Schnittke: Sketches (1985) 

Нечто сидело внутри котелка В него бросали все недра огня Оно в нем пылало, пытаясь понять И жаждало славы, и память рвала Не умолкало ни ночью, ни днём Они с организмом были вдвоем Что прибывало, то все шло к нему В объятьях держало, не дав никому Что падало, то теряло свой блик Или пропадало, заглянувши на миг, С ним кости ломались и сила смолкала Но только ему все было мало И вскоре угас котелок от бессилья, Ведь нечто лишь вред ему приносило Оно там питалось, раскинув дороги И забрало наконец, втянув ноги

molto bella

The notes are by Marina Chistiakova and have been fluently translated by Derek Yeld. This sequence of sardonic and acidulous sketches dates from the late 1970s. They were written for the 1985 Bolshoi ballet Esquisses. The choreographer was Andrei Petrov . The music is intended to complement music Schnittke wrote in 1978 for a theatrical production of Gogol’s The Inspector’s Tale (after Dead Souls). This latter music ultimately emerged, with Gennadi Rozhdestvensky’s intervention, as The Gogol Suite. The 22 items are each pretty short. They’re really satirical little vignettes where wit is in solution with corrosion. The music is sometimes raucous in the manner of Ibert and Satie. At other times there are tasty little knockabout visits by Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Beethoven (Symphony No. 5 - Fate motif), Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake), Mozart and Chopin (Pas de deux - tr. 15) references are dropped and capitalised upon along the way. The harpsichord is a frequent visitor but in a slightly less intense fashion than we may be accustomed to from the use made of the instrument in Shchedrin and Weinberg. French cinema music of the 1950s and 1960s is also evoked. Schnittke wrote more than his fair share of film scores as we know from Capriccio. There’s an electric guitar (solo and bass), flexatone, piano (prepared with coins between the strings) and other percussion some of it ‘outlandish’. There’s even a Russian speaker in Ferdinand VIII (tr.11). The Barrel Organ (tr. 18) creaks and wheezes charmingly. But this is a work that also makes free with the sinister and grand guignol. This sequence of short sound-picture is boldly recorded and serves well to tickle the ear and please with fantastic dances that lampoon authority. This is not necessarily a disc only for Schnittke fans.

Wonderful!!

peccato che schittke non abbia scritto in questo stile su tutte le sue opere!grande fantasia..

и тут без копипасты не смог... Бессмыленный набор звуков.

If anyone i wondering if Schnittke's music sounds familiar, many of the soundtracks of Tim Burton movies like Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice are written by Danny Elfman, and it's obvious that Schnittke's music has had a HUGE influence on him.

how did he write so much music - all of it engaging if not always serious. I'm absolutely enthralled with his symphonies.

Thanks for this. Schnittke is amazing

35:08

[0:00] March - The Swan, the Pike and the Crayfish [1:55] Overture [3:16] The Childhood of Chichikov [5:38] The Portrait [12:02] Major Kovalyov [12:45] Morning [14:16] In Search of the Nose [15:47] Despair [17:40] The Nose is found [20:00] The Overcoat [22:16] Ferdinand VIII [23:25] The Civil Servants [25:55] The Barrel-Organ [28:05] The Unknown Woman [29:28] Pas de deux [33:01] The Debauch [34:30] The Sabbath [36:32] The Barrel-Organ [37:41] Spanish Royal March [39:21] The Ball [45:21] The Testament [50:38] March - The Swan, the Pike and the Crayfish

Я бы назвал это произведение "колесо эпохи" !

I found this enjoyable work by doing a Gogol search.

It has a certain charm, does't it?

I’m from Japan, but love this music so much

Only Alfred could have conceived this masterpiece of parody and witt.

Faaa... what a piece!

Hello, Dm. Shostakovich.

magic world

- Mais combien de personnes connaissent vraiment la biographie de ce compositeur Russe ? fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Schnittke

Супер!!!

Instrumentation: 2(picc).2(cor anglais).2(Eb cl,bass cl).2 (db bn) - 4.3.3.1 - 5 perc (timp, cast, ratchet, whistle, flex, temple bl, 3 tom-t, side dr, bass dr, cym, susp.cym, tam-t, tubular bells, glsp, xyl). el.guit. bass guit. (prepared) piano/hpd/cel. el.org.strings

43:52

poco tocado y magistral

Time Stamps?

:)

es5

Wow ,somewhat surreal!

the fake midi orchestra arranged renditions of these pieces seem to take the juice out of the music. lacks contrasts. too clean and pasteurized. just shows how important the human touch is in a performance.

Because of Alexei Yagudin...😊

I am informed (google: schnittke strange side) that the bombastic march that opens and ends the ballet suite is not Schnittke's work. It was composed by two other Russian contemporaries. To me it sounds unworthy of Schnittke, and I was glad to learn why.

Да , разум находится не в голове. В голове нет ничего, кроме студенистой массы. Думаем мы не мозгом , а окружающем нас морфологические полем , к которому подключается. Ку-ку!