Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)

[Mandryka]

I do need at last to investigate Peer Gynt . . . .

Did you ever?

Anyway, listening to the Chandos 7th symphony this dreary London afternoon. It makes an impact.  Very personal poetry IMO - he's kind of skinned himself alive and exposed the innards (sorry, that's all the Cormac McCarthy I've been reading coming out.)

A soul laid bare.

[Karl Henning]

Did you ever?

I got as far as buying the recording. I'm not convinced that I've actually listened, yet. I ought, of course.

[Mandryka]

Harp and Oboe Concerto's worth checking

[Mandryka]

I got as far as buying the recording. I'm not convinced that I've actually listened, yet. I ought, of course.

If you had listened, you would remember. It's unforgettable.

[relm1]

What do you folks think of In Memoriam, orchestral version?  I was very moved by it when I first heart it in college but played it for a friend who likes a lot of the same music I do and she felt unmoved by it.  It missed on all the same notes it hit with me. 

[Mandryka]

What do you folks think of In Memoriam, orchestral version?  I was very moved by it when I first heart it in college but played it for a friend who likes a lot of the same music I do and she felt unmoved by it.  It missed on all the same notes it hit with me. 

I feel really positive about the orchestration.

[Karl Henning]

What do you folks think of In Memoriam, orchestral version?  I was very moved by it when I first heart it in college but played it for a friend who likes a lot of the same music I do and she felt unmoved by it.  It missed on all the same notes it hit with me. 

An orcestration of the piano quintet, eh? I don't think I've heard it.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

What do you folks think of In Memoriam, orchestral version? 

I like it a lot. It was the first Schnittke I ever heard, the Ozawa/Rostropovich disc on Sony (with the 2nd Cello Cto). When I later heard the Piano 5tet, it sounded kind of bony and lacking in color next to the orchestration.

[Mandryka]

The waltz -- whether in the quintet or the orchestrated version -- is a good example of effective polystylism. That's to say the "Viennese" music, and the contrast with the less traditional music, seems to me at least to be quite effective expressively and if anything shows off the positive qualities of the "modern -er" music.

[relm1]

An orcestration of the piano quintet, eh? I don't think I've heard it.

This is it.

EDIT: the link is a playlist but only the first movement is played from the youtube player so best to listen here instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsdfUjwjDqQ&list=OLAK5uy_km1Yq1iPuN-IM_3Dt4hgwpQtUSWkJtbkY

[Karl Henning]

Thanks!

[Mandryka]

I'd agree about technique, but not about mood: the late symphonies to me are simply an attempt to write a music without any of the filler that is usually present, so all the essential material is there, but the harmonies are stripped down, bridging passages are often replaced by periods of silence, the contrapuntal writing is largely elided and so on. To me, one of the key things about these works is to listen to them in the context of what they "should" be; that's where their radicalism comes in. (I'd lke to have heard the original version of the 6th symphony, which apparently is even more extreme than the final version, and has several lengthy passages that are simply silent.)

I think the influence of late Nono is key to these works: I believe Schnittke is writing without the filler because he saw how, in late Nono, the primary driver of musical tension is the alternation between simple material and silence, and he wanted to see if he could build a style which did the same thing in a tonal context. I'm not sure he always succeeds in this, but where he does the results are intriguing.

Having now listened to the BIS 6 with the prologue of Prometeo still in my head as it were, I can see what you were getting at. But of course Nono is much less ascetic, with dynamic contrasts and voice.

[Mandryka]

Over the past few days I've listened to three recordings of the Faust Cantata - BIS, Melodyia and today Moscow Conservatory, the Moscow one is astonishing, coruscating, scary in fact, and it exudes a total commitment to the music. Good sound too. One of the essential late 20th century music recordings I'd say




https://www.russiancdshop.com/music.php?zobraz=details&id=29135&lang=fr

[relm1]

Over the past few days I've listened to three recordings of the Faust Cantata - BIS, Melodyia and today Moscow Conservatory, the Moscow one is astonishing, coruscating, scary in fact, and it exudes a total commitment to the music. Good sound too. One of the essential late 20th century music recordings I'd say




https://www.russiancdshop.com/music.php?zobraz=details&id=29135&lang=fr

I've not heard it but your description makes me add it to my listening list.

[vers la flamme]

I've not heard it but your description makes me add it to my listening list.

+1

[Mandryka]

Re Faust, am I wrong to think it is not unrelated to Mahler 8? Musically I mean, not just that they're both Faust settings.

[relm1]

Re Faust, am I wrong to think it is not unrelated to Mahler 8? Musically I mean, not just that they're both Faust settings.

No, it is a choral suite based on Schnittke's opera.


Opera is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms_a-46jt-g&list=RDms_a-46jt-g&start_radio=1

[Mandryka]

But the Faust Cantata came first I think  -- if that's right, then it's more plausible to say that the opera is based on the choral suite than the other way round. And in a sense, I guess, Mahler 8 is a choral suite.

[Maestro267]

The Cantata came first but then it became act 3 of the opera, apparently.

[Mandryka]

If the opera's as inspired as the cantata then I should hear it.