Favourite Schnittke Symphony

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

It seems as if there are many GMGers who love a good ol symphony, so here are the ten that Schnittke wrote over the course of forty years (1957 to 1997 according to wikpedia) for you to choose your favourite.

[musicrom]

I can't say I know all of Schnittke's symphonies that well - that's on my to-do list. However, his First Symphony is perhaps the most bizarre and fascinating work I've ever listened to.

[Mirror Image]

The 8th end of story. This symphony was a part of my 'gateway' into the composer's later works. Such a haunting work.

[Contemporaryclassical]

Symphony 2, but #1 isn't close behind 

[BasilValentine]

For me 3 and 7. I can't choose one over the other, so I haven't voted yet.

Edit: I picked 7, but now am thinking I should have picked 3.

One thing I like about 7 is its tightly focused form and the way the most critical source motive, the last movement's dirge, sounds after all of the material before that verticalizes parts of it. On the other hand, the first movement of 3, which someone described as like the Rheingold prelude cubed, is just amazing. And I love the poignant old style material in later movements.

[Maestro267]

I hope to be able to vote in this one eventually, once I've collected all the symphonies. Right now it's No. 1, but I've only heard that and No. 3.

[Karl Henning]

The choral writing, and the rich resonant musical language, of № 4 make that my clear favorite.

[Sergeant Rock]

The Fifth

Sarge

[Mirror Image]

The choral writing, and the rich resonant musical language, of № 4 make that my clear favorite.

I could have easily have chosen the 4th. I'm quite attracted to it's musical language as well.

[TheGSMoeller]

I vote for his 3rd.

[Mirror Image]

I think the 2nd, but I haven't listened to all of them in a long time. The 1st is amazing but the shock wears off after a while, I remember a few of the later ones being slightly lacking to me, but I'll have to revisit them

You should reconsider the 8th. Listen to the Rozhdestvensky performance. There's a 17+ minute Lento section that is so gorgeous in its' sparsity and direct expression.

[nathanb]

The first symphony is, unfortunately for the other monolithic symphonies, probably Schnittke's crowning achievement.

[SymphonicAddict]

1, 2 and 5 are my favorites, but I chose the 5th.

[Daverz]

The 3rd is the only one I have much familiarity with.

[nathanb]

I share that sentiment, the first one had the most impact on me.



(Though I think the polystylism and dissonance of #2, with the spiritual stuff wins it for me.)

I don't always agree with Tom Service by any stretch of the imagination, but when he's on point, he's on point:

"But this is more than a music-historical joke. Had it lasted a mere 10 minutes or so, you could hear Schnittke's mashup of the whole of western music as a sophisticated symphonic gag, a parody of the end of history. But the sheer size of Schnittke's symphony demands that you take it seriously."