born Nov. 24, 1934, Engels, Volga German Autonomous S.S.R.
died Aug. 3, 1998, Hamburg, Ger.
Russian composer.
He began musical training in Vienna and continued in Moscow, then taught at the Moscow Conservatory (1962–72). He scored more than 60 films and was one of the first Soviet composers to experiment with serialism . After the death of Dmitry Shostakovich , Schnittke became the Soviet Union's leading composer and gained a major international reputation as he evolved a highly eclectic style ("polystylistics"). He suffered the first of several serious strokes in 1985 but continued to compose. He wrote nine symphonies, six concerti grossi, many concertos, four string quartets, and the operas Life with an Idiot (1992), Gesualdo (1995), and Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1995).