Schnittke’s work is the product of Germany, Russia, and more than any other place, Austria. His writing is deeply indebted to Schubert, Mahler, and, his favorite, Berg, as well as jazz. These violin and piano pieces were written mostly in the 1960s and 1970s and reflect Schnittke’s ability to represent the conversational pace of the Twentieth Century itself, the sound of the human spirit struggling back up through the muck, optimistically and a little bit desperately. Schnittke called his own style “polystylistics,” which Alex Ross described as “a rampant musical eclecticism drawing on Baroque arpeggios, the Viennese waltz, 12-tone modernism and avant-garde procedures.” Daniel Hope on violin and Alexey Botvinov on piano carry these pieces with confidence. A strong and elegant album.