CD ECM Records Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 9 / Alexander Raskatov: Nunc Dimittis

2009

The Hilliard Ensemble
Elena Vassilieva Mezzo-Soprano
David James Countertenor
Steven Harrold Tenor
Rogers Covey-Crump Tenor
Gordon Jones Baritone
Dresdner Philharmonie
Dennis Russell Davies Conductor


Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 9
Alexander Raskatov: Nunc Dimittis - In Memoriam Alfred Schnittke

Composed shortly before his death in 1998, Schnittke’s ultimate symphony – actually his very last work – is a “Ninth” in a most unusual sense: Put down with a shaky left hand by an artist who had survived four strokes and was laterally debilitated, it is an impressive triumph of spiritual energy over physical constraints. The composer’s widow Irina treated the barely-legible manuscript as a testament and was long doubtful whom to entrust with the difficult task of deciphering and reconstructing the highly expressive three movements for large orchestra (some 38 minutes of music). She finally settled on Moscow-born Alexander Raskatov, who not only provided a thorough score but, convinced that Schnittke had intended to write a fourth movement, also developed the idea to add an independent epilogue, the “Nunc Dimitis” (“Lord, let thy servant now depart into thy promis'd rest”) for mezzo soprano, vocal quartett and orchestra. It is based on the famous text by orthodox monk Starets Siluan and on verses by Joseph Brodsky, Schnittke’s favourite poet. Both pieces were given their first performances in the Dresden Frauenkirche in summer 2007 by the musicians of this world première recording which feautures long-standing ECM protagonists the Hilliard Ensemble and conductor Dennis Russell Davies.

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Audio, Klassik-CD des Monats
Scherzo, Excepcional

This ECM release helps fill out the picture of the composer’s last years by including his Ninth Symphony. … Schnittke’s previous three symphonies had largely abandoned his earlier polystylistic complexity, achieving a new level of simplicity or drabness according to conviction. The Ninth does not continue along this path of rarefication, opting for relatively full textures that, while not actively contrapuntal, are intensely polyphonic. … Schnittke’s Ninth Symphony is not the result of a fractured mind composing on default; rather it unfolds with an intent if oblique logic where detail is secondary to the overall musical process. What is certain is the quality of the Dresden orchestra’s playing and the precision that Dennis Russell Davies brings to his reading.
Richard Whitehouse, International Record Review