Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)

[Mirror Image]

Another classic: Concerto Grosso No. 1 -

If Alfred Schnittke is a "poster child" of musical postmodernism, his Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1977) is his poster work. One of the few orchestral works written after 1945 to enter the repertoire of ensembles worldwide, its uneasy fusion of old and new, high and low, and grave and comical captures what is most Schnittkean about Schnittke. This is no mean feat: the "Schnittkean" is a quality so conflicted, so nomadic and self-deconstructing, that it is almost illusory; the second one catches up to it, it's just fallen through a trap door. Likewise, Concerto Grosso No. 1 is a high-velocity funhouse of masks. Their unveiling is uproarious and caustically black, their liveliness optimistic, but their trajectory doomed.

This unveiling is also Schnittke's central compositional strategy, something he calls "polystylism." More than mere eclecticism, "polystylism" is for Schnittke a musical last resort for building large works; it is a means for dynamic musical theater, whether comedy or tragedy; it is also, as Schnittke believes, the best way of creating successful musical tension amidst unprecedented musical freedom. And so polystylism is eclectic, but never indifferent; it always intends to confront, surprise, and subvert with utmost calculation. Hence the Schnittkean paradox: things stick together by falling apart, in exactly the right places, at exactly the right times.

The Concerto Grosso No. 1 has already fallen apart when it begins. Though the entire complement of Baroque instrumentation is present (two violin soloists, harpsichord, prepared piano, string orchestra), the work begins with only prepared piano, sounding remarkably like a gaggle of pots and pans as it thumps through a childlike "sentimental song"; only after this foreboding "Prelude" do the other instruments enter.

The second movement (Toccata) starts as a cutting Vivaldi parody, but quickly distends into a wall of ferocious dissonance. A hapless race through musical history begins: music-box Mozart, heroic-period Beethoven, an overwrought parody of early 12-tone Webern -- all in turn drown in a cacophonous current, an "Ur-discord" lurking behind all other styles. The movement ends with the soloists flailing mechanically amidst stabbing orchestral chords.

Schnittke continues the Baroque concerto sequence with the ensuing slow Recitativo. Soloists and orchestra steadfastly maintain a call-and-response, but its outlines are blurred by thick chromatic clusters and a disturbing lamentation. The Recitativo eventually devolves into a slow, rising slide modeled on a scream; yet through its furious static you can perceive the real joke, as the soloists drill out licks from Tchaikovsky's famous Violin Concerto.
An adamant but confused cadenza for the soloists leads to a culminating Rondo, at which point Vivaldi barrels back into view; but so does "Grandmother Schnittke," hilariously banging out her favorite tango on, of all things, the harpsichord. The tango jumps into the fray, along with everything else, and the Rondo, model of "one-thing-after-another" musical forms, now becomes a game of "all-things-at-once." The tone is catastrophic but hardly serious, and soon enough the prepared piano shatters everything with its returning "sentimental song." The remaining Postlude supplies an appropriate anti-conclusion; the whole Concerto is now but floating fragments of previous motives and styles, resting on a luminous screen of string-harmonics. Schnittke here perfects his own archetypal conclusion, to permeate his next decade's work: a tone both doomed and supremely open to the future. At once epitaph and phoenix, it embraces the paradox of Schnittke's music and the magnetism of this popular work.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

[snyprrr]

I wouldn't mind getting that Chailly disc again.

Flipped through all the 'Grossi' just now. The first two are pretty dark, then, 3-4 get pretty psychedelic, and 6 is pretty grim again. No.5, with just one solo violin as the concertante, I flipped through too quickly. But, seriously, taken as a group, it's pretty... well, I'll leave off qualifiers, but, yea, it's ALL Schnittke, no mistaking that! Sometimes I think he just composed out of hate.

[Mirror Image]

I wouldn't mind getting that Chailly disc again.

Flipped through all the 'Grossi' just now. The first two are pretty dark, then, 3-4 get pretty psychedelic, and 6 is pretty grim again. No.5, with just one solo violin as the concertante, I flipped through too quickly. But, seriously, taken as a group, it's pretty... well, I'll leave off qualifiers, but, yea, it's ALL Schnittke, no mistaking that! Sometimes I think he just composed out of hate.

The Chailly disc is outstanding. Really intense performances from Chailly/RCO. Definitely a must-buy.

[Mirror Image]

Another Schnittkian classic: Faust Cantata -

This enormous work requires a large orchestra, chorus, organ, and four solo singers. It is a prequel to an opera and came about when the Vienna Singing Academy requested a work for the 1983 Vienna Festival. For the libretto, Schnittke chose the last chapter of an adaptation of the second book of Faust by Johann Spies. About 35 minutes long, the score does not reflect the more mischievous tendencies of the composer. This may be because his past experiences with Austrian audiences have been filled with controversy, even outward hostility. It is a straightforward, secular cantata, with occasional, unpredictable, and engaging escalations in tension.

The Faust Cantata is made up of ten parts without breaks in between. There are explosive strains of ideas that can leave even prepared audience members breathless. This is especially the case with part seven, "Es geschah," featuring the contra alto and choir. It describes the devil's murder of Faust and the accompaniment is nearly seismic, particularly in the percussion and winds. Even if the work itself frequently morphs from engaging to ponderous, parts are hair-raising, immaculately crafted moments, with the finest instincts for Russian-tinged melody. Some listeners will be enraptured by the entire piece, while others will enjoy it as a body of music with some good sections in it. They are certainly there. Listeners who are beginning to become acquainted with the catalog of Schnittke should wait until his other works have been given sufficient attention. This cantata will otherwise mislead many listeners, because he has written many pieces with a cohesive brilliance and the smiling heart of the benevolent and talented prankster. Those who believe that he can only write music of impish delight must reconcile that opinion to this earnest and often compelling score.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

[bhodges]

Schnittke fans,  mark your calendars. Juilliard's 2014 Focus! Festival (Jan. 24-31) will commemorate the composer's 80th birthday with a week of music by him and others in his orbit (e.g., Kancheli, Gubaidulina). Opening night, the New Juilliard Ensemble will do Schnittke's Symphony No. 4 (Joel Sachs, conducting) and for the closing concert, Anne Manson will conduct the Juilliard Orchestra in his Symphony No. 8.

--Bruce

[Karl Henning]

I do call that a temptation, Bruce.

[bhodges]

I do call that a temptation, Bruce.

Well as they say, "C'mon down!" PS, didn't mention it, but the entire festival is free.

--Bruce

[Karl Henning]

Schnittke's Fourth . . . expect me!

[bhodges]

Schnittke's Fourth . . . expect me!

Aside from the two "bookends," they'll be announcing the rest of the week's programs (usually chamber music) later this fall.

--Bruce

[Mirror Image]

Schnittke fans,  mark your calendars. Juilliard's 2014 Focus! Festival (Jan. 24-31) will commemorate the composer's 80th birthday with a week of music by him and others in his orbit (e.g., Kancheli, Gubaidulina). Opening night, the New Juilliard Ensemble will do Schnittke's Symphony No. 4 (Joel Sachs, conducting) and for the closing concert, Anne Manson will conduct the Juilliard Orchestra in his Symphony No. 8.

--Bruce

Excellent, Bruce! Good news indeed!

[TheGSMoeller]

Schnittke's Fourth . . . expect me!

ROAD TRIP!

[bhodges]

Excellent, Bruce! Good news indeed!

For the chamber music concerts in between, they will likely do some of the string quartets and (I hope) the Quintet.

--Bruce

[Karl Henning]

ROAD TRIP!

I'm entirely hopping on the bus for this baby.

[Octave]

Maybe the following fits better in a "labels" type thread; but most of the threads I've seen that fit that description seem pretty old and dormant.  Anyway, I recently received an email from the CEO of Bis, Robert von Bahr, who apparently had been forwarded a note I wrote their website about my wishlists for compendiums of some of their composer series.  (I'd tacked the casual, friendly note onto a simple technical query about the website; I didn't expect anyone to actually read it.)  For whatever reason, the CEO was nice enough to send a rather involved reply, though this might be something of a form letter he's sending out to many people.

I merely found the response interesting because 1.) it bodes ill for any prospect of future "collected" editions of at least some composers (e.g. non-symphonic Schnittke, which is what I wished aloud for); but also because 2.)  Von Bahr seems to think that certain copyright enforcement harms the dissemination of the music.  I'm assuming that his argument is made in good faith, as it seems a bit improbably that he's a villainous moustache-twirling corporate music-mogul blackguard, based on the music Bis records and sells.

Your mail has been forwarded to me by David Kornfeld here.  Thanks for writing it.

We will eventually bring out a Boxed set with the Cantatas, one way or the other, that's for sure, but how it will look and when, I cannot yet say.

As regards your other suggestions, they were fine up until recently.
Previously the copyright societies "respected" Boxes, that is, we paid copyright according to what we charged for the box.  Thus we could do the Schnittke Symphony Box you referred to, with 6 CD:s for the price of 2, and get away with our lives still more or less intact, even if the profit was minimal.  It was also fair - the composers and publishers OF COURSE should get what's coming to them, that is, a percentage of what WE get, but that was then...

However, now, rather than acquiescing to your wishes (I had long planned for both a Schnittke Concerto Box, a Schnittke Chamber Music Box and several Aho-Boxes), we will be forced to discontinue some of the Boxes we already have on the market, since the copyright societies have started to charge the full minimum tarif for each and every CD in such boxes individually, regardless of at what price we sell them.  This, in actual practice, means that we could pay rather more in production costs, artist royalties and copyrights than our selling price, and that doesn't work in the long run.  Not in the short run, either.  Since we have the multiple price already printed (i.e. 6 CD:s for the price of 2) on the Boxes, we cannot change the price, either, and, anyway, the market cannot absorb higher prices for these Boxes than we already charge.

So this is a case where
- you and several would-be customers want
- I want
- presumably the composer wants
- the publishers want,

BUT the composers' and publishers' OWN organizations make it impossible.  I am helpless, since I am legally obliged to do what these monopolists say.

I have used your mail - and excuse me if you deem this inappropriate - to copy to the Copyright Society, the publishers of Mssrs. Schnittke and Aho, Mr. Aho himself, as he is very much among us, and my organization, IFPI.
It is about time that someone understands what these new, draconic rules actually mean - in real life, that is, not an office in Copenhagen far removed from the daily life of an enterprising label!

Thanks for giving me the opportunity.  Your mail under reply is as much to-the-point that I could be accused of having written it myself.

Very best - Robert (von Bahr, CEO, BIS Records).

You are free to publish your letter and this answer wherever you please.

So, does it really seem like my email note is going to get read by Kalevi Aho?     "Dear Bis, I really don't feel like paying full price for Mr. Aho's music.  Could you make it cheaper?"
No more drunken emailing, Octave....

[snyprrr]

Maybe the following fits better in a "labels" type thread; but most of the threads I've seen that fit that description seem pretty old and dormant.  Anyway, I recently received an email from the CEO of Bis, Robert von Bahr, who apparently had been forwarded a note I wrote their website about my wishlists for compendiums of some of their composer series.  (I'd tacked the casual, friendly note onto a simple technical query about the website; I didn't expect anyone to actually read it.)  For whatever reason, the CEO was nice enough to send a rather involved reply, though this might be something of a form letter he's sending out to many people.

I merely found the response interesting because 1.) it bodes ill for any prospect of future "collected" editions of at least some composers (e.g. non-symphonic Schnittke, which is what I wished aloud for); but also because 2.)  Von Bahr seems to think that certain copyright enforcement harms the dissemination of the music.  I'm assuming that his argument is made in good faith, as it seems a bit improbably that he's a villainous moustache-twirling corporate music-mogul blackguard, based on the music Bis records and sells.

So, does it really seem like my email note is going to get read by Kalevi Aho?     "Dear Bis, I really don't feel like paying full price for Mr. Aho's music.  Could you make it cheaper?"
No more drunken emailing, Octave....

I spoke with Mode Records the other day and they reminded me... again ... that cds with 'Orchestral' works were just not doable because of the banksters,... err.... I mean because of our need to live above our means. I just can't stand how overindulging cd-maniacs have caused this world economy to get to this. mm mm mm

[madaboutmahler]

Well.... this is awesome

http://www.youtube.com/v/X8cGzog8tVE

How such a sweet, delicate theme is transformed to demented circus polkas and dissonant surprises, and HARPSICHORD, is just brilliant....  
Also listened to some of the Faust Cantata, and am amazed by that too! It's incredible stuff.... 

Keen to hear the whole Cantata....

[Mirror Image]

I've been telling you to listen to Schnittke for quite some time, Daniel. It's good that you've finally came over to the dark side. I love (K)ein Sommernachtstraum and the Faust Cantata, but I encourage you to listen to the cello concerti, Viola Concerto, and Symphonies 3-5 & 8. This should keep your ears busy for awhile.

[kyjo]

I encourage you to listen to the cello concerti, Viola Concerto, and Symphonies 3-5 & 8.

.....and Peer Gynt!

[TheGSMoeller]

How great is that funky drum line in the Requiem Credo? 
And how beautiful is that Lacrymosa? 

Just got to the beach for a week and included the Requiem, Concerto for Piano and Strings, and Symphony 7 in my traveling MP3 collection.

[Mirror Image]

.....and Peer Gynt!

Kyle, I couldn't be all inclusive in my list to Daniel. I just gave a few works that I think he should check out. Peer Gynt isn't the best place to start with Schnittke to tell you the truth. It's such a massive work that it may scare off potential listeners on their first go with the composer. Seeing as I know Daniel plays the cello -- the cello concerti were an easy sell. Also, knowing how he loved symphonies, those symphonies I mentioned were also a good sell. Daniel would also do well to hear the Viola Concerto seeing as this is a much lauded masterpiece.