Here is a disc that proves to be much more than the sum of its parts. At first sight, it appears to be something of a patchwork, with arrangements for cello ensemble of two of Tavener’s choral works (the Preces and Responses and No longer mourn for me) surrounding three more substantial compositions. But in fact Steven Isserlis has understood how to draw out the vocal quality in both those pieces and adapt it superbly for the eight cellos, to the extent that even the instrumental performance of what would be the precentor’s intonations in the first sounds extraordinarily natural and ‘breathed’.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich is certainly the most challenging piece here. It is based on a short story by Tolstoy and is a ‘monodrama’ in the line of The Immurement of Antigone and Eis Thanaton (though the latter is not so described). Like them, it is austere in the extreme, highly concentrated and uncompromising, with moments of luminous beauty breaking through the darkness; the effort is worth making. The piece that really stands out, however, is Mahámátar, which features the Sufi singer Abi Sampa, who improvises in her own tradition above music derived from the received Byzantine chant for the Great Litany from the Eucharistic Liturgy (any Greek chanter will pick this up immediately). The cumulative effect is overwhelming. Popule meus, an entirely instrumental work, is hardly less impressive, however.

This beautifully recorded disc is enriched enormously by Steven Isserlis’s very personal booklet notes – it is very important to have this kind of testimony, and makes of this release a genuinely historical document as well as a vibrant new contribution to the Tavener discography.