But by then Mr Schnittke's health was very bad, and he left Russia for the West.

ECONOMIST: Alfred Schnittke

In his eyes, Mr Schnittke was in thrall to formalism, cosmopolitanism and, worse still, religion.

ECONOMIST: Alfred Schnittke

Khrennikov made sure Mr Schnittke's First Symphony, his first great poly-stylistic statement, was denied a performance in Moscow.

ECONOMIST: Alfred Schnittke

It was responding to this demand that helped Mr Schnittke to develop the poly-stylistic orchestral works that brought him international acclaim.

ECONOMIST: Alfred Schnittke

In the 20 years to 1984, Mr Schnittke was prevented from accepting invitations to attend premieres of 19 of his new works outside the Soviet Union.

ECONOMIST: Alfred Schnittke

It was in Vienna that Mr Schnittke chose to be baptised a Catholic when, in 1980, he was at last allowed to wander a bit beyond the Soviet Union.

ECONOMIST: Alfred Schnittke

On the positive side, since he took over in 1989 Mr Abbado has widened the Berliners' repertoire to include modern composers such as Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio and Alfred Schnittke that von Karajan shunned.

ECONOMIST: Why Berlin��s musicians don��t need a maestro

Yet Mr Schnittke had an impeccable political pedigree.

ECONOMIST: Alfred Schnittke

The only avant-garde composer in a department still notorious for its conservatism (the famous troika of Denisov, Schnittke and Gubaidulina were personae non gratae during the Soviet period), Mr Tarnopolsky has been professor of composition since 1992.

ECONOMIST: Modern music in Moscow

James Sullivan, a graduate student who gravitates toward esoteric works by such composers as Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina, said he was struggling with tension in his shoulders and in his bow arm before he discovered the unique thrill of throwing a hard right hook.

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