Symphony No.0 - Alfred Schnittke

Cape Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes. I - Allegro ma non troppo: 0:00 II - Scherzo. Allegro vivace: 13:04 III - Andante: 20:17 IV - Allegro: 30:49 Schnittke’s Symphony No.0 was composed between 1956-57, during his time as a student at the Moscow Conservatory. It was performed only once in 1957, with the Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory conducted by Algis Zhiuraitis . Among the audience were Shostakovich and Kabalevski. The work was criticised for its lack of originality, including “imitation“ of Shostakovich and “borrowed gestures“. The number 0 of the symphony was proposed by its own author in 1994. Its structure follows a standard four-movement pattern of a nineteenth-century symphony. There are obvious traces of Shostakovich’s music, especially of his Symphony which had been performed in December 1953 for the first time and which was to have the deepest possible impact on Schnittke formany years ahead. In terms