Customer Reviews

A Schnittke Reader:

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The original book written in Russian was then translated into German. The German edition had many photographs, the only aspect I missed in this English abridged version. Otherwise Ivashkin conversations with Schnittke are very revealing of his world, and of his vision on the state of classical music.

The simple views that empty virtuosity is not enough, the view that the orchestra is like the universe, thus boundless and not an elitist frozen past are refreshing at a time where so many formations are in dire financial situation, principally because of the lack of imagination of their music directors. Check how many orchestras have programmed Schnittke's orchestra music this season and you'll understand...
The intricacy of good and evil, so present in his works are revealed to the reader.

Follows a series of more technical dissertations on XX Century works by other composers. I felt I was lacking the technical basis for fully benefiting from the discussion.
Portraits by friends were revealing about Schnittke but also about the friends own personalities: Rostropovitch preface in that regard is more about himself than anything else...

So in conclusion, a worthy effort in English by A. Ivashkin who should be commended for his relentless efforts in a time where the soup of the politically correct is our musical diet!

Published in 2002, A SCHNITTKE READER is a collection of writings by or about the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, edited by Alexander Ivashkin and translated into English by John Goodliffe.

The bulk of the material consists of Schnittke's writings on other composers' music. He did early analysis on Stravinsky's serial period, Ligeti's micropolyphony and Berio's polystylism at a time when this repertoire was still very new and little known in the Soviet Union. However, forty years later most of his insights will, I suspect, be common knowledge to fans of modernism. Schnittke also wrote some brief articles in praise of his contemporaries (e.g. Gubaidulina, Lubimov), but these are just little puff pieces and don't reveal much about their art.

I came to this collection hoping to understand Schnittke's music more deeply, but it's disappointing in that regard. There are few comments on Schnittke's own music, and the descriptions of the Concerto No. 1 or the Symphony No. 4 are as brief as CD liner notes. There are a few contributions by Schnittke's fellow musicians, but these are mostly mere recountings of the times they performed his music. An exception, however, is Gidon Kremer's piece which documents his changing relationship to the Schnittke's music.

All in all, I think A SCHNITTKE READER will be of limited appeal to Schnittke fans.