This is peak Schmelz, refracting Schnittke's iconic piece through crystalline prose, meticulous scholarship, and keen analysis. A must-read for those who don't know Concerto Grosso No. 1, and even more essential for those who think they do
Peter J. Schmelz is Associate Professor of Musicology at Arizona State University, Tempe. A specialist in the music of the USSR, Russia, and Ukraine, he is the author of Such Freedom, If Only Musical: Unofficial Soviet Music during the Thaw (2009). He was a fellow at the American Academy in Berlin in 2017.