__grp({dnl __p({dnl Lilypond engraving of Alfred Schnittke's __i(Quartet for Percussion) (1994). dnl __a(source, https://git.sr.ht/~isagel/schnittke-quartet-for-percussion) })dnl __bq({dnl __bqp({{dnl __tab()"Throughout the 1970s and '80s, composer Alfred Schnittke maintained a fascination with what he called 'a velvet depth of meaning.' dnl With its mixture of Romantic sublime and opulent kitsch, this phrase was perfectly captured by the composer's creation of a mystical continuo for many of his works __en() the Second and Fourth Symphonies, the First and Fifth Concerti Grossi, the ballet Peer Gynt. dnl Each of these works had lurking in its background a spooky, seductive grouping of various percussion instruments, usually centering around marimba, vibraphone, and a multitude of tolling-bodies (glockenspiel, tubular bells, bell tree, sleigh bells). dnl The sound provided a supple anti-backbone for the music, propelling along on a sound-cloud of ringing, liquid attacks __en() a perfect allegory for the essential precariousness of Schnittke's music in general. }})dnl __bqp({{dnl __tab()So it seems inevitable that this very specific sound would eventually get a work all of its own. dnl Schnittke's Quartet for Percussion (for marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, and tubular bells) is one of his late works, written less than four years before his death in 1998, and generally thrives off of the composer's massive self-simplification; coming after a number of debilitating strokes, the quartet exemplifies a kind of sea-change in Schnittke's mindset with its pearly, powerfully unsure sense of mystery. dnl 'I had the sense that things outside myself had a specific crystalline structure,' he once confessed about his pre-stroke works; but by the later 1980s things were different: 'I can no longer see this crystalline structure, only incessantly shifting, unstable forms.' }})dnl __bqp({{dnl __tab()These words perfectly describe the eight-minute score is this quartet. dnl Though it is extremely simple in structure and material __en() in many ways it is no more than one large crescendo punctuated by gradient bursts from various members of the ensemble __en() their harmonic fabric is also basic, essentially manifesting out of simple canonical procedures. }})dnl __bqp({{dnl And yet, attesting to Schnittke's basic sense of wary skepticism in appearances, the effect is anything but simple. dnl The marimba maintains a tremolo throughout almost the entire piece, and over it the lines collect, creating hall upon hall of sonic mirrors with their tricky, fulsome resonance. dnl The work gathers greater and greater momentum out of sheer reverberation within itself, and eventually precipitates a hallmark Schnittke-collapse, in which the destination to which the music has been building seems to vanish like a mirage. dnl In this aspect the Percussion Quartet becomes yet another anthem to Schnittke's perspective on the world, 'a world of illusions, unlimited and unending. There is a realm of shadows in it...'" }})dnl __bqp({__en() Seth Brodsky}) })dnl })