holy schnittke
Um, can we just talk for a quick second about how freakin’ awesome is Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)? Geez. He called his style (and others in a similar vein) Polystylism, a mix styles and genres through quotation, allusion, and adaptation. Not to throw the term around too lightly (because it is all too often misused) but it’s basically Postmodern music (incredulity toward metanarratives).
Take a listen to this excerpt from his Concerto Grosso No. 1. Oh, and you know you Bostonians/Cantabrigians can hear the whole thing here, in a totally amazing performance with two of the members of the Jupiter Quartet taking up the challenging violin roles, this weekend right? What? Like you have something better to do on a Friday night than have the very cells of your body changed by a program of amazing music?
Buckle up, now. This music is a ride. Then stay tuned for the bonus…keep scrolling…
Now, I’m warning you before you ever think about hitting play, this is intense music. Below are the links to Schnittke’s Piano Quintet. It will break your heart (especially the allusion to a waltz, and the seemingly never-ending repeated piano note and knocking…Ivan Moody posits the “feeling of isolation and bereavement [are] almost unbearably acute”), but you should hear it.
Part 1
The Piano Quintet, composed in memory of his mother, was the first piece of his that I heard, back in … er … ooh … 1981! Well, I had never heard anything like it. So I learned the piano part (not that hard really).
The ending reminds me of a music box that refuses to wind down … or something. Rather Mahlerian in a way.
Another piece that sticks in the memory is the Symphony No. 1; that has to be seen to be believed.
Excellent blog, BTW.