# Schnittke Piano Sonata No. 3 - I. Lento



## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

I find this to be a truly unique and _pleasurable_ piece of music. I find it to be a good example of Schnittke's unique and courageous voice as a composer. I am interested to hear what other people think of this short piece. Much of Schnittke's music comes across as "in-your-face," but this piece is almost lethargic. I find it very relaxing. I believe an orchestrated version of this piece would be delightful.


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## dzc4627 (Apr 23, 2015)

Yeah, I would argue that a very large majority of Schnittke's output _isn't _in your face. It is just that a lot of his works that are popular are those 'in your face' ones. After his second stroke he really mellowed out. Just listen to Symphonies 6-9. So bare. Critics called them "unfinished sounding." Skeletons without the meat.

I do really like this piece. I haven't listened to it in a while. It is a perfect example of his late and bare chromaticism.

Fun fact (I caught this upon listening for the first time): The beginning of the 4th movement of this sonata (



) is shamelessly quoting Shostakovich's 10th (



). Right from the get-go. Lol


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I should not have listened to that in the early morning hours! It's very contemplative. I do like it. The overal arc of the piece reminds me of something Beethoven might have conjured (not the phrases or gestures of course, but the overall arc), something like the _Heiliger Dankgesang _ section of String Quartet No. 15.

I wish I were more familiar with Schnittke. What I have heard has been fascinating, but there is only so much time. I have his last two symphonies in my catalog, but I'm really only familiar with, or have assimilated "For Liverpool" which I think is a wonderful piece.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

I wish more people had listened to the lento and commented on the piece. I find it to be very unique among piano lentos.


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## dzc4627 (Apr 23, 2015)

Weston said:


> I should not have listened to that in the early morning hours! It's very contemplative. I do like it. The overal arc of the piece reminds me of something Beethoven might have conjured (not the phrases or gestures of course, but the overall arc), something like the _Heiliger Dankgesang _ section of String Quartet No. 15.
> 
> I wish I were more familiar with Schnittke. What I have heard has been fascinating, but there is only so much time. I have his last two symphonies in my catalog, but I'm really only familiar with, or have assimilated "For Liverpool" which I think is a wonderful piece.


Hmm. And here I was sure I had heard every single Schnittke piece. Thanks for sharing that one. It definitely is similar in color to his bleak late works, his late symphonies in particular. I'd recommend this for another 'contemplative' work:


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

dzc4627 said:


> Fun fact (I caught this upon listening for the first time): The beginning of the 4th movement of this sonata (
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Why shamelessly? It is clearly a direct and intentional quotation we were meant to recognize. The first time listening to the Lento, the first movement, I noted an allusion to Shostakovich's Sixth Symphony, in that case, also to a secondary theme of the first movement. If I had a score, I would explore the possibility that this allusion is the kernel from which the opening phrase, and main idea, of the Lento is derived. Are there other Shostakovich allusions and quotations in the interior movements? It would be one of the first things I'd look for if I were analyzing it.

A couple other observations on the Lento: The inverted treatment of the main ideas seems to form a kind of counter-exposition. And am I hearing that some of the sonorities played as chords (clusters) are verticalizations of motives from the theme?; That is a technique he uses in other late works.


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