Search - Alfred Schnittke, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra :: Schnittke: Symphony No. 1

I'd give 200 stars if that were possible.

David J. Cubberly | Urbana, IL United States | 09/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Of all the pieces written for orchestra, none equal Alfred Schnittke's "Symphony No. 1." It was this piece by Schnittke that I happened to hear on a public radio station. I was in shock. I had never heard anything as wonderful as this piece. From then on I searched more and more about Schnittke but still never coming across his First Symphony. But he has gotten much more notice in America recently and now there are two very good recordings of this piece. Both are fairly easy to come by now. If you are not familiar to his music, it contains within it a collage of styles and emotions. At one point you will be faced with huge walls of sound while other times you will be transported to Baroque orchestra.... until it all goes haywire. If you listen to anything by Schnittke and don't feel emotionally drained afterwards, you must have been asleep."