Kronos Quartet / Schnittke: Complete String Quartets (1998)

Despite the fact that this release of Schnittke's complete string quartets received two Grammy nominations, it is not your ordinary "happy music." There's nothing to be happy about Schnittke's music. As a matter of fact, the morbid tunes of Schnittke's musical sensibilities, so characteristic of his era, stood out as a perennial thorn in the rigid eyes of the Soviet regime. The first string quartet, composed in 1966, was more or less composed in the mold of Schoenberg and the gang, which decisively earned him the wrath from his Soviet bosses. While Schnittke's use of modernist language in String Quartet No. 1 is fluent, his personality comes through full force in String Quartet No. 2 (1980). His appropriation of external sources or styles (including direct references to Russian sacred song) had become a major force in his work, as had construction of full-scale movements from a few elements. The Third Quartet (1983) epitomizes the former approach, which became a sort of trademark of Schnittke's mature style. String Quartet No. 4, at almost 25 minutes in five movements, contains all of the stylistic elements of postmodern anguish and dread so characteristic of his musical career. Call it a finale to his existential rite of passage!
Released just prior to Schnittke's death in 1998, the Kronos Quartet's rendition of Schnittke's Fourth String Quartet is the only game in town. The earlier recording by Alban Berg Quartet(1989), for whom the piece was composed and dedicated, is apparently out of print.

Tracklist

Disc 1
1 String Quartet No. 1: I. Sonata
2 String Quartet No. 1: II. Canon
3 String Quartet No. 1: III. Cadenza
4 Canon In Memory Of I. Stravinsky
5 String Quartet No. 2: I. Moderato
6 String Quartet No. 2: II. Agitato
7 String Quartet No. 2: III. Mesto
8 String Quartet No. 2: IV. Moderato
9 String Quartet No. 3: I. Andante
10 String Quartet No. 3: II. Agitato
11 String Quartet No. 3: III. Pesante

Disc 2
1 String Quartet No. 4: I. Lento
2 String Quartet No. 4: II. Allegro
3 String Quartet No. 4: III. Lento
4 String Quartet No. 4: IV. Vivace
5 String Quartet No. 4: V. Lento
6 Collected Songs Where Every Verse is Filled With Grief

Nonesuch 79500