Composing the Sacred in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) is commonly considered the mostprolific and popular Russian composer of the late twentiethcentury. In addition to contributing to all major compositionalgenres, Schnittke was a prolific composer of choral music. Adetailed survey of his entire choral output is provided in chapterone. Regardless of his political surroundings, Schnittke found waysof composing sacred music in both Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia,thus his sacred choral works outnumber his secular ones. Schnittke's famous Concerto for Choir is a work that stems from the RussianOrthodox choral tradition. Included is a brief historic overview ofRussian sacred music in order to determine how Schnittke 'sConcerto continues the tradition of this sacred genre in EasternEurope, which began in the seventeenth century with Mykola Dylets'kyi and reached ultimate heights in the concertos of DmytroBortniansky. A thorough analysis of Schnittke 's Concerto for Choiris included in Part II. The book 's interdisciplinary contentcreates appeal to a broad audience, and it is absolutely vital forconductors and choristers wanting to successfully perform thismonumental twentieth-century composition.... Mehr