Program
Alfred Schnittke (1934—1998)
Concerto for Mixed Choir set to the verses from The Book of Lamentations by Grigor Narekatsi (1984—1985) translated into Russian by Naum Grebnev
musicAeterna choir (Chief Choirmaster — Vitaly Polonsky)
Conductor – Teodor Currentzis
The Choral Music Theatre of Saratov Philharmonic
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor – Lyudmila Litsova
Choirmasters – Elena Melnikova, Alexander Balashov
Details
Alfred Schnittke worked on his Concerto for Choir in 1984–1985, at the time of his personal baptism and strict observing of the church rituals, and on the wave of interest in the genres and meanings of sacred music and, as a result, rethinking his own style. Back then Schnittke was looking for a specific kind of the ‘new simplicity’, having abandoned citation and polystylistics.
Schnittke’s Concerto for Choir has become a true masterpiece of world choral music. The music work is based on The Book of Lamentations by the Armenian medieval poet, philosopher and theologian Grigor Narekatsi. The austere ascetic spirit of Narekatsi’s poetry combined with Schnittke’s sound ‘byzantinism’ possesses a colossal power of emotional and spiritual impact. Schnittke himself said about this music: ‘Someone is writing through me.’ About the performance of musicAeterna, it could be said: ‘Someone is singing through them.’