Light and Dark, Dark and Light
Byron Challoner Assignment Three: Art and Assessment Fall 2016 WRIT340/Arts and Humanities Section # 65250 / Murray Dark and Light, Light and Dark The composer Alfred Schnittke lived and worked in the USSR during the period following Stalin’s death known as the “thaw”, carrying forward the musical traditions of his predecessors while under official sanction by authorities (Ivashkin, p. 75). It was in these circumstances that he composed music of great originality and emotional power; through harmonic tension, or dissonance, he creates an atmosphere of dread and despair. Through harmonic resolution, or consonance, he paints glimmering rays of light and hope. ...