Shostakovich: Last Three String Quartets; 50th Anniversary Recording
10/25/2019, 10 Tracks, 1:25:57
Featuring
Lucy Russell
Marcus Barcham Stevens
Alan George
Sally Pendlebury
Fitzwilliam String Quartet
Dmitri Shostakovich
Did you know?
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Recording & Production
This recording is dedicated to Willie Russell, father of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet's leader, who had a strong empathy for Shostakovich's music and heard Quartet No. 14 shortly before his death.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Shostakovich's final period of creativity, like Beethoven's, Mahler's, and Schubert's, was strongly colored by musings on his own mortality, but he saw death as absolutely final.
Interpretation
The Fitzwilliam String Quartet consulted with Dmitri Tsyganov, leader of the Beethoven Quartet, to learn the secret of their distinctively vibrant sound for Shostakovich's works.
Composer Biography
Dmitri Shostakovich, the composer, listened intently to his own music played by the young Fitzwilliam String Quartet in November 1972, despite his long impaired eyesight.
Composition History
The Fitzwilliam String Quartet was the first group to record and perform all fifteen of Dmitri Shostakovich's string quartets, building on their personal connection with the composer.
Performer Biography
The Fitzwilliam String Quartet is one of the longest established string quartets in the world, celebrating its 50th anniversary with an original player still on board.
Compositional Technique
In his late works, Shostakovich began to incorporate twelve-note rows, a technique associated with Schoenberg, but he manipulated them flexibly to suit specific formal and expressive needs.
