Shostakovich: The 15 String Quartets

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Release Date: 17th Jan 2007
Catalogue No: DHR7911-15
Label: Doremi
Series: Legendary Treasures
Length: 6 hours 3 minutes

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Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Op. 49

Work length14:10

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Moderato

Track length4:39

II. Moderato

Track length4:24

III. Allegro molto

Track length2:10

IV. Allegro

Track length2:57

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68

Work length32:26

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Moderato con moto

Track length7:55

II. Recitative & Romance: Adagio

Track length9:21

III. Waltz, Allegro

Track length5:08

IV. Theme & Variations

Track length10:02

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73

Work length29:50

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Allegretto

Track length6:52

II. Moderato con moto

Track length4:42

III. Allegro non troppo

Track length4:01

IV. Adagio

Track length5:09

V. Moderato

Track length9:06

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 4 in D major, Op. 83

Work length21:30

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Allegretto

Track length3:17

II. Andantino allegretto

Track length5:54

III. Allegretto

Track length4:00

IV. Allegretto

Track length8:19

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 92

Work length29:56

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Allegro non troppo

Track length10:35

II. Andante

Track length9:08

III. Moderato

Track length10:13

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G major, Op. 101

Work length26:50

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Allegretto

Track length7:08

II. Moderato con moto

Track length5:19

III. Lento

Track length5:17

IV. Lento, Allegretto

Track length9:06

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108

Work length11:40

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Allegretto

Track length3:19

II. Lento

Track length2:46

III. Allegro, Allegretto

Track length5:35

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110

Work length19:46

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Largo

Track length4:23

II. Allegro molto

Track length2:48

III. Allegretto

Track length3:57

IV. Largo

Track length5:10

V. Largo

Track length3:28

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 117

Work length23:45

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Moderato con moto

Track length3:58

II. Adagio

Track length3:18

III. Allegretto

Track length3:54

IV. Adagio

Track length3:33

V. Allegro

Track length9:02

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 10 in A flat major, Op. 118

Work length21:48

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Andante

Track length4:04

II. Allegretto furioso

Track length4:13

III. Adagio

Track length4:46

IV. Allegretto

Track length8:45

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 122

Work length15:11

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Introduction: Andantino

Track length2:04

II. Scherzo: Allegretto

Track length3:07

III. Recitative: Adagio

Track length1:03

IV. Etude: Allegro

Track length1:08

V. Humoreske: Allegro

Track length0:48

VI. Elegy: Adagio

Track length3:53

VII. Conclusion: Moderato

Track length3:08

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 12 in D flat major, Op. 133

Work length26:15

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Moderato, Allegretto

Track length7:25

II. Allegretto

Track length18:50

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 138: Adagio

Work length18:17

The Beethoven Quartet

Shostakovich: Two pieces for string octet, Op. 11

Work length9:51

The Beethoven Quartet

Prelude

Track length5:26

Scherzo

Track length4:25

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 14 in F sharp major, Op. 142

Work length25:02

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Allegretto

Track length8:15

II. Adagio

Track length8:09

III. Allegretto

Track length8:38

Shostakovich: Quartet No. 15 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 144

Work length37:24

The Beethoven Quartet

I. Elegy: Adagio

Track length12:32

II. Serenade: Adagio

Track length5:55

III. Intermezzo: Adagio

Track length1:47

IV. Nocturne: Adagio

Track length5:16

V. Funeral March: Adagio molto

Track length5:25

VI. Epilogue: Adagio

Track length6:29

About
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About

Shostakovich started writing string quartets when he was already a mature composer. Of his 15 quartets, all but the first and last were premiered by the Beethoven Quartet. Originally founded in 1923 under the name ''The Moscow Conservatory Quartet'', they changed its name in 1931 to “The Beethoven Quartet”, shortly before they were named ''Merited Ensemble of the USSR.'' The original members were Dimitry Tsyganov (1903-1992), Vassily Shirinsky (1901-1965) - violins. Vadim Borisovsky (1900-1972) - viola and Sergei Shirinsky (1905-1974) - cello. They have been together as a quartet for 42 years (!) Shostakovich held the group in the highest esteem, declaring, ''it has played a most significant role in the flourishing of our chamber music. These enthusiastic, fervent advocates of Soviet chamber music have played in many cities of our country, passing on to people their love for this music. Their performance of my works gave me a great pleasure. The Beethoven Quartet plays all my chamber works and its members always bear in mind my suggestions, putting them into practice with great understanding and talent.'' The Quartet's first violin, Dimitry Tsyganov, described their approach to preparing Shostakovich's string quartets for their premiere performances: ''First [Shostakovich] would play his new work on the piano from the score. Then he would give us the parts and beg us not to begin playing without him. He needed rehearsals not in order to test his new opus, and still less to change any of its details. He needed them in order to make the performers grasp his idea of the actual sound of the music. Our interpretations were authorized by Dmitri Shostakovich.'' Their association began in 1938 when The Beethoven Quartet gave the Moscow premiere of the first string quartet on November 16, following its first performance in Leningrad given by the Glazunov Quartet on October 10. Shostakovich attended the Beethoven Quartet's last rehearsal and their fruitful collaboration was formed. He dedicated several of the quartets to the group and to its individual members. In the recordings presented here, the first eight quartets are played by the original founding members. In the 9th and 10th quartets, Fedor Druzhinin is the violist, and from the 11th, Nicolai Zabavnikov is the 2nd violin. The 15th quartet has as its cellist Evgeny Altman. This DOREMI set, remastered in excellent sound, was awarded the Diapason d'Or.

Recorded 1956-1974

Shostakovich: The 15 String Quartets

5 CDs

Contents

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