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About LinkBacksIf you decide to try a recording of the Concerto Grosso No.2, see if you can get hold of the Moscow Studio Archives CD. This is the definitive recording.Originally Posted by Kontrapunctus
True, but don't expect any Yngwie Malmsteen style shredding!
If you decide to try a recording of the Concerto Grosso No.2, see if you can get hold of the Moscow Studio Archives CD. This is the definitive recording.True, but don't expect any Yngwie Malmsteen style shredding!
One thing I love about Schnittke's music is the drama. Alot of people say his music sounds schizophrenic, and to certain extent it kinda does... but I think its really amazing how he so genuinely captures the drama that both baroque/classical orchestration and form and harmony can create at their best, and combines it with the drama that 12-tone and pitch set and tone cluster composition, it really does fit well together. Not everything is like the first Symphony (I love that piece, don't get me wrong). He manages to combine these different things so well, so serve whatever kind of drama he wants to make. Schnittke was a true master.
I think his best might either be Concerto Grosso 1 or Concerto Grosso 4/Symphony 5. Though I still got a lot to listen to. Those 2 grabbed me right away. I like that he does use some tonal and mixes it with atonal. To me, he is the most accessible Modern Composer. He seems to mix in Baroque, Classical, and Romantic in a Modern way.
I should get something of Schnittke soon, probably Symphonies and Concertos first as it's my method of knowing a composer.
His description of works seems very interesting.
You're in for a treat, I wish I could listen to his symphonies for the first time again.
The piano quintet was one of the first pieces by Schnittke to get my undivided attention several years ago, and still has the same affect today. The sheer intensity of emotion throughout - be it haunting fragmented melodies or sheer sound clusters is expertly handled that it's just 'magical' in the experience of it. Following that, the 'Faust Cantata', Requiem and especially the viola concerto remain firm favourites to this day. I love the collage of modern and 'traditional' styles in several other works, especially as Schnittke has a grasp of making the tonal passages sound interesting in their own right along with any dissonance. The viola concerto is probably my favourite in that regard.
This following is also one of my favourites by the guy. Old & new converge in an almost playful manner, but not quite....
I agree with ArthurBrain about the faust cantata and viola concerto.
The viola concerto especially is just such a unique work, im always amazed by the 'second' movement (after the initial prelude/intro) The solos sound so alien when combined with the orchestra, but when you look at the score, he is using diatonic arpeggios for the solo.
Faust Cantata is another great example of Schnittke's unique orchestration. It makes me think of impressionism for some reason, like a ravel who lived another 30 years and went mad. Amazing composer.
I can't play Rachmaninoff etude.
I think a large part of the enthusiasm for Schnittke lies in his ability to be expressive in his music, and I think this owes something to Shostakovich. In his Sonata for Violin and Chamber Orchestra (1963) (Nimbus NI 5582), Schnittke manages to be expressive in spite of the fact that it uses arguably inexpressive serial techniques.
Last edited by millionrainbows; Nov-14-2012 at 00:48.
Your closing key is not the same,
This gives the Masters pain;
But Hans Sachs draws a rule from this:
In Spring, it must be so! 'Tis plain!
"In Spring! In the creation of art it must be as it is in Spring!" -Arnold Schoenberg
"I think that all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not! But I’m sick and tired of being told that I am!" - Monty Python
A guide to Schnittke music.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/toms...ic-tom-service
Then, on the other hand, Schnittke is continuing the post-Romantic tradition of Shostakovich. He uses familiar forms. While on the one hand it is good to see this many people agree and give positive feedback on a modern composer, I find it odd that so many of these same people have problems accepting John Cage or serial music.
Your closing key is not the same,
This gives the Masters pain;
But Hans Sachs draws a rule from this:
In Spring, it must be so! 'Tis plain!
"In Spring! In the creation of art it must be as it is in Spring!" -Arnold Schoenberg
"I think that all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not! But I’m sick and tired of being told that I am!" - Monty Python
For me, Schnittke is one tough nut to crack. Some of his music I find goes nowhere and has no kind of purpose but then there are works like Peer Gynt which really sound fantastic to me. I also like his Symphony No. 2. I find it deeply compelling, but nothing else has grabbed me as much.
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