Schnittke: Faust Cantata / Ritual / (K)ein Sommernachtstaum / Passacaglia
If you were ever faced with having to own one--and only one--Alfred Schnittke CD, this would be an excellent choice. A collection withSeid Nüchtern und Wachet(better known as theFaust Cantata) as its anchor, this set also features inspired performances of the large, pulsingRitualas well as a pair of additional large orchestral works:(K)ein SommernachtstaumandPassacaglia. These are sprawling things, each invoking styles by the seeming dozens in blasts of energy. Schnittke's is a music of embarrassing riches, a palette he intentionally overfills in a self-consciously postmodern pastiche that speaks to the twin 20th-century Russian traditions of (in music) rich orchestration and (in politics) political repression. So it is that theFaust Cantatacan weave between c. 16th-century texts and a very familiar liturgical choral style and a gut-busting set of solos that drive the piece to a frenzy.--Andrew Bartlett