Also I get the general impression that the performers are less “professional” than the members in the Borodin String Quartet. Pizzicato for string instruments is the plucking of the bow, but why does Shostakovich include it? Sounds like an argument between many different sides, and very unclear who is “saying” what. Chromatic high notes that are ascending then immediately descending in the violins. Sudden drop in volume, followed by a crescendo. Bach mainly composed Church music, so the impression is that the setting is now a Church. It is vastly different to watch a performance instead of just listening to it. Interestingly, the chromatic scales in solo viola are mostly descending. Dmitri Shostakovich, 1906-1975 String Quartet No. “The Rhetoric of Reference; or, Shostakovich’s Ghost Quartet.” Academia.edu — Share Research, www.academia.edu/630315/ The_Rhetoric_of_Reference_or_Shostakovichs_Ghost_Quartet. The 5th movement seems almost a continuation of the 1st movement, especially since the tempo of both is Largo. Sounds like an argument between many different sides, and very unclear who is “saying” what. 4th entry Additionally, in the first movement of Shostakovich’s 5th symphony, the long short-short idea is used to create motion underneath one of the main melodies used in the movement (figure 8). /* 468x60, created 3/21/08 */ Today in discussion I learned that Shostakovich has a dedication on the sheet music which reads “In Memory of the Victims of Fascism and War”. 8 in c minor comprises a mere twenty minutes of non-stop music, written in three days in 1960 as a distraction from a project to write a film score about the Dresden fire bombings of WWII. Chromatic scales with very high notes in violins are played very quietly as opposed to the first movement. The 5th movement seems almost a continuation of the 1st movement, especially since the tempo of both is Largo. When the cello carries the main theme, it seems less tense, yet the violins come back shortly with an even more fearful variation on the main theme of this movement. I am unsure whether those reoccurring 3 sounds are someone knocking on the door, or guns representing more death by a firing squad? google_color_text = "000000"; I am still not sure what the reoccurrence of the DSCH theme in the final movement means exactly. 8 IN C MINOR, OP. But now it’s back to the 3 loud notes from the start of the 4th movement. After this pattern finishes in the 5th movement, the notes are heard directly from the first movement, BUT, they are at a much slower pace. The knocks however persist. The music then progresses to a devilish sound, like something straight out of Hell. Shostakovich may be addressing either the Soviet Union’s treatment of Jewry or the horrible fate of Jews during the holocaust. Secret Resistance: An Analysis of Shostakovich's Symphony No. Some of the notes are discordant. The pace of the waltz in the 3rd movement is too rushed. The vibrato certainly adds to this effect. However, this is no regular church service, it sounds more like a funeral procession for Dmitri Shostakovich. Bach mainly composed Church music, so the impression is that the setting is now a Church. Guitarist, arranger and rapidly-emerging internet-superhero Connor Gallagher has been delighting us with metal Shostakovich for a few months now. 8 (Landmarks in Music Since 1950) This chromatic scale is then altered and brought back later (m. 56), again in the first violin. The ending of the first movement is a decrescendo followed by a very rapid crescendo that leads right into the second movement. google_ad_client = "pub-1174467220610867"; The 3rd movement is waltz-like since it has a distinct 3 beats per measure. I will now listen to the piece and see how my perception changes in knowledge of this fact. Stalin killed millions upon millions of people to quell his opposition. The difference between the 1st and 5th is that the latter employs the 4-3-2-3-1 pattern. The first movement opens with the DSCH motif – Shostakovich's musical signature. 8 in C minor, Op. The Emerson String Quartet, whose justly praised recording of the Shostakovich quartets was released six years ago by Deutsche Grammophon, … The music then progresses to a devilish sound, like something straight out of Hell. However, after a week of assigning chords that didn’t seem to be progressing the analysis in any meaningful way, I decided to take a new approach. In the second movement for example, the melody sounds distinctly Jewish. 8 in C minor, Op. The main part moves from violins to cello to the viola. Shostakovich's String Quartet No. google_ad_width = 468; Then the cello carries the main melody line. google_ad_client = "pub-1174467220610867"; As previously stated, the piece does not appear to focus on organization based on harmonies, but the individual direction of each line. The second section (m. 29–85) is comprised of a drone played by the second violin, viola, and cello while holding their lowest open strings (C and G) underneath a chromatic line from the first violin. Repetition of melody line over and over again. It seems like the softer sounds are winning over the larger ones. Then the cello carries the main melody line. 1, Symphony No. The 2nd movement does not contain the DSCH motif, so most likely Shostakovich does not intend for this movement to be personal, but instead intends to show the confusion and horror inflicted upon the Russian people by the government. One disputed report claimed that Shostakovich intended to commit suicide at the completion of … 10th entry google_ad_format = "468x60_as"; This time, however, as the music under it is less dark — the second violin is playing a somewhat melancholic countermelody as opposed to the previous drone — the interval is changed to a 6th for the descending scale which gives the whole section a more hopeful backdrop (figure 1, right). The third movement is definitely waltz-like, but waltzes are supposed to be happy joyous, yet this sounds very lugubrious. String Quartet No. This piece, String Quartet No. The resource has been created for teachers to work through step by step with students and they will require a full score to be able to understand connections made with the work. 8 to be a virtual retrospective of his musical life, knitted together with the first-person pronoun that is his musical signature D-S-C-H (D-Eb-C-B), and composed at a time of suicidal despair. In fact, performers decided to cancel the performance of his 4th symphony because they believed it would result in either his death or theirs. 9th entry This time, however, the motif is then passed from the first violin to the second violin where it becomes the counter melody (figure 6). I read some history on Shostakovich in order to better understand the 8th string quartet and the context in general. The idea first appears in measure 27 in the second violin, viola, and cello (figure 5). One such conflict centered around Shostakovich’s opera “Lady Macbeth,” which received great reviews from audiences until Stalin went to see the opera. The Fitzwilliam String Quartet doing the Shostakovich String Quartets were my first set of all DSCH's string quartets. Fifths are very import elements in this movement both for the open quality of the harmony but also in some of the melodic elements. Some more context surrounding the composition of the 8th string quartet: Shostakovich composed it not long after joining the communist party. Also I noticed that the Jewish melody line is almost exactly the same as that of Shostakovich’s own Piano trio Op.67 (4th movement). In the paragraphs that follow, I will frequently refer to Arthur J. Komar 's theories of meter found in his book A Study of Metrical and Pitch Relations in TonalMusic. The vibrato certainly adds to this effect. From the beginning of the second movement, one violin seems to have the main part in this new fast paced music. Shostvcquote1.Jpg. 110. In light of this, when I listen to the first and the 5th movements again, it’s obvious that they are closely intertwined and related. Then the second joins in amplifying the first violin. Why the repetition and patterns in the first movement, what does it mean? It seems as if the violins are attacking their instruments. 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