Shostakovich was now almost thirtytwo, fairly late for his first adventure in this genre considering how prolific he had been in his youth and how many string quartets he would compose in the rest of his life. Dmitri shostakovich, brodsky quartet the string quartets. If shostakovichs cycle of 15 symphonies can be said to represent a musical thread passing through the whole of the composers public life, then it can be argued that his cycle of 15 string quartets represents the private persona of the man behind the mask from the beginning of his personal anguish in the late 1930s until his death in 1975. Shostakovichs eleventh string quartet is dedicated to his memory. September 25 1906, st petersburg, russia august 9, 1975 was a russian composer of the soviet period. In 1965, the quartets second violinist, vasily shirinsky, passed away. Shostakovich, for example, composed his 15 string quartets in chronological order starting with the youthful and excited first quartet and ending with his aged and just about dead quartet no. Highly praised in the trade press as one of the outstanding complete editions of our time the last volume presents the quartets nos. Provided to youtube by thesource string quartet no. View profile view forum posts view blog entries senior member join date feb 2010 posts 1,709 post thanks like. This slow, extremely sad theme can also be heard in his cello concerto no. As a cycle, if taken at a sitting it would have you either racing for the razor blades or laughing at the selfseriousness of it all. Shostakovichs fifteen string quartets are collectively a major landmark of modern string quartet repertory, no 8 in particular being recognized as a powerful masterpiece.
I began to write it without special ideas and feeling, i thought that nothing would come of it. Happy birthday in the style of a shostakovich string. The effect with these arrangements is quite different to that of the same music on piano, but shostakovichs idiom in these pieces works extremely well for strings. This album marks the start of the carduccis shostakovich 15 project, for which they will be performing complete cycles of the shostakovich quartets around the world to mark the 40th anniversary of the composers death. The almost contemporary a minor quartet is sometimes referred to as the rosamunde because of its strong thematic links to schuberts incidental music to that play. Adagio borodin quartet rostislav dubinsky yaroslav. Composers have always reserved the expression of their deepest feelings for the string quartet. Favorites of shostakovich string quartets talk classical. Pianist ian brown joins the acclaimed schidlof quartet for this recording of shostakovichs piano quintet in g minor. The second string quartet was created after the famous second. Following the release of the mandelring quartets highly acclaimed first volume of the complete string quartets of dmitri shostakovich, they have now recorded a second volume containing another three. I still treasure my older cycles by the fitzwilliam and borodin quartets but this pacifica cycle earns a place at the table. As the fitzwilliam had it from shostakovich himself, one assumes this orgy of gloom and despair was as he wanted it. To the excellent versions of the 15 shostakovich quartets, the pacifica adds four quartets by shostakovichs contemporaries.
In addition the programme includes string quartet no. If youve been following this series, you already know that its one of the great shostakovich quartet cycles, outstanding even in a very crowded field. The string quartets by emerson string quartet on amazon music. Shostakovich complete string quartets classicstoday. The quartet had the privilege of knowing and working with dmitri shostakovich for decades, and the four premiered almost all of his string quartets. Lesser calls the quartets shostakovichs pure music, by way of contrast to the impurity of the symphonies and other work, as demanded by the composers navigation of. Shostakovich quartet was founded in 1966 by alexander korchagin and andre shishlov in the rafael davidyan class at the moscow conservatory. Ii moderato licensed to youtube by wmg on behalf of teldec classics international, and 1 music rights societies. There is an article entitled the genealogy of the string quartet which deals with the evolution of the string quartet over the centuries, and another, earlier works for string quartets, which examines shostakovichs compositions for these four string instruments that were transcriptions of other works or film music.
Shostakovichs dresden quartet from 1960 scarcely needs an introduction. I would like to hear more of his quartets and further interpretations of them. Shostakovich string quartet n15 borodin sq 1978 youtube. And while it may be interesting to hear a set of the complete quartets in which chronology is disregarded, the listener is necessarily left looking. Borodin, glazunov, prokofiev, tchaikovsky, shostakovich. Find shostakovich quartet credit information on allmusic.
By the time shostakovich embarked on writing string quartets at the age of 31, he had already produced a very sizeable quantity of music, including five symphonies, three ballets and a pair of operas. V the mandelring quartet has accomplished its complete edition of the fifteen string quartets of dmitri shostakovich. Shostakovich the best string quartets and the best recordings of them i have been going through a string quartet phase and i love my 2cd collection by the borodin quartet of shostakovichs 2,3,7,8,12 quartets. It was premiered by the beethoven quartet and is dedicated to the composer vissarion shebalin. The motif is used in every movement of this quartet, and is the basis of the faster theme of the third movement. The quartet gained international reputation after receiving the third prize at the xix. Of these two great classical quartets which look forward so much to the heights of the romantic period, one death and the maiden is almost universally loved. The first movement opens with the dsch motif shostakovichs musical signature.
Shostakovichs fifteen string quartets present commentators with several paradoxes, each with its own invitingly easy explanation. Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at. There is an article entitled the genealogy of the string quartet which deals with the evolution of the string quartet over the centuries, and another, earlier works for string quartets, which examines shostakovich s compositions for these four string instruments that were transcriptions of other works or film music. The mono of the first and fourth is enhanced over the doremi versions, and the third is a completely different. Shostakovich string quartet n2 borodin sq i youtube. Chandos records is one of the worlds premier classical music record companies, best known for its ground breaking search for neglected musical gems. A few years later, professor sergei shirinsky legendary cellist, member of beethoven quartet mentored the ensemble. The borodin were the first quartet to record a complete cycle of shostakovichs string quartets, or rather the that had been composed when they. String quartet no 3 in f major, op 73 shostakovich. When shostakovich began writing his second string quartet he had already completed eight of his fifteen symphonies. When the second violinist, vasily shirinsky, passed away in 1965, shostakovich composed his.
Its official dedication as a memorial to the victims of the 1945. Pacifica quartets complete shostakovich and friends. Shostakovichs are melodic, lyrical and often direct and perhaps more intimate, not least in the final three, whereas bartoks are abrasive and often make for an uncomfortable listening experience. Happy birthdsch and predictably its all rather beautiful and terrifying. This performance of dmitri shostakovichs 8th string quartet in c minor, op. The late quartets are purged of any wit and deftness and make for difficult listening. Except for the ninth and 10th quartets, the superior cds of the beethoven quartets recordings are on melodiya, starting with the first, third, and fourth shostakovich string quartets nos. Shostakovich had a complex and difficult relationship with the soviet government, suffering two official denunciations of his music, in 1936 and 1948, and the periodic banning of his work. The emerson string quartet performs dmitri shostakovich, string quartet no. Pages in category string quartets by dmitri shostakovich the following 16 pages are in this category, out of 16 total. Here again the ensemble addresses the overwhelming intensity of shostakovichs music with maximum commitment and commanding expressive power without neglecting its intimate and lyrical aspects.
This generally excellent set of shostakovich quartets has been dogged by the fact that it has always had to compete with the marvelous borodin quartet versions that have circulated variously on emi and rca, and now has to contend with several. Shostakovichs string quartets are emotional and contrapuntal epics. Shostakovich and his fifteen quartets by wendy lesser. Shostakovich the best string quartets and the best. Favorites of shostakovich string quartets what are some of your favorite string quartets from shostakovich. Shostakovichs fifteen string quartets, along with bartoks six, are the greatest of the twentieth century.
1559 1069 324 65 1470 1062 215 926 366 1294 965 99 1505 980 847 517 1345 589 689 820 1068 1161 131 922 229 1550 1290 439 348 531 1107 786 300 643 118 1233 754 313