Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 14 & 15, Two Pieces, Op. 36
9/1/2014, 11 Tracks, 1:09:30
Featuring
Pavel Hůla
Vlastimil Holek
Josef Klusoň
Michal Kaňka
Pražák Quartet
Dmitri Shostakovich
Did you know?
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Performer Biography
The Pražák Quartet, a leading international chamber music ensemble, was established in 1972 by students at the Prague Conservatory and has won numerous awards.
Composition History
The Two Pieces, Op. 36, were written by Shostakovich in just two days in 1931 at the request of a French ensemble, the Jean-Vuillaume Quartet.
Compositional Technique
Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 15 is composed of six uninterrupted adagios, with a discourse that is almost unbrokenly monodic and haunted by the idea of death.
Composer Biography
Dmitry Shostakovich, the composer, intended to write 24 string quartets, one for each key of the tempered scale, but his health only allowed him to complete 15.
Compositional Technique
One of the Two Pieces, Op. 36, is an adaptation of the famous Polka from Shostakovich's ballet The Golden Age, which is one of his most played pieces.
Compositional Technique
In String Quartet No. 14, the cello, the instrument of the dedicatee Sergey Shirinsky, plays the leading role, stating the main theme and a passionate second subject.
Composition History
Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 14 was dedicated to Sergey Shirinsky, the cellist of the Beethoven Quartet, who died a few months after its premiere.
