Acoustic Masterclass: Acoustic Guitar Solos, Book & CD Book

Published in 2002, A SCHNITTKE READER is a collection of writings by or about the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, edited by Alexander Ivashkin and translated into English by John Goodliffe.

The bulk of the material consists of Schnittke's writings on other composers' music. He did early analysis on Stravinsky's serial period, Ligeti's micropolyphony and Berio's polystylism at a time when this repertoire was still very new and little known in the Soviet Union. However, forty years later most of his insights will, I suspect, be common knowledge to fans of modernism. Schnittke also wrote some brief articles in praise of his contemporaries (e.g. Gubaidulina, Lubimov), but these are just little puff pieces and don't reveal much about their art.

I came to this collection hoping to understand Schnittke's music more deeply, but it's disappointing in that regard. There are few comments on Schnittke's own music, and the descriptions of the Concerto No. 1 or the Symphony No. 4 are as brief as CD liner notes. There are a few contributions by Schnittke's fellow musicians, but these are mostly mere recountings of the times they performed his music. An exception, however, is Gidon Kremer's piece which documents his changing relationship to the Schnittke's music.

All in all, I think A SCHNITTKE READER will be of limited appeal to Schnittke fans.