Schnittke Studies

by Gavin Dixon (Editor)

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) was arguably the most important Russian composer since Shostakovich, and his music has generated a great deal of academic interest in the years since his death. Schnittke Studies provides a variety of perspectives on the composer and his music. The field is currently diverse and vibrant, and this book demonstrates the range of academic approaches being applied to Schnittke’s work and the insights they provide, polystylism, for which Schnittke is best known, the significance of the composer’s Christian faith, and detailed formal analyses of key works, with connections drawn between the apparently divergent periods of the composer’s career. This book has been prepared as a memorial to Professor Alexander Ivashkin, a leading scholar in the field, who died in 2014, and will be of interest not only to those studying Schnittke's music, but also those with an interest in late Soviet-era music in general.

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Will White]

This is a collection of academic papers written about the music of Alfred Schnittke.

I'm not an academic, but I am a professional musician with academic training. As such, I was able to understand the general meaning of the technical analyses provided, though it would have taken me many hours looking at the scores to understand the details of all the set theory, etc.

The chapters of the book are divided into three sections, but I think they can really be divided into two: the Anglophone papers and the Russian papers. The English-speaking chapters are very academic and quite dense. I would say that I found them interesting, but only marginally useful as a musician. The Russian chapters, however, are much more evocative and discuss the spiritual and philosophical underpinnings of Schnittke's work. As such, I much preferred them.

The one missed opportunity here was a chapter or two having to do with Schnittke's film scores. Don't get me wrong, they are referenced many times, but only inasmuch as they provided musical fodder for his concert works. Since his film music was such a major part of his output, I think some writing about his film scores qua film scores would be interesting; at the very least, it would be fascinating to learn more about the inner workings of the MosFilm studio system.

Having said all that, I will say that this is a vital addition to the English-language canon of Schnittke literature, and it is a fitting tribute to Alexander Ivashkin, the granddaddy of the genre. Bravo to all involved.