The music of Alfred Schnittke had a close relationship with the Orthodox traditions of Russia, and this sequence of 12 penitential psalms was composed for the millennium of the Christianisation of the country. The texts are not from the biblical psalms but were written by monks of the 16th century. Their self-abasing guilt and wretchedness are utterly depressing, yet Schnittke’s spiritual imagination lifts them on to another plane. Though fiercely complex and demanding, they have a piercing intensity, and the wordless final psalm with its aspiring harmonies is incredibly affecting. The sacred hymns that follow are much simpler, but equally well performed by the superb RIAS Chamber Choir.
