Schnittke, Alfred

1) Collection of fifteen autograph commentaries and analyses of sixteen of his own works, some signed ("A. Schnittke"), including: String Quartet no.1,Sonata for violin and piano ("Quasi una Sonata"), Piano Quintet, In memoriam for orchestra, Violin Concerto no.3, String Quartet no.2, Three madrigals on texts by Francisco Tanzer, 3 Scenes for voice and ensemble,  Music to an imagined Play, Concerto grosso no.3, Concerto for viola and orchestra, Concerto for piano, four hands, and chamber orchestra, Concerto grosso no.5 for violin, orchestra and off-stage piano, and Zhizn' s idiotom [Life with an Idiot], 26 pages, mostly 4to (29.8 x 20.9cm), in black, blue and green inks and pencil, Berlin, Bad Kissingen, 1968-1989, where indicated 

2) Collection of autograph prose notes and dialogue drafts for the unrealized opera Die Hochzeit von Lyon, after a story by Stefan Zweig, unpublished, comprising four pages of dialogue and the outlining of six scenes ("I 12.11.1793. Französischer Nationalkonvent...II 8 Tage zögerte der Konvent...III Unterzeichnung...IV Couthon versammelt mit großem Pomp das Volk auf dem Platz von Bellecourt...V Erster Atem der Hoffnung...VI Abberufung Couthon's..."), and three pages of notes concerning the staging and setting of various scenes, including a list of characters, written in black ink, 7 pages, 4to (c.30 x 20.7cm), with a modern 7-page word-processed introduction to, and transcription of, Schnittke's notes, one leaf dated [no place,] 2 November 1984, light creasing, a few tiny tears; together with the Berlin magazine "Uhu. Das neue Monats-Magazin" (August 1927), used by Schnittke in his work on the planned opera 



3) Autograph manuscript of his opening address for the Prokofiev Festival, Duisburg, on 16 September 1990, a closely-written working manuscript discussing Prokofiev's strategies for coping with the then prevailing political situation, noting that throughout the dreadful times he maintained his dignity, his decision to return to the Soviet Union and the effect on him of the Second World War, Zhdanov's speech of 1948 and its effects,  7 pages, folio (29.6 x 21cm), containing a number of deletions, corrections and revisions, with an edition of the speech, published as Gedanken zu Sergei Prokofjew, Hamburg, Sikorski, 1990, no place or date [Berlin and Hamburg, summer 1990]

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This is a remarkable collection of writings and analyses, by turns witty, profound and moving, covering many of Schnittke's most significant works in a period spanning four decades. There are many insights to be gleaned here as to Schnittke's composing processes as well as to the motivation behind his compositions. With the exception of the "Selbstanalyse zum Streichquartett", which is apparently unpublished, the other texts can be found in the Festschrift Alfred Schnittke zum 60. Geburtstag (Hamburg, 1994), pp.94-127.