Postmoderne hinter dem Eisernen Vorhang: Werk und Rezeption Alfred Schnittkes im Kontext ost- und mitteleuropäischer Musikdiskurse Edited by Amrei Flechsig and Stefan Weiss (review)

Schnittke scholarship is booming, especially in Germany and Russia. Schnittke’s star has undeniably waned from its early-1990s peak, when he was the most-recorded contemporary composer, surpassing even Philip Glass. Yet several of his solo instrumental compositions—Cello Sonata no. 1, Stille Nacht, A Paganini, and Suite in the Old Style—have become standard repertoire for violinists, cellists, and pianists. Chamber and orchestral works have also fared well: the Concerto Grosso no. 1 is a staple of the orchestral literature, and the Piano Quintet and String Quartets nos. 2 and 3 are often heard on chamber concerts. Schnittke’s historical significance still arouses debate, but it seems fair to say that his concept of polystylism both foreshadowed and still aptly describes our current information-saturated age of sampling and remixing.

Since the early 2000s, publications about Schnittke have been appearing at a rapid clip. A scholarly yearbook called “Dedicated to Alfred Schnittke” (Alfredu Shnitke posvyashchaetsya), begun in 1999, has recently seen its eighth volume (published by Kompozitor in Moscow). This publication includes reminiscences from former colleagues, articles from established and younger scholars on works by Schnittke and his contemporaries, and valuable primary source documents, among them selections from Schnittke’s correspondence. A complete critical edition of his compositions is also well underway, published by Kompozitor in Saint Petersburg, and set in motion by the late Alexander Ivashkin. But arguably the biggest news in Schnittke scholarship recently has been the unveiling of sketches and other documents by the composer, now at the Juilliard School in New York. This treasure trove includes materials related to several pivotal works, among them the Symphonies nos. 2 and 3, Passacaglia, Piano Quintet, Dialogue for cello and seven instruments, Lebenslauf, and “Faust” Cantata (“Seid nüchtern und wachet”). (Ivana Medić gives a useful preliminary digest of these materials in Alfredu Shnitke posvyashchaetsya, no. 8 [Moscow: Kompozitor, 2011], 109–57.) Unfortunately, a number of other Schnittke scores, among them the manuscript of Peer Gynt, are either in the process of being, or have recently been, sold at auction, destined for whereabouts unknown. This, as always, represents a very real loss to scholarship. The collection of essays called “postmodern behind the Iron Curtain” and edited by Amrei Flechsig and Stefan Weiss, both prime movers and shakers in the active Russian musicological scene in Germany, must be evaluated against this backdrop.

Schnittke studies sits on the cusp of a new period. Scholars fluent in both Russian and German (as well as English)—all crucial for researching the composer—have begun approaching the music and digging into historical sources. That Russian music scholarship is going strong in Germany has been demonstrated by a number of important conferences held there over the past several years; the present volume arose from a conference held in Hannover in 2009 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Schnittke’s birth. In May 2013, I attended a conference in Hannover organized by Weiss on the theme “Soviet Music Abroad” (“Sowjetische Musik im Ausland”), and can attest to its crucial value in bringing together scholars from Russia, Europe, the U.K., and North America. Unfortunately, the present collection includes no representatives from the former U.S.S.R.; their contributions might have greatly balanced its perspective.

The collection includes 16 essays, three in English, the remaining in German. As this division suggests, the contributors are overwhelmingly from Germany, with two from Canada, and one each from Poland and the United States. The essays are divided into three sections: “Crossing the Border? The Concept of postmodern and the Possibility of its Transfer,” “Modern, Post-Modern, Post-Modern Modern? The Ideal Reference Area for Schnittke’s Works,” and “Schnittke as Model? Central and...