Schnittke 1

I decided it was time for another big symphony. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Leif Segerstam give a remarkable performance of this utterly remarkable and unique symphony. The mix of classical quotations, jazz improvisation and tuning up combined in Schnittke's post-modernism is a heady complex mix. That it works at all is amazing. That it both manages to comment on Soviet society and be absolutely enthralling makes it one of the most symphonies of the second half of the twentieth century.