Bis

Alfred Schnittke - String Quartets Nos. 1-3 (1990) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-467} (Item #5)
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© 1990 Grammofon AB BIS | BIS-CD-467
Classical / Contemporary Classical / Chamber Music

I have seen the Tale's performance of these quartets described as "too on edge"; I cannot agree, and believe that this young quartet brings out the subtle beauty and nuances of Schnittke's music perfectly. There is real violence and grief in these quartets, certainly - especially the remarkable Second Quartet. But there are tender stretches of music, too; and the Tales have more than the musical wit needed to negotiate their way around and through Schnittke's strong contrasts in tone and mood.

Alfred Schnittke - Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (1990) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-487} (Item #8)
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© 1990 Grammofon AB BIS | BIS-CD-487
Classical / Contemporary Classical / Concerto

With a 20-page booklet (with notes in English, German and French) in a standard jewel case. Russian violinist Mark Lubotsky is a self-professed disciple of his teacher, David Oistrakh, aiming to perpetuate Oistrakh’s ethos—the perfect balance of technique, emotion and intellect—in his own playing and teaching. His success is acknowledged in critical praise: ‘Lubotsky plays on the highest level of technical perfection and with wonderful power’, wrote the London Times in 1988, whilst the Financial Times in 1980 noted his ‘musical poise… characterized by intellectual strength and emotional intensity’.

Alfred Schnittke - Symphony No. 0 & Nagasaki (2007) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-1647} (Item #24)
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© 2007 BIS Records AB | BIS-CD-1647
Classical / Contemporary Classical / 20th Century

The very first recording of a work by Alfred Schnittke on BIS (Cello Sonata No.1, on BIS-CD-336) was done in 1986 and was thus one of the earliest recordings of Schnittke’s music. As the composer’s reputation rapidly grew, so did the Schnittke catalogue on BIS, coming to include the major orchestral works, as well as chamber music. The BIS Schnittke Edition now numbers 24 titles and it is with particular pride that we with this instalment add to it the last – or rather the first – of this iconic composer’s 9 completed symphonies. (Symphony No.9 was left unfinished at Schnittke’s death in 1998.) He composed Symphony No.0 (1956-57) while still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, and it was only performed once during his lifetime, by the conservatory orchestra and with Dmitri Shostakovich in the audience.

Alfred Schnittke - Concerto Grosso No. 1 & Symphony No. 9 (2009) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-1727} (Item #25)
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© 2009 BIS Records AB | BIS-CD-1727
Classical / Contemporary Classical / 20th Century

The first disc dedicated to the works of Alfred Schnittke on BIS was released in 1987, and has since been followed by 23 other titles, including a large part of his chamber music as well as the symphonies and other orchestral works. That first disc featured Concerto grosso No.1 in the original version for two violins and strings – the work which to some extent became Schnittke’s breakthrough in the West in the late 1970s. On the present disc that same work is heard again, but now in a world première recording of Schnittke’s own version with solo parts for flute and oboe. Soloists are Sharon Bezaly and, on the oboe, Christopher Cowie , making his first appearance on BIS. They are supported by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes, a team that collaborated already on the most recent Schnittke title in the BIS catalogue.

Alfred Schnittke - Violin Works, Quasi una sonata & Other Works (2006) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-1437} (Item #22)
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© 2006 BIS Records AB | BIS-CD-1437
Classical / Contemporary Classical / 20th Century

Early on in his career, the violin became an immensely important instrument for Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998). He developed a remarkable skill in composing for the instrument, resulting in a number of highly successful works of which several have been gathered on this disc. During the 1960s, a time when the violin was not the preferred instrument for the avant-garde as it carried too much historical ballast, Schnittke used it as tool for experimentation developing polystylism, an incorporation of historical sources or techniques into a modernistic context.
An early polystylistic work was Quasi una sonata, one of Schnittke's best-known works largely due to its narrative character; Schnittke tells a story filled with contrasts and drama.

Alfred Schnittke - Epilogue, Music for Cello & Piano (2007) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-1427} (Item #23)
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© 2007 BIS Records AB | BIS-CD-1427
Classical / Contemporary Classical / 20th Century

Alfred Schnittke’s use of the elegiac voice of the cello evokes Russian musical tradition and history. His works for the cello were to a large extent inspired by his friendship and close collaboration with the exceptional musicians Mstislav Rostropovich, Alexander Ivashkin and Natalia Gutman, to all of whom he dedicated works. Rostropovich has said about the composer: ‘As far as I am concerned, the most remarkable thing about Schnittke is his all-embracing, all-encompassing genius… he uses everything invented before him. Uses it as his palette, his colours. And it is all so organic: for example, diatonic music goes side by side with complex atonal polyphony.’

Alfred Schnittke - Symphony No. 8, Symphonic Prelude and For Liverpool (2005) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-1217} (Item #21)
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© 2005 BIS Records AB | BIS-CD-1217
Classical / Contemporary Classical / 20th Century

The first BIS disc dedicated to the music of Alfred Schnittke was released in January 1987 – almost 20 years ago. Since then, our Schnittke Edition has qrown to 20 volumes with the present disc completing the cycle of the composer’s eight finished symphonies. (At Schnittke’s death in 1998, his Symphony No. 9 was left uncompleted.) Symphony No.8 was composed in 1994, and to some extent exemplifies Schnittke’s ambiguous position as a Russian composer of German ethnicity, combining as it does a Germanic organized structure with an intense Russian melancholy.

Richard Strauss - Oboe Concerto etc. - Alexei Ogrintchouk (2017) {BIS Digital Download BIS-2163 SACD}
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© 2017 BIS Records | BIS-2163 SACD
Classical / Concertos / Woodwind / Late Romantic / Early 20th Century

Despite his advanced age and the chaos surrounding him, Richard Strauss remained highly productive well into the 1940s. As the Second World War was coming to an end in 1944-45, the eighty-year-old composer was working on his Oboe Concerto and Sonatina No. 2 for winds, as well as the Metamorphosen for strings. While the latter work was an explicit response to the destruction Strauss was witnessing, in the Concerto and the Sonatina the composer seemed to be turning his mind away from the events surrounding him. There is a pastoral quality to the oboe concerto, with a highly tuneful solo part and more than occasional touches of nostalgia for the 18th century. Similarly, Strauss headed the score of the sonatina with a dedication ‘to the spirit of the immortal Mozart at the end of a life full of thankfulness’.

Alfred Schnittke - Piano Quintet & Other Works (1992) {BIS Schnittke Edition, BIS-547} (Item #14)
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© 1992 Grammofon AB BIS | BIS-CD-547
Classical / Contemporary Classical / 20th Century

Schnittke has since become one of my favorite composers, and probably deserves more recognition. The sadness, desolation, and strangeness of his music is a perfect soundtrack for today. The piano quintet is a good introduction to his works; my personal favorite works of his are his more radical violin concertos. Fans of dark and brooding classical, or the rock group Univers Zero, buy immediately.