Alfred Schnittke - Choir Concerto No. 1 - O Master of All Living (1984-85)

Concerto for Mixed Chorus [Choir Concerto] (1984-1985) - I. О Повелитель сущего всего [O Master of All Living] Composer: Alfred Schnittke (1934 - 1998) Performers: Russian State Symphonic Cappella, dir. Valery Polyansky _________________________________________________________________ “Alfred Garrievich Schnittke was a Soviet and German composer. Schnittke’s early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich, but after the visit of the Italian composer Luigi Nono to the USSR, he took up the serial technique in works such as Music for Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1964). However, Schnittke soon became dissatisfied with what he termed the “puberty rites of serial self-denial.“ He created a new style which has been called “polystylism“, where he juxtaposed and combined music of various styles past and present. He once wrote, “The goal of my life is to unify serious music and light music, even if I break my neck in doing so.“ His first conce