The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir have already set down Schnittke’s massively challenging Psalms of Repentence (or, better, Penitential Verses – 3/18), so one supposes that it was just a matter of time before these singers got round to the Choir Concerto. While it is less technically demanding than the Psalms, relying as it does far more on textural contrasts on a broad canvas, it is still far from easy. But the Estonian choir have long had a natural affinity with this sort of repertoire, possessing a depth and variety of vocal colour and a familiarity with Slavic-language singing that make them ideal candidates for a work of this magnitude.

And even if you have one or more of the several other excellent recordings of this masterpiece, you should add this to the collection. There is an uncompromising drive about the performance which allows the quietest, most reflective moments to become part of the greater narrative in an utterly convincing fashion; Schnittke reacts to the text (which is a Russian translation of words by the Armenian St Gregory of Narek) almost word by word, so there are huge contrasts in volume, density and pace that would throw a conductor less firmly in charge of the structural whole than Putniņš off course, making it merely a series of moments. The Three Sacred Hymns are a bauble by comparison (it is said that the composer wrote them in one night), but each of them has a distinct character and is very direct in its appeal. I’ve always considered Schnittke’s tiny setting of the Jesus Prayer to be miraculous, condensing something that is supposed to be repeated and meditated upon into the space of just over a minute.

We are not lacking in recordings of Pärt’s Magnificat Antiphons, either, but this stands with the best of them. Though the writing is very different from Schnittke’s, there is a similar need to understand the overall phrasing of each movement and the role of silence and textural contrast within it. Listen, for example, to the grounding provided by the basses in ‘O Adonai’, from which the tenors appear in an entirely organic fashion. The text, too, is always entirely clear, even in in the very lowest registers. The recording, made at the Niguliste Kirik (St Nicholas Church) in Tallinn, is absolutely clear, each chord vibrating in the air for just the right length of time. An album that haunts and dazzles by turns: very highly recommended.