Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 12 incorporates twelve-note sequences, but he treats them as themes to be developed tonally, rather than adhering strictly to serial composition.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Shostakovich increasingly used the string quartet as a medium for personal expression, often taking an "inward" direction in his later works, contrasting with his more public symphonies.
Composer Biography
Shostakovich, the composer, wrote seven more string quartets in the last sixteen years of his life, starting in 1960, after having composed only six in the first 50 years of his life.
Composition History
Shostakovich dedicated his String Quartets Nos. 11 through 14 to different members of the Beethoven Quartet, a group of four string players who were his friends and premiered thirteen of his fifteen string quartets.
Composition History
Shostakovich composed his 24 Preludes and Fugues, Opus 87, after being inspired by Tatiana Nikolayeva's performance of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier at a competition in 1950.
Composer Biography
Shostakovich composed his String Quartet No. 15, a somber work of six continuous adagios, while suffering from lung cancer and a degenerative muscular disease, often in hospitals.
Compositional Technique
Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 13 is highly experimental, consisting of one continuous movement with unusual instrument voicings and combinations, and the cello does not play for the final two minutes.
