Czech Chamber Music Society • Josef Špaček

Tied to Russia, and yet not entirely; meditative, yet at the same time inspired by dance music; attuned the musical thinking of the past, and yet able to combine it consciously with the newer compositional currents of “polystylism”: such was Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998). A native of Engels, a town in the former Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, he later called himself “half German, half Jew”, living in Russia. He received his first musical training in Vienna, where his father was the editor of a German-language newspaper. After moving back to the Soviet Union (1948), Schnittke continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatoire. He converted to Catholicism in 1983, adding yet another negative to his rather unfavourable political profile besides his “infatuation with Western compositional trends”. Schnittke had difficulty advancing his career at home, but outside of Russia he had help getting performances from friends who played his works on tours or when working in long-term engagements abroad; these friends included the violinist Gidon Kremer, the conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky, and the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. By the mid-1980s, the West had begun to realise that Alfred Schnittke represented one of the greatest figures of Russian music since Shostakovich. In 1990, the composer received German citizenship and moved to Hamburg, where he taught at the Musikhochschule, and where he also hoped to get better healthcare. He suffered a series of strokes and struggled courageously against their consequences.

Schnittke’s Suite in the Old Style for violin and piano (1972) is one of his most popular compositions. Lyrical, listenable melodies are arranged in the form of a baroque suite in five movements. In the spirit of polystylism, Schnittke combined the musical language of the 18th century with references to works from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, elaborating them with humour and carefully detailed craftsmanship. The Suite was premiered in 1973 in Moscow.

There is also a remote connection between Russia and the set of three sonatas for violin and piano that Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) designated as his Opus 30 and dedicated to Alexander I, the young Tsar of Russia. The composer apparently attached great importance to these sonatas, having dedicated them to such an exalted figure. According to some sources, he received an additional fee for the dedication, which was paid to him at the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815). But now we are getting ahead of ourselves. When the sonata was written (1801–1802), many of the tragic events of the Napoleonic wars had not yet taken place, and the powers who would ultimately be victorious (Prussia, Austria, and Russia) had not yet formed the Holy Alliance. For Beethoven, this was also a critical moment in his personal life. It was in 1802 that he wrote what is called the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter to his brothers Carl and Johann that was never sent, in which he mentioned his worsening deafness and the depression arising from it, which was difficult for him to overcome.

The Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30, No. 3, is illustrative of how tricky it can sometimes be to comment on the circumstances of a work’s creation, or even to understand the psychology of the composer based on musical analysis. About the first movement (Allegro assai), for example, one can read that it was written with carefree humour, but also that it is full of élan, the third movement (Allegro vivace) was seen as referring to dancing in Vienna’s ballrooms, but also to the “internal struggle between life and death” then taking place within Beethoven! A more sober view of musical construction would assert that the first movement flows along in sonata form, the unusually lengthy second movement (Tempo di Minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso) is in ternary form, and the composer fashioned the concluding movement in the form of a rondo. In any case, the Sonata in G major and Opus 30 as a whole hold a place of importance among Beethoven’s works for violin and piano. The first edition was published in 1803 by the Bureau des Arts et de l’Industrie in Vienna.

The name Arvo Pärt (*1935) has become synonymous with spiritual minimalism, and although he now enjoys great popularity and respect, his name is also synonymous with the humble pursuit of creativity. Pärt was born in 1935 in Estonia, which was then an independent country. Already by 1940, however, the Soviet Union had annexed Estonia, ruling it, apart from the brief episode of German occupation in the 1940s, until 1991, when Estonian independence was restored. Alfred Schnittke and Arvo Pärt were born around the same time, and their fates were simlar. Pärt studied composition in Tallin, and his early works were influenced by Neoclassicism. Later, he became familiar with dodecaphony, serialism, and other modern compositional trends. Such modes of artistic expression were out of favour with Soviet cultural officials, who expected the arts to be politically engaged, and the composer was criticised for this, as well as for his inclination towards spiritual themes. In 1972, he joined the Russian Orthodox Church. During a long creative hiatus (1968–1976), he found his own original style of “tintinnabuli”, which strove to reduce the musical material to a minimum. Under pressure from the Soviet government, he and his family emigrated to Vienna in 1980, where he obtained Austrian citizenship. Afterwards, he lived in Berlin, then in 2010 he moved back to Estonia permanently. 

Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) for violin and piano was composed in 1978, and it is a typical example of Pärt’s style of tintinnabuli. The melodic line is based on scales and, indirectly, on Gregorian plainchant. The tintinnabuli voice is based on arpeggiated triads, but within the music’s strictly logically constructed “skeleton”, the beauty of each individual tone must stand out; every note has its importance, and the role of the interpreters is to release this aesthetic beauty. The title evokes the idea of infinity, constant reflection, calm, and mystery (“what is behind the mirror?”). The violinist Vladimir Spivakov and the pianist Boris Bekhterev premiered Spiegel im Spiegel in late 1978.

César Franck (1822–1890), a composer of German Belgian origin, lived in Paris from his youth and was known for many years primarily as a church musician and organist in several churches there, especially at St. Clotilde, and as the professor of organ and improvisation at the conservatoire. It was not widely known that besides writing music for organ, harmonium, and piano, he was composing orchestral works, operas, oratorios, and chamber music. Only during the last two decades of his life did he win recognition (Legion of Honour, president of the Société Nationale de Musique) as well as the respect of the general public for some of his late works. After the premiere of his Violin Sonata in A major, the critic Ernest Reyer remarked: “It’s not a sonata, but it’s fiendishly beautiful.” The year was 1886, the piece was a hot new sensation and doubly pleasing: Franck had dedicated it to his friend, the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, as a wedding gift.

The cyclical Sonata in A major offers a rare balance of the tradition of classical forms, the chromatic harmony of Late Romanticism, contrapuntal erudition, and songful melody. The main theme of the first movement also appears in a variety of transformations in the other movements as the work’s “motto”. An opening prologue is followed by a contrasting second movement and a lyrical third. The final movement captivates us both for its canonic voice leading and its melodiousness. The unusual difficulty of the piano part reveals how skilled an organist (and pianist) César Franck was. Thanks to its compositional mastery, its warmth of expression, and the composer’s peculiar wisdom that an attentive listener senses in the music, the Sonata in A major has become one of the most popular compositions of its genre.