An active composer in the former Soviet Union from the 1960s until 1981, Viktor Suslin (1942–2012) also formed the important improvisational ensemble Astrea with fellow composers Sofia Gubaidulina and Vyacheslav Artyomov in 1975. As a composer, Suslin used a wide variety of compositional methods, was content with simple elements as basic compositional material and form-wise retained a balance between classicism and innovation. The première recording of Sofia Gubaidulina’s 2013 So sei es (‘So be it’), subtitled 'in memoriam Viktor Suslin', was composed especially for this disc.