Alfred Schnittke

Alfred Schnittke (24 November 1934, Engels, Russia – 3 August 1998, Hamburg, Germany) was a Jewish–Catholic–German–Russian composer who enjoyed great fame in Russia and Europe in the last three decades of his life. Living in Moscow for most of his adult life, he composed over 250 different works, including eight symphonies (a ninth was left unfinished at his death), four string quartets, a number of concertos for a variety of instruments, and three operas. From 1985 onward Schnittke had to contend with his increasingly frail health (he suffered a series of strokes and had to learn how to hold a pen all over again in order to compose his music), while at the same time composing some of his greatest works. In the words of Alexander Ivashkin, in his authoritative biography of Schnittke, “With Schnittke’s music we are possibly standing at the end of the great symphonic route from Mahler to Shostakovich.”

Selected Notable Works

Symphonies

• Symphony No. 1 (1972)
• Symphony No. 2, 'St. Florian' (1979)
• Symphony No. 3 (1981)
• Symphony No. 4 (1984)
• Symphony No. 5/Concerto Grosso No. 4 (1988)
• Symphony No. 6 (1992)
• Symphony No. 7 (1993)
• Symphony No. 8 (1993-94)

Selected Concertos

• Violin Concerto No. 1 (1957/1962)
• Violin Concerto No. 2 (1966)
• Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Strings (1971)
• Violin Concerto No. 3 (1978)
• Violin Concerto No. 4 (1984)
• Viola Concerto (1985)
• Cello Concerto No. 1 (1986)
• Cello Concerto No. 2 (1990)

Selected Other Orchestral Works

• Pianissimo (1968)
• Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1977)
• In Memoriam (1972/1978)
• Passacaglia (1981)
• Gogol-Suite (1981)
• Concerto Grosso No. 2 (1982)
• Ritual (1984-85)
• Concerto Grosso No. 3 (1985)
• (K)ein Sommernachtstraum (1985)
• Concerto Grosso No. 5 (1991)
• Concerto Grosso No. 6 (1993)
• Konzert zu Dritt (Concerto for Three) (1994)

Selected Chamber/Instrumental Works

• Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano (1963)
• String Quartet No. 1 (1966)
• Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano (Quasi una sonata) (1968)
• Canon in Memoriam Igor Stravinsky, for string quartet (1971)
• Suite in Old Style, for violin and piano (1972)
• Prelude in Memoriam Dmitry Shostakovich, for two violins (1975)
• Piano Quintet (1972/1976)
• Moz-Art, for two violins (1976)
• Sonata No. 1 for Cello and instruments (1974/1979)
• Stille Musik, for violin and cello (1979)
• String Quartet No. 2 (1980)
• String Quartet No. 3 (1983)
• String Trio (1985)
• Suite in Old Style, for viola d'amour and chamber ensemble (1986)
• String Quartet No. 4 (1989)
• Trio, for violin, cello and piano (1992)
• Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano (1994)
• Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano (1994)
• Minuet, for violin, viola and cello (1994)

Selected Stage Works

• Labyrinths (ballet, 1971)
• Peer Gynt (ballet, 1986)
• Life with an Idiot (opera, 1990-91)
• Gesualdo (opera, 1994)
• Historia von D. Johann Fausten (opera, 1983/1994)

Selected Choral Works

• Seid Nüchtern und Wachet; History of Dr. Johann Faust (Faust Cantata) (1983)
• Concerto for Mixed Chorus (1984-85)
• Penitential Psalms (1987)

Selected Works for Solo Piano

• Improvisation and Fugue (1965)
• Variations on a Chord (1965)
• Sonata No. 1 (1987)
• Sonata No. 2 (1990-91)
• Sonata No. 3 (1992)