Description:
Amazon.com's Best of 1999
Of German-Jewish heritage, Alfred Schnittke converted to Catholicism yet drew upon Russian Orthodox musical traditions among many others for the collage-like "polystylism" of his music. Schnittke attains a new level of severely controlled beauty in the a cappella Psalms of Repentance, given here in a superb recording by the Swedish Radio Choir. --Thomas May
Amazon.com essential recording
Although Alfred Schnittke's Psalms of Repentance was written for the concert hall, its impact is unquestionably spiritual and its origins are centered in a deeply felt, highly personal credo. Eleven of the t
Amazon.com's Best of 1999
Of German-Jewish heritage, Alfred Schnittke converted to Catholicism yet drew upon Russian Orthodox musical traditions among many others for the collage-like "polystylism" of his music. Schnittke attains a new level of severely controlled beauty in the a cappella Psalms of Repentance, given here in a superb recording by the Swedish Radio Choir. --Thomas May
Amazon.com essential recording
Although Alfred Schnittke's Psalms of Repentance was written for the concert hall, its impact is unquestionably spiritual and its origins are centered in a deeply felt, highly personal credo. Eleven of the twelve psalms, whose texts are taken from a 16th-century collection of Old Russian writings, reflect the melodic and rhythmic inflection of Russian liturgical chant but bear little or no musical resemblance to the ancient forms. In fact, the music is marvelously and effectively eclectic--polystylistic, to use the term usually associated with Schnittke's music; yet it projects an unmistakable originality that owes much to Schnittke's masterful, seamless weaving of the old with the new, from thick-textured traditional harmonies to tone clusters, from chromatic passages to whole-tone scales. This is a tour de force for any choir, and Tonu Kaljuste's Swedish Radio Choir shows here why it is one of today's top contemporary-music ensembles. Highlights include the beautiful, otherworldly Sixth Psalm, and the final Psalm No. 12--an ethereal, wordless prayer, a masterpiece of choral writing and choral singing. Significantly, Schnittke revealed to an interviewer that he saw his task as a composer "not to think up or create music, but to listen." After hearing this music, we can't help but marvel and be moved by the remarkable sounds he heard. --David Vernier
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Manufacturer: Ecm Import
Release date: 5 October 1999
EAN: 0002894535132 UPC: 028945351322
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