Boris Tishchenko was one of the most recognisable and important Russian composers of his time. His studies with Shostakovich – whose mantle as Russia’s leading symphonist he assumed after his teacher’s death in 1975 – proved decisive. Symphony No. 8, one of his last completed works, was written to be performed immediately after Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony to which it makes reference. The Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra is rich in emotional depth, lyricism and dance rhythms while Three Songs to Poems by Marina Tsvetayeva intriguingly fuses popular song with Russian romance.