Alfred Schnittke (1934–98) was the most important Russian composer of the late 20th century, and his output has been documented in recordings more thoroughly than that of any other Russian composer since Shostakovich.

But there are a number of works which have not yet been released on CD, and four of the five works here are not only first recordings; they also document Schnittke’s stylistic evolution over more than four decades, from his relatively traditional Preludes for piano to the elliptical Variations for string quartet that represents his search for a new universal musical language.

Yellow Sound, the largest work here, is a unique collaboration across the decades with the expressionist artist Vassily Kandinsky. Schnittke, like Kandinsky, was synaesthetic – experiencing music as colour – and Yellow Sound uses Kandinsky’s libretto and explores his philosophy on the ‘spirituality’ of art. Recorded in the presence of the composer in Moscow in 1984 and remastered for this release.

Magdalina for mezzo-soprano and piano is a rare example of Schnittke’s song output and his only setting of a poem from Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago; it lay unpublished and unperformed for over 30 years.

Variations for string quartet: Schnittke spent the last four years of his life gravely ill after a series of crippling strokes, and was unable to write with his right hand. This is one of his last works, written using his left hand only and found in his apartment in Hamburg after his death.

This release is the brainchild of the cellist Alexander Ivashkin, who appears on the disc as soloist and chamber musician and was a close personal friend of Schnittke and his biographer.