Hamish Milne’s distinguished Medtner cycle commenced in 1977 but has recently taken wing‚ with this ninth volume quickly following Volume 8. And what a rich and fascinating miscellany Milne presents‚ offering‚ as he tells us in his accompanying essay‚ music which ranges from Medtner’s teenage years (the Sonatina) to old age and‚ finally‚ to a work (the Piano Quintet) which occupied him throughout a life dogged by ill fortune and lack of recognition. For Medtner the Quintet was his summa‚ his ‘hymns of old Russia’ dedicated to God. The echoes of others‚ most notably Brahms‚ criss­cross its deeply affecting pages‚ whether giving us a ‘serene variant’ on the Dies irae‚ the modal harmonies of the Russian Orthodox Church or a finale concluding in a whirl of defiance and exultance; and it says much for Medtner’s genius that he can end with a glissando and tremolando while somehow avoiding either vulgarity or caricature. At the other end of the scale‚ Milne’s performance of the Sonatina‚ based on the published Russian edition and a manuscript in the Glinka Archive in Moscow‚ is as crystalline and sensitive as even the most ardent Medtnerian could wish. The elfin Scherzo‚ intriguing in itself‚ is alive with the promise of things to come and so‚ too‚ is the E flat Prelude‚ beloved of Josef Hofmann‚ while the Sonata­Skazka (a work close to Rachmaninov’s heart) is played by Milne with unfaltering lucidity and is both accessible and elusive. Milne’s robust partners in the Quintet are the Pro Arte Piano Quartet‚ and although he is less fowardly balanced than Dmitri Alexeev in his Hyperion disc with the New Budapest Quartet his performance has all of his instinctive quality and commitment‚ most notably a capacity to allow the composer his own voice and to present his music with affection and clarity. Finally‚ Milne is joined by Boris Berezovsky in the Op 58 ‘Round Dance’ and ‘Knight Errant’ for two pianos‚ both alive with character and wit and performed with total authority and conviction. Medtner and Moiseiwitsch‚ who recorded the ‘Round Dance’ (Dante HPC130)‚ would surely have been among the first to applaud. The recordings are for the most part admirable‚ and Volume 10 is eagerly awaited.