The Siberian-born Vissarion Shebalin (1902–63) is best known for his instrumental music, which includes five symphonies and nine string quartets, some of which have been heard on CD.

He studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Myaskovsky, who recommended him to be appointed to the teaching staff immediately upon his graduation. He remained there as Professor of Composition for the next 50 years, also teaching at the Gnessin Institute and Central Music School, and quickly became one of the most authoritative leaders of young composers, his compendious musical and humanitarian culture and personal dignity giving him enormous moral authority on top of his reputation as an outstanding pedagogue.

His students included an astonishing array of composers, among them Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Ester Mägi, Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Tchaikovsky and Veljo Tormis.

Shebalin had to endure much hardship: along with Shostakovich, a close friend and colleague, he was one of the composers condemned in the infamous 1948 Party congress in Moscow, and in later life he fought to overcome a series of crippling strokes. These tribulations he faced with understated but unshakable optimism.

This is the first recording of the eight delightful, and very Russian, choral cycles he wrote from 1949.