String Quartet No. 15 (Shostakovich)
Encyclopedia
The String Quartet No. 15 in E flat minor
(Op.
144) was Dmitri Shostakovich
's last quartet
. It was completed on 17 May 1974 and premiered in Leningrad
by the Taneyev Quartet on 15 November (one of only two Shostakovich quartets not premiered by the Beethoven Quartet
). Like most of the composer's late works, it is an introspective meditation on mortality.
The piece consists of six linked movement
s, all marked Adagio:
Playing time is approximately 36 minutes, making it the longest of Shostakovich's string quartets.
Shostakovich told the Beethoven Quartet to play the first movement "so that flies drop dead in mid-air, and the audience start leaving the hall from sheer boredom".
An original recording of the quartet performed by the Fitzwilliam Quartet
(backed with Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 in C minor) was released on Decca in 1976. Shostakovich supervised the production.
E flat minor
E minor or e-flat minor is a minor scale based on E-flat, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. In the harmonic minor, the D is raised to D. Its key signature consists of six flats ....
(Op.
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
144) was Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
's last quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
. It was completed on 17 May 1974 and premiered in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
by the Taneyev Quartet on 15 November (one of only two Shostakovich quartets not premiered by the Beethoven Quartet
Beethoven Quartet
The Beethoven Quartet was founded between 1922 and 1923 by graduates of the Moscow Conservatory: violinists Dmitri Tsyganov and Vasily Shirinsky, violist Vadim Borisovsky and cellist Sergei Shirinsky...
). Like most of the composer's late works, it is an introspective meditation on mortality.
The piece consists of six linked movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
s, all marked Adagio:
- ElegyElegyIn literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
: Adagio - - SerenadeSerenadeIn music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
: Adagio - - IntermezzoIntermezzoIn music, an intermezzo , in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work...
: Adagio - - NocturneNocturneA nocturne is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night...
: Adagio - - Funeral MarchFuneral marchA funeral march is a march, usually in a minor key, in a slow "simple duple" metre, imitating the solemn pace of a funeral procession. Some such marches are often considered appropriate for use during funerals and other sombre occasions, the most well-known being that of Chopin...
: Adagio molto - - Epilogue: Adagio
Playing time is approximately 36 minutes, making it the longest of Shostakovich's string quartets.
Shostakovich told the Beethoven Quartet to play the first movement "so that flies drop dead in mid-air, and the audience start leaving the hall from sheer boredom".
An original recording of the quartet performed by the Fitzwilliam Quartet
Fitzwilliam Quartet
The Fitzwilliam Quartet is a string quartet consisting of Lucy Russell and Jonathan Sparey, violins; Alan George, viola; and Heather Tuach, violoncello....
(backed with Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 in C minor) was released on Decca in 1976. Shostakovich supervised the production.
External Links
- Shostakovich: the string quartets Quartet no. 15