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No musical form in which he worked –- not even his symphonies –- tells us as much about Dmitri Shostakovitch as do his 15 string quartets. They form an autobiography in sound of his troubled and turbulent life.
Shostakovitch began writing quartets quite late in his career, long after he had made his mark with symphonies, opera, concertos, piano music and other notable works. The first quartet, written when he was 32, is a kind of preliminary exploration of the quartet medium, a work of charm and quiet pleasure rather than an expression of personal angst. Its four movements pass by in less than fifteen minutes. The first two are in moderate tempo, the last two fast. Only the finale has an emphatic conclusion.
The first movement begins with a smooth, lyrical melody, soon contrasted with a second subject introduced over a sliding accompaniment figure in the cello. The brief movement is basically quiet and introspective. The solo viola proposes a theme to start the second movement, which is also lyrical and untroubled, developing into a kind of reflective dance.
The tiny third movement is a hushed, scurrying allegro, a mysterious whispered conversation among the four players, interrupted only briefly by a folksy ditty for a second theme. The two themes are briefly reprised just as the movement ends. The finale begins with a vigorous dance tune in the violin. The music has plenty of energy but it is full of lightweight humorous touches. The dance becomes more vigorous, leading to the brilliant close.
Quartet no. 2 in A major, op. 68
Shostakovitch’s second quartet inhabits a totally different world from that of his first quartet. It is almost twice as long and strikes a much more intense emotional note. Each movement has a descriptive title in addition to a tempo marking. The quartet was written in the summer of 1944 and premiered the following November.
The first movement (“Overture”) begins with a lively tune in the violin, a sort of distorted peasant dance-tune. There is a gradual buildup of tension as the movement progresses, but no real slackening of the brisk tempo. After several contrasting episodes, the opening theme returns, leading to the vigorous close.
Then follows a “Recitative and Romance,” an extended dramatic soliloquy, almost vocal in style, for the violin over long-held chords by the other players. Only one brief agitated episode in faster tempo interrupts the movement’s steady flow. The third movement (“Dance”) begins with a curiously serious and introverted dance theme in the cello, soon joined by the other instruments. The movement conveys a mood almost of apprehension and fright, before it returns to the quiet mood of the opening.
The final movement is a theme and variations on a memorable song-like tune. The first few notes of the theme are a constant presence as the variations become more complex and thicker in texture. Toward the end the music assumes a grandly tragic character, confirmed by the minor-key ending.
Quartet no. 8 in C minor, op. 110
This is the most frequently heard of Shostakovitch’s 15 string quartets. It is also familiar in an arrangement for string orchestra by Rudolf Barshai under the title “Chamber Symphony.” Shostakovitch wrote it in three days in 1960 while in Germany gathering impressions for a film score about World War II.
The predominantly somber piece is dedicated “in memory of the victims of war and fascism” but many have come to see it as the composer’s musical autobiography, largely because it quotes from half a dozen of his earlier works and uses as a constant presence the four-note musical motif that stands for the letters of his name (D,E flat,C,B) which translate in German as D-S-C-H. The quartet’s five relatively brief movements are played without pause.
The D-S-C-H motive is heard at the outset and is the main musical material of the slow, elegiac first movement. Also easily hearable are quotations from the composer’s first and fifth symphonies. In the furious, almost savage second movement the motto is transformed into a kind of manic dance, and contrasted with a tune from the composer’s second piano trio.
The third movement transforms the motto theme into a skittish little dance obviously tinged with irony.
The last two sections are both marked largo. In the fourth movement the motto theme is punctuated by accented triplet groups giving it a fateful character. The final section marks a return to the style of the first, and also quotes a well-known Russian song about the sad fate of prisoners.
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