Benjamin Britten Songs

Or you could just get Peter Grimes! It's a great work, easily available and on the used vinyl market for no more than a dollar or two. I got to hear Simon Rattle conduct it live with the Berlin Phil in April! What an experience.

Rushton: are the songs you're talking about stand alone pieces, or part of a larger liturgical work? Or are they the larger works? I've never heard of them.

Lousyreeds, the songs I listed are standalone works, although several (Seven Sonnets, Canticles, Eight Medieval Lyrics) are a series of songs (5-8) loosely related by a common theme.
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Naxos has an excellent series of Britten recordings. If you get their 2005 catalog, usually free, you can see all that's available. New/recent recordings include Volumes One and Two of his Orchestral Song Cycles; another CD of St. Nicholas, Christ's Nativity, and Psalm 150; and a fourth CD of Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Winter Words, et al. There's also some very recommendable Britten orchestral, instrumental, and chamber music on Naxos--all very inexpensive. Worth checking out.