Schnittke A. Concerto No. 2 for cello and orchestra. Score (Coll. Works. S. III, Vol. 15a)

The Alfred Schnittke Collected Works Edition is a joint project of Compo-zitor • Saint Petersburg and the Ivashkin-Schnittke Archive at Goldsmiths, University of London. In this critical edition, each score has been checked against Schnittke’s manuscripts and existing publications of his music аnd has been edited by leading performers who collaborated with the composer.

The Second Cello Concerto (1990) is one of Schnittke’s most complex pieces. Like most of his concertos, it is actually a symphony for solo instrument and orchestra, in which the interaction between the two plays a very important role. The soloist competes not only with the huge orchestra as a whole, but also “fights” against various orchestral groups and the voices of individual instruments.

The musical language of this work poses unprecedented challenges to the cellist. Written for Mstislav Rostropovich, the solo part pushes the instrument’s possibilities to extremes and in many passages is truly revolutionary.

Сontents:

A page from the autograph of the Concerto No. 2 for cello and orchestra
Preface
Editorial Notes
Orchestra
Legend

CONCERTO No. 2 for cello and orchestra

I. Moderato (Music text example)
II. Allegro
III. Lento (Music text example)
IV. Allegretto vivo
V. Grave (Music text example)

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