January will still be Shostakovich String Quartet Month

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, I enjoyed that. 

I am glad!

Ray was talking about making January a month for the symphonies. You in?

[Lake Swan]

Sure. Maybe not all of them.

[Sergeant Rock]

Sure. Maybe not all of them.

Come on, be brave, Dave. Listen to that Third 

Sarge

[mszczuj]

Ray was talking about making January a month for the symphonies. You in?

I would prefer another month for the quartets as I am still in the No.5.

[Brahmsian]

I would prefer another month for the quartets as I am still in the No.5.

Same here.  I've listened to seven of them, plus I am still awaiting my Borodin II set.  So, January 2013 will be an extended Shostakovich string quartet month for me, and happily so. 

I don't want to ruin the party for those who wish to listen to the symphonies in Janvier.  Allez!!

[Lake Swan]

Come on, be brave, Dave. Listen to that Third 

Sarge

Is it that bad?

[Karl Henning]

I would prefer another month for the quartets as I am still in the No.5.

Yes! Extend the Gala!

[Brahmsian]

Is it that bad?

No, no.  It's not at all Dave.  I love the 2nd and 3rd symphonies, although they tend to get 'bashed' around a bit, even by Shostakovichians.  Those two, along with the 12th (which is one of my favourites).  I love the darkness of the 2nd symphony. 

[Lake Swan]

No, no.  It's not at all Dave.  I love the 2nd and 3rd symphonies, although they tend to get 'bashed' around a bit, even by Shostakovichians.  Those two, along with the 12th (which is one of my favourites).  I love the darkness of the 2nd symphony.

Hm. So Sarge was trying to put me off Shosty forever.

[Sergeant Rock]

Is it that bad?

If you are susceptible, it might turn you into a commie 

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

Hm. So Sarge was trying to put me off Shosty forever.

No, just exhorting you to nut up ; )

I've said before that the Second and Third Symphonies are invaluable snapshots of the composer writing at his freest; and although the composer much later wanted his son to promise never to conduct them, I am inclined to attribute that to embarrassment about the mawkish Communist texts for the choral finales, rather than strict disownment of the music itself.

[kishnevi]

I'd be glad to be in for either January: SQ extended  or January: Symphonies....

[PaulR]

Why cant it be both?   

[Karl Henning]

No reason it cannot....

[Karl Henning]

Vladimir Ovcharek, the leader of the Tanyeev Quartet, recalls playing the Fifteenth Quartet to the composer prior to the première in Leningrad:

Starting with his Fourth Quartet, Shostakovich used to send us the scores of his quartets regularly, giving us permission to perform them immediately after the Beethoven Quartet had played the première in the Small Hall [Малый Зал] of the Leningrad Philharmonic.

Dmitri Dmitriyevich always found the time to listen to us and to offer his comments on our interpretation.  His comments were made in a correct and laconic manner, as he was always careful not to hurt the self-esteem of the performers.

In October 1974 Dmitri Dmitriyevich approached us with the suggestion that we should be the first performers of the Fifteenth Quartet. What immense joy we felt! We set aside all our other commitments and started to tackle the piece. We were shaken to the core by the scale and tragedy of this quartet, and tried to give it every ounce of our soul.

We were shortly to go on a concert tour of Sweden, where we had programmed Shostakovich's Fourteenth Quartet. As we were to leave from Moscow, we made an arrangement to meet Shostakovich in his Moscow home.  Dmitri Dmitriyevich had said that he could hardly bear to wait for the moment when he would finally hear his new work.

Our appointment was for five o'clock, but as usual our documents had not been prepared in time by Goskontsert, and we only received our passports from the Ministry of Culture at eight o'clock in the evening. Therefore we only managed to reach Shostakovich's flat at nine-thirty that evening.

We found him in a state of tremendous anxiety; he had thought that we would never arrive, and he was impatient to hear the new quartet played 'in the flesh'.  His wife, Irina Antonovna, and the musicologist G. Khubov were also present. I can never forget Dmitri Dmitriyevich's state of nervous tension as he waited for us to begin the performance. Finally, after Irina Antonovna had switched on the microphone, we were ready to begin.

After our performance, Dmitri Dmitriyevich remained in a state of agitation for quite some time. He then thanked us for 'having penetrated so deeply the essence of this philosophical work, which I hold most dear'.

From Shostakovich: A Life Remembered, 2nd edition, pp. 503-504

[Karl Henning]

Don't know about you, but I am certainly glad of the name indices in both the Wilson & the Fay!

Georgi Khubov (1902-1974) was not only a musicologist, but editor of Советская музыка (Soviet Music)

[Karl Henning]

"December is Shostakovich String Quartet Month"

No one tells me anything.

Bilbo's favorite is the Sixth in G Major.

Frodo, though, is partial to the Seventh in f# minor ("Elvish").

[Karl Henning]

[ post no. 9119 ]

Many of us have favorites from among the 15.  For long, I've been in a place where the Eighth is the one I know best; and whenever I listen to another, I like it a lot . . . so that my 'favorite' is the one I last listened to.

For me, then, a large part of the purpose of this Gala was to increase familiarity with the other 14. Progress has been made, though I can stand (and am indeed eager for) further immersion.

It may be, though, that I never 'acquire' a single favorite.  I may, at the last, remain in that place where the Eighth is the one I know best, and my 'favorite' is the one I last listened to. Only I know them all much better.

Thanks, everyone, for taking part.

[kishnevi]

It may be, though, that I never 'acquire' a single favorite.  I may, at the last, remain in that place where the Eighth is the one I know best, and my 'favorite' is the one I last listened to. Only I know them all much better.[/font]

Thanks, everyone, for taking part.

I think I could say exactly the same thing about which is my "favorite".

[Karl Henning]

I remember Larry mentioning his reservations about a quartet having six Adagio movements (i.e., the Fifteenth, of course). (I do not propose by this post any capacity to mitigate those reservations.) I fancy a kind of wry humor in Shostakovich's scheming the quartet thus . . . six movements, each one Adagio, but of different character. A kind of game.

And I wonder if Shostakovich did not set the game up, back with the Fourth Quartet (in D, Op.83), three of whose four movements are marked simply Allegretto.