The first two decades of the 20th century were a time of radical experimentation in European art music, and St Petersburg was by no means behind the times. Avant-garde music flourished during and for some time after the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. It wasn’t until the rise of Stalin that progressive modernism was actively stifled. We know the struggles faced by Shostakovich, but many of his compatriots abandoned their stylistic experiments (Popov), emigrated (Lourié), or mysteriously disappeared.

Roger Woodward gives us a cross-section of miniatures written between 1905 (Scriabin’s first Feuillet d’album) and 1926 (Mosolov’s Two Nocturnes). Alexander Scriabin was the father of this school, literally so in the case of his son Julian, represented here by three preludes. Julian’s music was sophisticated and promising, but he died at the age of 11.

Not all artworks that are stylistically groundbreaking or historically important are masterpieces. (How often do we listen to Schoenberg and Cage, compared to Sibelius and Copland?) Much of this music sounds tentative as a composer feels his way into new harmonic realms. This is certainly true of Obuhkov’s fragmentary Tableaux psychologiques of 1915. Yet when the new language is focussed, as in Stanchinsky’s Canon (1908), the result is impressive. It is hard to gauge a composer’s true voice from these miniatures. Nikolai Roslavets’ Trois compositions (1914) give little hint of the glories of his two violin concertos. Woodward is in fine form, so if your interest is aroused do not hesitate.