Vyacheslav Artyomov is considered by many to be Russia’s greatest living composer. His music is deep, ultimately spiritual and brilliantly crafted, with influences from the Russian symphonic tradition colored by Mahler, Scriabin, Honegger and Messiaen to name a few – but melded into a unique voice. The Divine Art Artyomov Retrospective (which to date has received wonderful reviews internationally) is a mix of new recordings and former Melodiya releases. This is the ninth instalment, which comprises six works for varying chamber ensembles, and while embodying the composer’s overall wide ranging compositional style, spirituality and mysticism, these pieces express this in a more intimate, lyrical style than his massive symphonic works. ‘Scenes’ was originally written as a ballet score for a film, but as the movie was banned by the Soviet authorities and never shown, the work now stands in its own right as a balletic suite.