Artist page

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) was born on November 24, 1934, in Engels, Soviet Union. His father was of Jewish descent from Frankfurt and his mother was a Volga-German. Schnittke began his musical education in 1946 in Vienna and moved to Moscow in 1948, where he studied piano and choral conducting. He studied counterpoint and composition at the Moscow Conservatory from 1953 to 1958 and completed his postgraduate course in composition in 1961. That same year, he joined the Union of Composers and became an instructor in instrumentation at the Moscow Conservatory until 1972. Schnittke gained recognition for his "polystylistic" idiom, particularly with works like "Concerto Grosso No. 1" (1977), popularized by violinist Gidon Kremer. He composed over 60 film scores and was inspired by prominent performers including Yury Bashmet and Mstislav Rostropovich. Schnittke first visited America in 1988 for the "Making Music Together" Festival and continued to gain international acclaim throughout the 1990s. He composed 9 symphonies, 6 concerti grossi, 4 violin concertos, and numerous other works, including operas such as "Life with an Idiot," "Gesualdo," and "Historia von D. Johann Fausten." Schnittke received several awards, including the Austrian State Prize in

For any edit requests, please reach out to info@rovr.live