The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Cultural Revolution did everything in their power to destroy the influence of religion in the Russian Empire. Sacred music was publicly forgotten in the process. Although Schnittke, whose German-born father emigrated to the Soviet Union in 1926, was atheistically influenced by the state education system, he believed spiritually in ‘something greater’. He was baptised a Catholic in 1982 and was accepted into the Orthodox Church shortly before his death. His search for a religious identity can also be traced in his works. This recording is part of the CD SWR19150 - Choir Concerto.