Альфред Гарриевич Шнитке

Alfred Schnittke Russian Альфред Гарриевич Шнитке 1934 - August 3 1998 Was A Russian Composer Of The Soviet And Post-Soviet Era. Schnittke's Early Music Shows The Strong Influence Of Dmitri Shostakovich. He Developed A Polystylistic Technique In Works Such As The Epic First Symphony 1969–1972 And First Concerto Grosso 1977 . In The 1980s Schnittke's Music Began To Become More Widely Known Abroad. In The 1980s He Wrote His Second 1980 And Third 1983 String Quartets And The String Trio 1985 The Ballet Peer Gynt 1985–1987 The Third 1981 Fourth 1984 And Fifth 1988 Symphonies And The Viola 1985 And 1st Cello 1985–1986 Concertos. As His Health Deteriorated Schnittke's Music Started To Abandon Much Of The Extroversion Of His Polystylism And Retreated Into A More Withdrawn Bleak Style. Schnittke's Father Was Born In Frankfurt To A Jewish Family Of Russian Origin. He Moved To The USSR Early In His Life. His Mother Was A Volga German Born In Russia. Alfred Schnittke Was Born In Engels In The Volga-German Republic Of The RSFSR Soviet Union. He Began His Musical Education In 1946 In Vienna Where His Father A Journalist And Translator Had Been Posted. It Was In Vienna Schnittke's Biographer Alexander Ivashkin Writes Where "he Fell In Love With Music Which Is Part Of Life Part Of History And Culture Part Of The Past Which Is Still Alive.". "I Felt Every Moment There " The Composer Wrote "to Be A Link Of The Historical Chain All Was Multi-Dimensional The Past Represented A World Of Ever-Present Ghosts And I Was Not A Barbarian Without Any Connections But The Conscious Bearer Of The Task In My Life." Schnittke's Experience In Vienna "gave Him A Certain Spiritual Experience And Discipline For His Future Professional Activities. It Was Mozart And Schubert Not Tchaikovsky And Rachmaninoff Whom He Kept In Mind As A Reference Point In Terms Of Taste Manner And Style. This Reference Point Was Essentially Classical ... But Never Too Blatant." In 1948 The Family Moved To Moscow. He Completed His Graduate Work In Composition At The Moscow Conservatory In 1961 And Taught There From 1962 To 1972. Evgeny Golubev Was One Of His Composition Teachers. Thereafter He Supported Himself Mainly By Composing Film Scores And Composed Nearly 70 Scores In 30 Years. Schnittke Converted To Christianity And Possessed Deeply Held Mystic Beliefs Which Influenced His Music. Schnittke Was Often The Target Of The Soviet Bureaucracy. His First Symphony Was Effectively Banned By The Composers' Union And After He Abstained From A Composers' Union Vote In 1980 He Was Banned From Travelling Outside Of The USSR. In 1985 Schnittke Suffered A Stroke Which Left Him In A Coma. He Was Declared Clinically Dead On Several Occasions But Recovered And Continued To Compose. In 1990 Schnittke Left Russia And Settled In Hamburg. His Health Remained Poor However And He Suffered Several More Strokes Before His Death On August 3 1998 In Hamburg. He Was Buried With State Honors At The Novodevichy Cemetery In Moscow In Which Lie Many Other Famous Russian Composers Including Shostakovich. read less