Alfred Garrievich Schnittke is a brilliant composer

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The tireless worker is Alfred Schnittke. The music he created is large-scale and great in its heritage. Everything was subject to the composer: operas and ballets, orchestral compositions, music for films, chamber and choral works. She speaks to us in a modern language, maintaining a constant connection with what is considered a classic.

Family and childhood

The family in which Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (1934 - 1998) was born was completely non-standard. Father is a German Jew from Liepaja, mother is German. For both, German was their native language, which they used when talking at home among themselves. Multilingualism was characteristic of all members of this family. And for little Alfred, and his brother, and sister, and grandmother, who was engaged in research and translation from German into Russian and vice versa. During the Patriotic War, his father, Harry Viktorovich, served in parts of the Soviet army. And after the war he was sent as a correspondent to Vienna for two years.

The capital of Austria has always beenone of the musical centers of the world. In an environment filled with music, the future composer Alfred Garrievich Schnittke began his musical education.

Return to the USSR

When the work abroad ended, the parents settled in the suburbs and both began to work in a newspaper published in German, which was called "New Life". While his parents were translating Soviet literature into German, Alfred managed to finish school, the Moscow Conservatory, and graduate school. In 1960, Alfred Garrievich Schnittke was admitted to the Union of Composers. After that, he begins teaching at the conservatory where he studied. then, feeling that this is not enough, he begins to compose music for films. Of particular note is his work with the wonderful director Larisa Shepitko, who shot the truthful and terrible film about the war "Ascent" (1976). The eternal theme of betrayal and sacrifice was also reflected in the music created by Alfred Garrievich Schnittke, which was filled with tragedy and mysticism and combined with them deep psychologism, as well as biblical motifs. This allowed the director and actors to more fully reveal the drama of Vasil Bykov. In general, he wrote music for more than sixty films and several performances. In 1989, Alfred Garrievich Schnittke will receive the Nika award for the music for the film Commissar. He worked only with our best directors, whose films with the music of Alfred Schnittke became events: Andrei Mitta - "Crew", Andrei Smirnov - "Autumn", Elem Klimov - "Agony". Quotes and themes from film music are used by the composer when creating concertworks.

Matrimony

The first marriage to Galina Koltsina was short-lived (1956 - 1958). But the second marriage was happy and full of harmony. The future spouses met as a teacher and student. And, as usual, the teacher fell in love.

After some uncertainty Irina Kataeva in 1961 the marriage was registered. The pianist and the composer united their destinies. By this time, the composer's unique style began to take shape.

The originality of music

The composer masterfully mastered all existing modern genres. And his powerful talent and great diligence made it possible to create a huge number of works: operas and ballets for the stage, orchestral compositions. Including in his work there are classical, avant-garde, chorales, w altzes, polkas, jazz. He boldly combined dissimilar techniques, as well as stylistic trends, in one work. It seemed incomparable, but it simply shocked the listeners, as happened with the First Symphony. Later, this will be more harmoniously combined in the "Requiem" and the Piano Quintet.

For a mature Schnittke, and most of the compositions were written in the last 13 years, when the composer was ill (had a stroke), the use of baroque motifs, echoes of everyday music, associations with German classical music are typical. But all this is not an end in itself, but a natural, like breathing, contact with the music of different eras. Since 1977, after touring abroad, they started talking about Schnittkethe whole world, paying tribute to his talent.

"Revizskaya Tale" - "Gogol Suite"

For the performance of the Taganka Theater, the composer composed a suite in which N. V. Gogol. It consists of eight parts. In it, by means of music, Chichikov's childhood is revealed, the drama of the artist, who feels the loss of talent and wants to destroy all his masterpieces. The overcoat, like an unattainable dream, suddenly turns into a beloved, not a thing, but a friend. To her, and only to her, the hero gives his ardent love. Officials are an impersonal mass, creaking with feathers in public places, this is a living anthill that lives the same type. They don't even try to turn into a human because they don't know what it is. In the ball scene, which turns into a coven, the Artist sees all his creepy characters. And completes the whole appearance of the three beautiful graces. Without them, life is a desert. And music, having made a breakthrough, tears the listener away from earthly concerns, plunging into its pure world. This is how the “Gogol Suite” sounds.

Hamburg

In 1990, Alfred Schnittke, whose biography takes a turn in the most critical time, was invited to Germany to teach composition.

He did not emigrate, he had an apartment in Moscow, but due to he alth reasons he needed treatment abroad. In recent years, he has been worried about vascular disorders, but the composer still works hard. He can no longer write with his right hand. Conductor G. Rozhdestvensky, visiting him, deciphers his fuzzy notes. At 63, the great composer died. He was buried at Novodevichycemetery in Moscow.