Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke's music collides styles and eras, from Shostakovich-tinged early scores to stark polystylism in chamber works. His Cello Sonata moves through brutal Presto energy into a final Largo of mixed despair and resignation.
He forged a polystylistic language that sets past against present and serious music against light, sometimes within a single phrase. Epic canvases such as the First Symphony and Concerto Grosso No. 1 make that collision public; the chamber scores of the late 1970s grow darker and more fragmented. Mid-1980s choral works turn toward spiritual ground, while later music strips back the extroversion into a bleaker, withdrawn voice. Film scoring sharpened his ear for juxtaposition long before the concert works carried the same idea into the open.
Alfred Schnittke is featured on the following titles
Shostakovich & Schnittke: The Wild Russians
This CD won the inaugural ABC award for Best Australian Recording in 1993. It is a vibrant, fresh account of two major works by the Russian masters Shostakovich and Schnittke.