Sun 30 Jan - Shosta SQ No 8

[Tapiola]

Nice link, Dave.

It said that No 15 was my top choice, followed by No 7. No 6 brought up the rear.

:cool2:

[Tevot]

Certainly 8 and 10 seem to get the press and indeed didn't Barshai do string orchestra arrangements of them both? 11 is quirky. 12 I quite like..hell no it is lovely! (first movement particularly) and also 14...the ending which may or may not be influenced by Dvorak? (not my opinion but some sleeve notes I once read;-)
13 ...well ... is challenging... bleak...perhaps the bleakest?
15 is an odd one... the first movement like a song or a lament ...quite haunting...the quartet as a whole bleak but imo more accessible than 1?3. Naxos do a good cycle with the Eder Quartet. Slightly off topic ...What do posters think of DSCH's Violin and Viola Sonatas?

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[Bryn]

Certainly 8 and 10 seem to get the press and indeed didn't Barshai do string orchestra arrangements of them both?

Not only those two but also Nos. 1, 3 and 4.

[Cellini]

I personally find it one of the least interesting of the Shostakovich Quartets. I used to like it a lot, but then I unlocked the riches of the much more interesting and rewarding 3rd, 4th, 9th, 10th & 12th Quartets. The 8th gets a lot of the limelight because of its autobiographical implications we don't get quite as many performances/broadcasts of the other quartets I feel.

I've just fallen in love with number 6, because as a quartet we read through the first movement at the end of a session a week or so back, (after our second fiddle bought the parts secondhand, but in mint condition). I've also listened to No 4 which I really don't know, and think this is a marvellous quartet too. (I've always liked No 5).

So I may suggest Nos 4 and 5 for a concert or something, and our cellist has already suggested getting the Fitzwilliam cellist round for coaching. (She lives in Islington, London, apparently). So it could be quite exciting, and we could maybe add a Haydn or Mozart in for balance.

It beats orchestral playing hands down!

[3rd Viennese School]

Just heard no.14 and 15 a few weeks ago! They dont sound as straight forward as some of them.
Mvt 2 of 15 sticks in the mind at the moment. Very Hear and Now. Sounds odd after that plain first mvt, a cross between the first mvt of Haydn 49 and something I wrote in the olden days!

3VS

[Roehre]

.....something I wrote in the olden days!
3VS

A pre-echo of your 12-note pop-tune I assume

[3rd Viennese School]

No, a tonal depressing tune in E minor!