Seeking the Soul : The Music of Alfred Schnittke

This book was published in 2003.Alfred Schnittke's music presents a mixture of the old and the new, modernist, post-modernist and an eclectic collection of influences.

Born in 1934, he was confined to his native Russia by political necessity but from 1977 became a frequent and welcome visitor to the western world.

He died in 1998 when his international reputation had become well-established.

The festival, held in the Barbican in January 2001 in collaboration with the BBC, the Centre for Russian Music/Schnittke Archive at Goldsmiths College University of London and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, was a celebration of his life and work.

With the assistance of Alexander Ivashkin, Director of the Centre for Russian Music, the Guildhall Research Centre has compiled this collection of transcripts of talks given by distinguished international experts and papers presented at the festival.

This is the first collection of scholarly writings on Schnittke to be published.

The book also contains a free compact disk containing performances of Schnittke's music played by students at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama during the festival and at the Gold Medal instrumental competition at the Barbican in 2001.