chiara e Serafina

Michael Tilson Thomas – Grace: The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas

Daniil Trifonov, Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin – My American Story: North

Various Artists – Bruckner from the Archives, Vol. 4

Alessandra Visentin, Salvatore Di Vittorio – Respighi: Tre Liriche

Voces8 – Nightfall

Wet Ink Large Ensemble, Eric Wubbels – Kate Soper: The Romance of the Rose

Nardus Williams, Dunedin Consort, John Butt – Handel in Rome

Yuanchun Yu, Hongxuan Chen, Tieshan Liu, Yang Yang – Xiaogang Ye: Song of Farewell Without Words

Zehetmair Quartett – Schumann: String Quartet Nos. 1 & 3