Boris Tchaikovsky is clearly an important composer. Some may dine him deceptively minimalist, modern, or even New Age at first hearing; but these are misconceptions. Tchaikovsky sounds only remotely like Shostakovich and not at all like Vaughan Williams, Prokofieff, or his more famous namesake; but his music fits into their orchestral world. Not only is it romantic; it’s also haunting, involving and conducive to rehearings. From the evidence here, I have been introduced to a master.
American Record Guide
Sebastopol Symphony (1980) and Music for Orchestra (1987) move forward through selective and haunting changes of orchestral timbre and spare, often memorable melodic lines, hinting at familiar symphonic rhetoric but never settling on it for long. I’m reminded more of late Martinu than any Russian models in the free-flowing, beautifully scored string laments, and there’s even an intriguing hint of rainbow-coloured later minimalism as the Symphony becomes locomotive.
BBC Music Magazine
That Chandos should release this recording as a ‘historical’ CD might lead you to expect aged sound, but you needn’t worry: it’s slightly boxy, and lacks space at the climaxes, but there’s nothing to get between you and the music.
International Record review