Dmitri Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 (1944)

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Soviet composer and pianist, and a prominent figure of 20th-century music. Please support my channel: String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 (1944) Dedication: Vissarion Shebalin (1902-19643 1. Overture. Moderato con moto (0:00) 2. Recitative & Romance. Adagio (8:41) 3. Dance. Allegro (19:51) 4. Theme & Variations. Adagio (25:30) Fitzwilliam Quartet This is a re-upload from my old channel. Description by Michael Jameson [-] Shostakovich wrote his String Quartet No. 2, Op. 68, during September 1944. It was premiered, along with the second of his piano trios, on November 9, 1944. The work opens abruptly, with a gripping, powerfully assured motif for first violin, stated in the home key of A major, with stark intervals of fifths and fourths underpinning the harmony. This idea is repeated by the cello, now in E major. Many commentators describe a neo-classical quality in this opening statement, and it’s worth noting that Shostakovich gave each of the movements titles, this first being called “Overture.“ Its development section is much more complex, however, with the first theme now heard as kind of waltz-tune in C minor, with gentle pizzicato accompaniment, echoed by the cello. The viola, also in C minor, further explores the second subject. The second movement, “Recitative and Romance,“ is enclosed by two long solo passages for first violin, supported by sustained chords, the effect being not unlike plainchants of the ancient Orthodox liturgy. Structurally, it presages the recitatives found in the Ninth Symphony, and offers a glimpse into the secret contemplative life of the composer. The “Romance“ itself is set in slow 3/4 time, and is derived almost exclusively from ideas presented in the first movement, now argued on very different terms, however, and reaching an impressive climax. The waltz that follows is often described as one of the most remarkable movements in Shostakovich’s output, before or since, and it stands as a superb achievement. Set logically enough in the basic 3/4 rhythm that characterized the first two movements, its tonality and sound-world are unique, set in E flat minor. The voices are muted throughout, even when playing fortissimo, and the music has a sinister, ghostly atmosphere, ending mysteriously on an E flat minor chord. As Robert Matthew-Walker writes, “Shostakovich has here presented himself with an extraordinary compositional problem -- which he solves with result is a concluding ’Theme and Variations,’ prefaced by an introduction taking E flat minor as its starting point in powerful octaves on second violin, viola, and cello, akin to the opening statement of the Quartet and answered by first violin unaccompanied, thematically musing over the Waltz theme at infinitely slower tempo, but texturally recalling the Recitative and Romance.“ The movement continues to develop the sense of enigmatic irony that has defined the entire work, concluding (adds Matthew-Walker) “in A minor, into which deep tonal region the Quartet now moves, secure in its final symphonic integration of all of this undoubted masterpiece’s large-scale contrasts.“