Schnittke: Psalms of Repentance

Schnittke: Psalms of Repentance

Schnittke: Psalms of Repentance
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Music CD Cover

Composer: Alfred Schnittke
Conductor: Tonu Kaljuste
Performer: Swedish Radio Choir
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 1999-10-05
Music Label: ECM Import
Soundtracks:
  1. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: I
  2. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: II
  3. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: III
  4. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: IV
  5. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: V
  6. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: VI
  7. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: VII
  8. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: VIII
  9. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: IX
  10. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: X
  11. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: XI
  12. Psalms Of Repentance For A Mixed Choir: XII

Free Music Notes for Schnittke: Psalms of Repentance

Free Music Review: stark beauty of voices, humility and repentance
Hit: 5 Stars

PSALMS OF REPENTANCE is a stunningly beautiful 1996 recording of the Swedish Radio Choir, conducted by Tonu Kaljuste, singing the compositions of Alfred Schnittke and a late 16th century Orthodox text. Schnittke, whose father was Jewish, converted to his mother's Catholicism in 1982, but he mainly used the Russian Orthodox tradition in his sacred music. The premiere performance in Moscow with Valery Polyansky conducting, on the second day of Christmas 1988, marked the 1000th anniversary of the Christianization of Russia.

PSALMS adheres "...closely to the melodic and rhythmic patterns of Russian liturgical chant, with its predominantly syllabic, declamatory rhythms and its characteristic melodic line dominated by half-tone and whole-tone steps oscillating around a very narrow tonal centre." (from the liner notes by Uwe Schweikert). Though inevitably reflecting Schnittke's complex influences (sounding like Ligeti from time to time!), the PSALMS are simpler and more traditional than the CHOIR CONCERTO of 1984/5, which was more clearly an example of polystylism. The stark black and white ECM packaging is typically elegant and appropriate.

We all have reason to repent, some more than others... This music is most relevant at this darkest time of year, the time of the Solstice, the time of Christmas.

"...and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us,"

AMEN.

For more Schnittke recordings and reviews, see my SCHNITTKE: A LISTENER'S GUIDE list. I consider Schnittke to be one of THE 12 BEST COMPOSERS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY -- see my list by that name as well.
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Schnittke: Psalms of Repentance Poster

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
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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