Concerto for Piano and Strings by Alfred Schnittke: On Interpreting the Content

Main Article Content

Konstantin G. Pantelidis

Abstract

The article analyses Alfred Schnittkeʼs piano concerto. Strictly following the score, the author of the article aims to reveal the creative idea and artistic tasks of Alfred Schnittke, endowing the sound structures of the musical text with artistic and philosophical characteristics and offering the reader his story-figurative understanding of music. The analysis of the concert is intertwined with the literary and artistic description of musical themes and events, thereby creating a vivid impression of Schnittkeʼs music. The author of the article notes the connections of the avant-garde composerʼs music with the traditions of the past, and also points to the manifestations of polystylistics. In the consistent compositional characteristics of the concert, the musical form, harmony, timbre features, texture and, in general, the stylistics of the work are considered. The author, studying the movement of music from the beginning of the concert to its completion, builds a certain imaginative dramaturgy of the work; he dwells in more detail on particularly important points, interpreting them through the prism of Schnittkeʼs compositional thinking.


Keywords: Schnittke, polystylism, piano concerto, musical analysis, avant-garde, dodecaphony, collage.

Article Details

How to Cite
Pantelidis К. Г. (2023). Concerto for Piano and Strings by Alfred Schnittke: On Interpreting the Content. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 53(4), 58–73. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1479
Section
International Division
Author Biography

Konstantin G. Pantelidis, State Conservatory of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

PhD (Art), Composer, the Greece Union of Composers Member