# Schnittke's Second String Quartet



## Igneous01 (Jan 27, 2011)

What are your thoughts on this almost obscene and hideous work (I mean this in a good way). There is this tremendous darkness that surrounds the whole work. It feels so different to everything else he wrote.

Does anyone know of other works that are similar to his writing here? I was never truly engrossed in such a dissonant and cacaphonic work like this one. (Having studied a bit of the score, I know its not cacaphonic, but it still feels like madness nonetheless)

A link for those curious:


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Did you try the Bartok quartets? 4 & 5 to start

There's a lot of great string quartet literature from the later C20 - Carter, Ligeti, Lachenmann and Sciarrino should offer you a range of interesting experiences


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

I like it a lot. There is a tremendously well-regulated dramatic profile and a great deal of diversity spun out of a tight set of basic ideas. As with much of Schnittke's work, the underlying ideas fall out as the work progresses in a process of clarification and simplification. In this case, after 18:00 some of the critical ideas seem to be stated in their clearest form, though other earlier sections did this as well (9:30ff). the passage beginning about 12:25 seems especially poignant to me, not sure why. Anyway, he seems to really like doing his thematic processes and variations in reverse, so to speak. A more obvious example of this is ending his seventh symphony with a simple diatonic dirge which, verticalized in various ways, had been the source of a lot of harsh dissonance earlier on. 

To answer your question, I would recommend listening to more Schnittke.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Superb! I've only listened to string quartet no. 3, previously. The Metropolis film was an excellent accompaniment to the quartet.


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## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

That video is great indeed: the user edited that himself and it looks wonderful.


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2014)

Igneous01 said:


> Does anyone know of other works that are similar to his writing here?


Try Lera Auerbach, or to take it up a notch, Wolfgang Rihm.


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## Igneous01 (Jan 27, 2011)

Kontrapunctus said:


> Try Lera Auerbach, or to take it up a notch, Wolfgang Rihm.


I'm listening to Auerbach's 3rd String quartet and I like what I'm hearing. I'm going to check out Wolfgang Rihm, hopefully there is something on youtube.


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## Kilgore Trout (Feb 26, 2014)

Igneous01 said:


> What are your thoughts on this almost obscene and hideous work (I mean this in a good way). There is this tremendous darkness that surrounds the whole work. It feels so different to everything else he wrote.


Why does it sound different to everything else he wrote for you ? Your answer might give some directions.


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## Igneous01 (Jan 27, 2011)

Kilgore Trout said:


> Why does it sound different to everything else he wrote for you ? Your answer might give some directions.


It's a little difficult to describe, but it doesn't sound like a string quartet at all. It's also very strictly written and structured. For example, the first movement begins with a canon that is offset by a half step in each voice, then the melodic material is created using primarily octaves/unisons, sevenths, sixth's, and fifths. Then the second movement begins with each voice again, playing a tuplet that is offset by one, and even mirrors the melodic material of the first movement:

tuplet of 8 (octave/unison)
tuplet of 7 (sevenths)
tuplet of 6 (sixths)
tuplet of 5 (fifths)

What makes it different from his other works, is how everything is offset by 1. So I guess what I'm really asking is, what other works are there that follow this idea of everything being offset by 1?


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