Schnittke: Symphony No. 4 / Three Sacred Hymns

Schnittke's polystylistic approach to music works extraordinarily well since he has always brought a strong sense of architecture to his writing. Here, in Three Sacred Hymns (1983), he takes the poetry of a 10th-century Armenian monk and sets it to a more familiar Russian Orthodox format. This is an a cappella piece written for Varley Polyansky himself. The Symphony 4 (1984) draws musically on three main strands of Christianity--Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant- - while underneath there is a three-note semitone interval motif symbolizing synagogue chant. It's a more meditative work than his other symphonies; it is also one of his best. --Paul Cook