The Concerto for Mixed Choir (Russian: Концерт для смешанного хора) is a choral work by Soviet composer Alfred Schnittke. Composed in 1985 and premiered on 9 June 1986, at a time where the composer tried to find his own religious identity (he converted to Catholicism in 1982, although he converted to the Orthodox Church shortly before his death in 1998).
Structure The piece is scored for very large a cappella SATB chorus with each voice singing multiple divisi, 16 in total., Russian State Symphonic Choir, Valery Polyansky conducting Approximately 40 minutes long, and demanding vocal virtuosity,"Sumptuous performances of Schnittke and Pärt from the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir" by David Truslove (September 2021, review of BIS Records BIS-2521), operatoday.com the work is in 4 movements, set to a translation by (1921–1988) of the third chapter from the Book of Lamentations by Armenian poet Gregory of Narek (951–1003), whose work intrigued Schnittke during his time of composing the work.
The movements are as follows:"A. Schnittke: Concerto for Choir", CD booklet 1989, Melodiya (in Russian and English)"Schnittke: Choir Concerto & Minnesang", Hyperion Records CDA67297 (2001) booklet by Dimitri Smirnov
References
Further reading Published as a book in 2005 by UMI.
"Concerto for Choir – Bel a capella", 5 August 2019 Sydney performance review and analysis, nightwrites.com
External links "Work details", Boosey & Hawkes "Review of Hyperion recording" by David Vernier, 20 November 2002, classicstoday.com , Prague Singers, conducting