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Choir Concerto is Alfred Schnittke's major choral work, created in 1984 - 1985. The piece is based on "The Book of Mournful Songs" by the great Armenian medieval poet Gregor Narekatsi (951 - 1003).
"The Book of Mournful Songs", the most important work of the poet, was written in the end of his life. It was greatly popular in the Middle Ages, read and passed down through generations, its verses were given numerous interpretations. Narekatsi's book focuses on man's inner life and is colored with humanistic individualism typical for the Armenian poetry and philosophy of that time.
Schnittke wrote: "The Narekatsi's text is only a preparation for the understanding of actual meaning, which is revealed in the process of reading but cannot be conveyed in words." Schnittke's concerto is a combination of conveyed and hidden meanings.
Alfred Schnittke completed his Choir Concerto in the summer of 1985 and dedicated it to Valeri Polyansky and the USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir.
Alfred Schnittke (1934 - 1998)
Choir Concerto
1. O Thee, the Sovereign of Everything, Who Gives Us Precious Gifts -
17:04
2. Collected Songs Where Every Verse is Full of Grief - 8:31
3. For Those Who'll Deeply Go Into the Meaning of Mournful Words,
For Those Who'll Perceive the Essence of Creation -
11:56
4. This Work Which I Begin With Hope and Name of Thee - 6:09
Two Small Organ Pieces
5. - 4:28
6. - 3:45
Total
time - 51:46
Oleg Yanchenko, organ
Conductor - Valeri Polyansky
USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir
Elena Dol-Donskaya, soprano