String Quartet No. 6 (Shostakovich)
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Dmitri Shostakovich's
String Quartet No. 6 in G major (Op. 101) was composed in 1956. It was premiered by the Beethoven Quartet
but carries no dedication.
It consists of four movements:
Playing time is approximately 22 minutes.
The Allegretto first movement creates a carefree mood using nursery tunes. The second movement is a cheerful round dance
in E flat major, the third movement a chaconne
in B-flat minor. The final movement leads into a complex Allegretto showing the influence of both Alban Berg
’s Lyric Suite and Richard Strauss
’s Metamorphosen
. The quartet also features the only vertical appearance of the DSCH motive (the notes D, E-flat, C, and B played at the same time). This happens at the cadence at the end of all four movements.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
String Quartet No. 6 in G major (Op. 101) was composed in 1956. It was 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...
but carries no dedication.
It consists of four movements:
- Allegretto
- Moderato con moto
- Lento -
- Lento - Allegretto
Playing time is approximately 22 minutes.
The Allegretto first movement creates a carefree mood using nursery tunes. The second movement is a cheerful round dance
Round dance
There are two distinct dance categories called round dance. The specific dances belonging to the first of these categories are often considered to be ethnic, folk or country dances...
in E flat major, the third movement a chaconne
Chaconne
A chaconne ; is a type of musical composition popular in the baroque era when it was much used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and...
in B-flat minor. The final movement leads into a complex Allegretto showing the influence of both Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
’s Lyric Suite and Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
’s Metamorphosen
Metamorphosen
Metamorphosen, Study for 23 Solo Strings, subtitled "In memoriam", is a composition by Richard Strauss, scored for ten violins, five violas, five cellos, and three double basses. It was composed during the closing months of the Second World War, from August 1944 to March 1945. Strauss dedicated it...
. The quartet also features the only vertical appearance of the DSCH motive (the notes D, E-flat, C, and B played at the same time). This happens at the cadence at the end of all four movements.