Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 7 & 8 & Piano Quintet

Featuring

Václav Remeš
Vlastimil Holek
Josef Klusoň
Michal Kaňka
Pavel Hůla
Evgeni Koroliov

Pražák Quartet
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Compositional Technique

The Piano Quintet, Op.57, anticipates the structure of Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony, being in five movements with the central scherzo as the only truly lively tempo.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Shostakovich's daughter, Galina, stated that her father confided to her about the String Quartet no.8, Op.110, saying, 'I dedicated it to myself'.

Composer Biography

Dmitri Shostakovich was outlawed from the nation in 1936 after a 'scandal' provoked by Stalin over his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.

Composition History

Shostakovich's String Quartet no.7, Op.108, is dedicated to the memory of his second wife, Nina Vassilievna, who died in 1954.

Compositional Technique

The opening Largo of the String Quartet no.8, Op.110, is based on the composer's musical signature, D-E flat-C-B natural (DSCH), presented by the cello and then in canon.

Performer Biography

Evgeni Koroliov, the pianist on this album, was invited to teach at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory after graduating with brilliant results, but his career in Russia was interrupted when he moved to Yugoslavia.

Composition History

The Piano Quintet, Op.57, was commissioned by the Beethoven Quartet, whose members asked Shostakovich to write a piano quintet they could play together on tour.