Alfred Garriyevich Schnittke
(1934-1998) was born in Engels on the Volga River in Saratov Oblast, USSR.
Of German descent, his father was originally from Frankfurt am Main. Schnittke’s
musical career began in 1946 in Vienna, where his father worked for a newspaper.
He had private piano lessons, went to
operas and concerts and wrote his first compositions. After moving to Moscow in
1948, Schnittke first studied to be a choral conductor. Later he studied
composition and counterpoint with
Yevgeni Golubev and instrumentation with Nikolai Rakov at
the Moscow Conservatory. At this time he was influenced by Filip Gershkovich, a
pupil of Webern, who lived in Moscow but, after a period of dodecaphonic
writing in the sixties, his music later attained to a polystylistic technique which made use of earlier historical
styles.
Schnittke taught instrumentation at the Moscow Conservatory
from 1962 until 1972. Soon his music
began to be played at important contemporary music festivals and, in the 1980s,
included in the concert programmes of leading orchestras throughout the world.
Festivals and concert cycles devoted to his works were held in many cities,
including Moscow, Stockholm, London, Huddersfield, Vienna, Berlin, Turin,
Lucerne,
Hamburg and Cologne. Schnittke was professor of composition
at the Hamburg Musikhochschule from 1989 to 1994.
His compositions include opera, ballets, orchestral works
including nine symphonies, concerto grossi, concertos, choral and vocal works,
chamber and instrumental works and music for film, radio and theatre.
Schnittke’s Penitential Psalms were written in 1989, in
honour of the millennium of Christianity in Russia. The texts are drawn from
poems for Lent written by one or more anonymous monks found by the composer in
a collection of Old Russian texts dating from the second half of the 16th
century.
Schnittke’s Twelve Penitential Psalms coupled with
the composer’s Three Sacred Hymns appear
on a new release from Harmonia Mundi http://store.harmoniamundi.com featuring
the RIAS Kammerchor www.rias-kammerchor.de/content/index_ger.html
directed by Hans-Christoph Rademann www.dresdner-kammerchor.de/Portrait_Rademann_en.pdf
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| HMC 902225 CD and free download |
Sung in Russian, the RIAS Kammerchor under Hans-Christoph
Rademann bring a rich deep atmospheric opening to Adam saß vor dem Paradies und weinte the first of the Zwölf Bußverse für gemischten Chor a
capella (Twelve Penitential Psalms),
rising through some wonderfully striking moments, drawing some fine
harmonies and finding a real sense of sorrow.
A tenor brings the Es
nimmt mich die Wüste auf wie die Mutter ihr Kind with a lovely hushed
underlying texture from the choir, who later rise as the music becomes more
passionate. The choir continues with some quite wonderful textures and
harmonies, Schnittke’s lovely dissonances, through some powerful moments.
The female voices of the RIAS Kammerchor open Weshalb lebe ich in Armut and are soon
joined by the male voices in this melancholy psalm, rising in passion, even
desperation at times, with this choir achieving a glorious texture as they
reveal some striking vocal ideas. Meine
Seele, warum befindest du dich in Sünden also opens with the female voices
bringing a brief respite yet rising gloriously to some moments of great intensity
on the words ‘But rejoice, my soul.’
O Mensch - verdammt
und armselig opens with the male voices of the choir in this faster moving
Psalm to which female voices soon join. They move through some wonderful
harmonies before the music falls to a hush with lovely bass textures before
rising through more astonishingly fine harmonies. Als sie sahen das Schiff brings a small group of female voices in
an agitated Psalm that flows slowly throughout the whole choir, Schnittke
adding some disturbingly individual textures before finding a less turbulent
nature, yet with no less passion.
Female voices bring a light textured flowing opening to O meine Seele, warum hast du keine Angst before the male voices overlay some dissonant
harmonies, growing in intensity at times, Schnittke shaping the music and text
wonderfully with the RIAS choir sensitive to every dynamic, finding moments of
great passion. There is a melancholy feel as the female voices introduce Wenn du die Zeitlosigkeit der Trauer
überwinden willst. The male voices, complete with rich bass sonorities, add
a real depth as the music finds a comfort in the words ‘be not sorrowful.’
Über mein Leben als
das eines Geistlichen habe ich nachgedacht opens with a tenor over a
quietly held choral layer from the male voices to which female voices rise
over, creating some exquisite harmonies. The male and female lines are woven as
the Psalm progresses through passages, at times mournful, at times passionate with
some distinctive rising phrases from the female voices. The music grows in
intensity revealing just how deeply Schnittke must have felt such texts as
‘Insane avarice, lack of love …’ before finding a peak and falling back.
The whole choir surge forward in Sammelt euch, ihr christlichen Menschen! through rising and falling
phrases in this more uplifting and determined psalm. There are moments for the
male voices alone before a very fine coda.
With Ich bin in dieses
elende Leben gekommen male voices provide a hushed wordless background over
which a tenor sings ‘I entered this life of tears as a naked infant, Naked also
I shall leave it.’ Slowly and exquisitely they are joined by other male voices,
then female over the restrained male voice layer, weaving some terrific
harmonies, the upper voices finding some glowing upper phrases before
descending to a hushed coda.
In (Mit geschlossenem
Mund) deep bass voices bring a wordless little tune that slowly undulates before
the other voices subtly join in this most magical of sections. The
music rises to the upper reaches as light appears before finding its way through
passages that reach the lowest depths, blending exquisite harmonies and
textures. This is a most wonderful extended section that moves through lovely
hushed passages, exquisitely controlled, to the remarkably conceived coda.
This is surely one of Schnittke’s finest compositions
wonderfully sung by this choir.
In 1984 Schnittke wrote his Drei geistliche Gesänge für achtstimmigen gemischten Chor (Three Sacred
Hymns) during a single night. The
RIAS Kammerchor bring some lovely sonorities to Gegrüßet seist du, Jungfrau, Mutter Gottes, a glorious blend of
voices in this beautifully flowing hymn that rises gently before a quiet coda. Herr Jesus, Sohn Gottes rises in
intensity through some wonderfully harmonised passages before finding the
lovely coda. There is a softer opening to Vater
unser, a really fine setting of the Lord’s Prayer where Schnittke provides some
lovely part writing together with glorious textures and harmonies before rising
in intensity at the words ‘the power and the glory.’
For those that find some of Schnittke’s music difficult to
assimilate this new disc will come as a surprise. Certainly there are very
individual touches here but this is great choral music with many beauties.
Hans-Christoph Rademann and the RIAS Kammerchor rarely let the
temperature drop in these fine performances, full of passion, sorrow and tragic
beauty. This is a stunningly vital disc.
They receive an excellent recording from Jesus-Christus
Kirche, Berlin which in the HiRes download is truly breathtaking with a terrific
sense of presence.
There are excellent booklet notes that give information on
the sources of texts and the autograph score.
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