Shostakovich, D.: Piano Quintet / Schnittke, A.: Piano Quintet

Featuring

Constantine Orbelian
Eugenia Alikhanova
Galina Kokhanovskaya
Tatiana Kokhanovskaya
Olga Ogranovitch
Moscow String Quartet

Dmitri Shostakovich
Alfred Schnittke

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Composition History

Alfred Schnittke's Piano Quintet was completed in 1976 and written in memory of his mother.

Composer's Artistic Vision

For Shostakovich, the music of Handel and Bach was not merely a historical relic but held contemporary significance.

Compositional Technique

Schnittke's Piano Quintet uses micro intervals, specifically quarter-tone motives, in all movements to sharpen the prevailing chromaticism.

Composition History

Shostakovich's Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57, was his last major pre-war composition, written in 1940 and premiered on November 23 of that year.

Performer Biography

Constantine Orbelian, the pianist and conductor on this album, is the first American ever to become music director of an ensemble in Russia, appointed to the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in 1991.

Compositional Technique

Schnittke's Piano Quintet features unusual piano techniques, including nearly soundless playing with key knocks and hollow pedal board strokes.

Performer Biography

The Moscow String Quartet, an all-women ensemble, gained international acclaim after winning the 1978 Leo Weiner International Quartet Competition in Budapest and the 1979 International Quartet competition in Evian, France.