Interview, Leonard Elschenbroich on Musica Nostalgica

The young German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich is fast establishing himself as a soloist and chamber musician of outstanding eloquence and intelligence, with an especial affinity for Russian repertoire of the early twentieth century; his debut solo disc of Shostakovich and Rachmaninov on Onyx was awarded five stars in both The Guardian and The Telegraph, as well as an Editor's Choice in Gramophone, and his subsequent New York recital-debut was greeted with acclaim for his 'great technical prowess, intellectual curiosity and expressive depth' (The New York Times).

His recent survey of Alfred Schnittke's music for cello and piano has also been making quite an impact over the last few weeks, with The Guardian praising his 'introspective and intense' interpretations and The Scotsman his own 'consummately written' tribute to the composer, Shards of Alfred Schnittke on the tenth anniversary of his death. I caught up with Leonard over email earlier this month to discover more about his relationship with Schnittke's music and with the concept of nostalgia which underpins the project as a whole.

When and how did you first encounter Schnittke’s music – either as performer or listener?

When I was little, my mother used to buy cello music, quite randomly. Things she didn't know, things she thought I would be interested in. One day, when I was about ten or eleven, she brought the first Sonata by Schnittke. It opens with a long somber cello solo. I immediately loved it. The fast movement was completely unplayable for me at the time but, like many things, this was going to be one of 'my' pieces, I thought.

The concept of nostalgia is a focal point for this album – it’s a very loaded term, and I wonder how you feel this plays out in Schnittke’s music: in terms of harking back to older compositional styles, or is it more akin to diaspora and estrangement from a particular culture?

Those are both very interesting and valid interpretations of that word. ‘Nostalghia' in the Russian language, and culture, has a darker, more pathological resonance. In the English language, nostalgia has more of a bittersweet "reminiscing" quality. I'm not good enough with words to describe what nostalgia is to the music of Schnittke but given the disparate styles and forms of the various pieces on the disc, I felt that nostalgia was their common factor. Something that underlies all of the music, whether in the fore or in the background.

You mention the idea of ‘triple heritage’, both in reference to Schnittke and in relation to your own background: how does this play out in the works on the disc and your approach to them?

I think our consciousness has a side that is biographical and an opposite side that isn't. I have always felt particularly drawn to Russian culture, ever since I was a child. Even though I was hardly exposed to it. Why is that? Whenever I play Russian music, I feel a 'connection' like + with -. When I play German music, the material is too close to have that sensation. It's a bit like psychoanalysis. There is a reason why Freud wouldn't psychoanalyse in a language that's wasn't native to the patient.

Tell me a little about the genesis of your own ‘Shards of Schnittke’, which you describe as a ‘composed interpretation’ – which of his works and/or techniques did you draw on here, and is what we hear on the disc the ‘original’ version of the work or something that’s evolved via further improvisation in performance?

In 2008, when I was most intensely discovering the music of Alfred Schnittke and before I had altogether given up on composing, I wrote an homage, a sort of ‘composed interpretation’, of his music. By referring to some of his works and applying some of his methods, I tried to express my individuation of the composer beyond the limits of interpretation, nearer the realm of writing. On this recording, Shards of Schnittke on the 10th Anniversary of his Death also works as a reflection, a digest upon the music heard earlier. Flash-images of a film burned more vividly into the retina than others. A dream that picks up where wake thought gave up. There are direct quotes from his film score of ‘The Lieutenant” and the Minuet from the Suite; compound intervals predominating the soliloquies of the Sonata No.1 and Madrigal; a nod to his ingenious use of the harpsichord and prepared piano. At its climax we hear the A-S-C-H motif (his own homage to Shostakovich’s D-S-C-H), and the piece finishes with a marooned, ambiguous non-cadence that leaves the piece open-ended, reminiscent of the end of the Suite in the Old Style. There were a few corners of the original 2008 version that I tidied up last year but it is mostly the same as it was nine years ago.

Finally, do you have any plans to record the concertos? They get such infrequent outings!

I would love to. But first I need to find somebody who wants to perform it. It's one of his strongest works and I am dying to play it!