Three Sacred Hymns

Alfred Schnittke composed his Drei geistliche Gesänge (Three Sacred Hymns) at the request of conductor Valery Polyansky, who, deeply impressed by a performance of Schnittke's Faust Cantata, had asked the composer to write a composition for his choir. After this request was initially forgotten, Polyansky repeated his request at a renewed meeting and Schnittke is said to have subsequently written the requested choral work within just one night. The initially envisaged setting of a total of six or seven pieces based on the traditional Russian Orthodox mass was ultimately rejected by Schnittke in favour of a concept consisting of three miniatures, which is noticeably interspersed with typical stylistic features of Russian church music.