Alfred Schnittke

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses the life and work of Alfred Schnittke, said to be the most important composer to arise in Russia after Dmitry Shostakovich. According to the paper, Schnittke has also been listed as one of the leading avant-garde composers of the postwar era, even though he changed his own way of writing music as he developed through time.

From the Paper:

"Schnittke's String Trio (1985) is a homage to Alban Berg, and here Schnittke refers to the older composer's style in a general way rather than by using specific quotation. The whole piece is a complex set of variations or transformations of the opening material, with polyphonic density shared by the Fourth String Quartet and the Piano Quartet (both 1989, with the latter incorporating material from an unfinished piano quartet by Mahler). With is later chamber works, and in his symphonies, Schnittke reveals a greater textural transparency in his writing, something that is also apparent in both the Second Sonata for cello and piano (1993-4) and the Third Sonata for violin and piano (1994). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brook, Donald. Five Great French Composers. Plainview, New York: Books for Libraries, 1946.
• Griffiths, Paul. Modern Music and After. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Grout, Donald Jay and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.
• Herder, Richard. 1,000 Keyboard Ideas. New York: Shacor, 1999.
• Holland, Bernard. "From Bach to Schnittke," The New York Times (May 6, 1990), http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D91F3BF935A35756C0A966958260.

More papers on Alfred Schnittke:

• Research Paper # 101514 : "The Alfred Jewel"
• Film Review # 96560 : "Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"
• Term Paper # 6803 : "Alfred Adler's Personality Theory"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: