Alfred Schnittke was one of the great composers of the twentieth century.Alexander Ivashkin is Professor of Music and Director of the Centre for Russian Music at the University of London. A cellist, he often performs works by Schnittke.Translator John Goodliffe is based in Christchurch, New Zealand.

"I have read all of Alfred's articles with enormous interest and enjoyment... [He] had such a profound insight into the music of other composers, and ... he found in it so many regular features that were hidden from others." --from the foreword by Mstislav Rostropovich "This collection of writings by or about Alfred Schnittke, including many previously unpublished, is a major contribution to our understanding of the most important Russian composer of recent times."--Classical Music, 4 January 2003 "This collection of writings by or about Alfred Schnittke, including many previously unpublished, is a major contribution to our understanding of the most important Russian composer of recent times."--Classical Music, 4 January 2003

• Preliminary Table of Contents:Preface by Mstislav RostropovichTranslator's Note Schnittke talks about himselfFrom an interview with Alexander IvashkinLetter to the Lenin Prize Committee (1990)Schnittke on his own compositionsOn Concerto Grosso No. 1On the premiere of his Fourth SymphonyOn film and film musicOn staging Tchaikovsky's The Queen of SpadesSchnittke on creative artistsComposers On Shostakovich: circles of influenceOn ProkofievOn GubaidulinaOn KancheliIn Memory of Filipp Moiseevich Gershkovich (Philip Hershkovish)Peformers On Svyatoslav RichterOn Gennady RozhdestvenskySubjective Notes on an Objective Performance (on Aleksey Lyubimov)A WriterOn Viktor YerofeevA Painter On the Paintings of Vladimir YankilevskyV. Schnittke on twentieth-century music1. Polystylistic tendencies in modern music2. The orchestra and "the new music"3. The problem of giving outward expression to a new idea4. From Schnittke's archive5. On jazz6. Timbral relationships and their functional use: the timbral scale7. "Klangfarbenmelodie"—"Melody of timbres"8. Functional instability of voice-leading in musical texture9. A new approach to composition: the statistical method10. Stereophonic tendencies in modern orchestral thinking11. Using rhythm to overcome metre12. Static form: a new conception of time13. Paradox as a feature of Stravinsky's musical logic14. Timbre modulations in Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta15. The closed system of timbre connections in the Bach-Webern Ricercata fugue16. The third movement of Luciano Berio's Symphony 17. Orchestral micropolyphony in the music of LigetiVI. Schnittke as seen by othersGidon KremerGennady RozhdestvenskyVladimir YankilevskyMstislav RostropovichMark LubotskySourcesIndex of names and works