Schnittke, Alfred

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) was an internationally reknowned Russian composer.  His parents were Harry Schnittke & Maria Vogel, a Volga German from the colony of Kamenka.

He began his musical education in 1946 in Vienna, where his father had been posted. Schnittke completed his graduate work in composition at the Moscow Conservatory in 1961 and taught there from 1962 to 1972.