MS 5528

SCHNITTGE: CANTUS PERPETUUS

MS 5528
MS Short Title SCHNITTGE: CANTUS PERPETUUS
Text Alfred Schnittke: Cantus perpetuus in graphic notation
Description MS in Russian and German on paper, Hamburg, Germany, 1973-1975, 1 bifolium 31x49 cm, each page ruled with 18 staves, theme notated on a single stave, the composition with twelve 35-note segments noted on two staves, arranged in an oval pattern over two pages within an outline of 5 coloured lines connected to each of the 12 theme variants, central rombic figure with internal crossing lines in same 5 colours also connected to the music, with an explanation of the colour codes, autograph, signed.
Context See also MS 5510, Schnittke Peer Gynt ballet.
Provenance Sotheby's 20 November 2014:185
Commentary The world premiere was in Moscow 14 December 1975 performed by Mark Pekarsky and his ensemble. Schnittke (1934-1998) regarded this performance as the definitive version, but due to the work's infinitive improvisation possibilities, this performance cannot be repeated or reconstructed.
See also Schnittke, Hamburg, Sikorski Musikverlage 2004, p. 53.