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Timeline 1934
1946
1948
1949 1953
1956 1961
1962
1965 1972 1977
1980 1981
1983
1985 1986
1989 1990
Alfred Schnittke Archive
48782 LPO Schnittke.qxp:48782 LPO Schnittke
1995 1998
Alfred Schnittke born in Engels on the River Volga in the Soviet Union, during the time of Stalin’s terror. Schnittke begins his musical education in Vienna where his father, a journalist and translator, has been posted. The family moves to Moscow where Schnittke studies the piano and receives a diploma in choral conducting. He reads Thomas Mann’s Doktor Faustus for the first time. Studies counterpoint and composition at the Moscow Conservatory. Attends the first performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony 10 which makes a strong impression on him. Stalin and Prokofiev both die. Marries Galina Koltsina – a fellow student. Their marriage is to last three years. Completes the postgraduate composition course and joins the Union of Composers. Marries the pianist, Irina Katayeva. Schnittke is appointed instructor in instrumentation at the Moscow Conservatory, a post he holds until 1972. He supports himself chiefly as a composer of film music, scoring more than 60 films in the years up to 1984. His son Andrei is born. He completes his First Symphony. He writes his Concerto Grosso 1, one of the first works to bring his name to prominence. The piece is popularised by Gidon Kremer, a tireless champion of his music. Schnittke makes his first trip to the West as a harpsichordist/pianist with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. The Gogol Suite for symphony orchestra is given its first performance in London. His Symphony 3 receives its first performance in Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur. Schnittke’s popularity in Russia reaches unprecedented heights. All his concerts sell out and the crowds are comparable to those at large scale pop concerts. Schnittke suffers the first of a series of serious strokes. His Viola Concerto receives its first performance by Yuri Bashmet and the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Lukas Vis. A special fellowship in Berlin enables Schnittke to live there for a year. Schnittke completes his Cello Concerto 2 and the first performance is given by Mstislav Rostropovich in Evian with the Orchestra of the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia, conducted by Theodor Guschlbauer. Schnittke moves to Hamburg where he teaches at the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik. He also travels to London for a two week festival of his music. His opera Historia von D. Johann Fausten is unveiled in Hamburg. He dies in Hamburg after suffering another stroke. Thousands attend his funeral in Moscow.
Left: Schnittke in front of the Taganka Theatre Revealing Between Tchaikovsky Two Worlds Introduction Introduction
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