Arthur Lourié (1891-1966) is an endlessly fascinating composer. Like Stravinsky, whose friend (and in some ways mentor) he was, his work may be divided into three periods: Russian, French and American. His life in Russia brought him contact with futurist and symbolist circles, and he had an affair with Anna Akhmatova, which only ceased when he left Russia for good in 1922. From a Jewish family, Lourié had converted to Catholicism in 1913 and his connection with Catholic thinkers in France, and especially Jacques Maritain, was one of the things that linked him to Stravinsky. Indeed, the link between his Concerto spirituale (1929) and the latter’s Symphony of Psalms is a subject still awaiting proper exploration.

This collection is a survey of Lourié’s works with wind instruments and ranges from pieces for solo flute to the intriguing Funeral Games in Honor of Chronos, for three flutes, piano and cymbals. Some works, such as the Pastorale de la Volga (1916), scored for oboe, bassoon, two violas and cello, or Regina caeli (1924) for contralto, oboe and trumpet, bring immediate resonances of Stravinsky – it’s difficult not to ask oneself which larger Stravinsky piece they might come from. Both La flûte à travers le violon (1935) for flute and violin and Dithyrambes (1938) are far more Gallic-sounding, however, though they do not really sound like anything else (at a push one might guess Koechlin, I suppose).

The star of the show here is, without a doubt, Funeral Games, written in 1964 and one of two works Lourié completed in the last year of his life. It is evocative of the antique, certainly, but also very modern in its stripped-down sonic quality, something the players here grasp fully. Recordings throughout are of the highest quality, and it is very good to think that Lourié’s music, which was for so long neglected, is being revived in the hands of musicians such as these. A word, too, for the outstanding and highly detailed booklet notes by Samuel Zinsli.