Brodsky Quartet © Thanks to Irina Antonovna Irina Shostakovichthanks To
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FROM THE MUZIEKGEBOUW AMSTERDAM SHOSTAKOVICH COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS BRODSKY QUARTET Dmitri Shostakovich © www.chostakovitch.org Thanks to Irina Antonovna Shostakovich Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975) Complete String Quartets COMPACT DISC ONE String Quartet No. 1, Op. 49 (1938) 15:08 in C major • in C-Dur • en ut majeur 1 I Moderato – Meno mosso 4:52 2 II Moderato 4:43 3 III Allegro molto 2:17 4 IV Allegro 3:05 String Quartet No. 2, Op. 68 (1944) 35:42 in A major • in A-Dur • en la majeur Dedicated to Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin 5 I Overture. Moderato con moto 8:24 6 II Recitative and Romance. Adagio – Più mosso – Adagio 10:53 7 III Waltz. Allegro 5:32 8 IV Theme with Variations. Adagio – Moderato con moto – Allegretto – Più mosso – Più mosso – Allegro non troppo – Allegro – Adagio 10:41 TT 51:05 3 COMPACT DISC TWO String Quartet No. 3, Op. 73 (1946) 32:35 in F major • in F-Dur • en fa majeur Dedicated to the Beethoven String Quartet 1 I Allegretto – Poco più mosso 7:19 2 II Moderato con moto – Meno mosso – Adagio – Più mosso 5:07 3 III Allegro non troppo 4:06 4 IV Adagio – Più mosso accelerando – Adagio – 5:56 5 V Moderato – Meno mosso – Adagio 9:55 String Quartet No. 4, Op. 83 (1949) 27:05 in D major • in D-Dur • en ré majeur 6 I Allegretto 3:54 7 II Andantino 7:32 8 III Allegretto – 4:47 9 IV Allegretto – Pesante – [Poco meno mosso] – [Pesante] 10:42 TT 59:55 4 COMPACT DISC THREE String Quartet No. 5, Op. 92 (1952) 32:07 in B flat major • in B-Dur • en si bémol majeur Dedicated to the Beethoven String Quartet 1 I Allegro non troppo – 11:28 2 II Andante – Andantino – Andante – Andantino – Andante – 10:22 3 III Moderato – Allegretto – Meno mosso – Allegretto – Andante 10:16 String Quartet No. 6, Op. 101 (1956) 25:32 in G major • in G-Dur • en sol majeur 4 I Allegretto 7:29 5 II Moderato con moto 5:23 6 III Lento – 5:06 7 IV Lento – Allegretto – Andante – Lento 7:25 5 String Quartet No. 7, Op. 108 (1960) 14:13 in F sharp minor • in fis-Moll • en fa dièse mineur In memory of Nina Shostakovich 8 I Allegretto – 3:51 9 II Lento – 3:54 10 III Allegro – Allegretto 6:27 TT 72:23 COMPACT DISC FOUR String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110 (1960) 24:15 in C minor • in c-Moll • en ut mineur In memory of the victims of fascism and war 1 I Largo – 5:56 2 II Allegro molto – 2:56 3 III Allegretto – 4:17 4 IV Largo – 5:57 5 V Largo 5:07 6 String Quartet No. 9, Op. 117 (1964) 26:17 in E flat major • in Es-Dur • en mi bémol majeur To Irina Antonovna Shostakovich 6 I Moderato con moto – 4:22 7 II Adagio – 4:32 8 III Allegretto – 4:14 9 IV Adagio – 3:03 10 V Allegro 10:03 String Quartet No. 10, Op. 118 (1964) 25:24 in A flat major • in As-Dur • en la bémol majeur To Moisey [Mieczysław] Samuilovich Weinberg 11 I Andante 4:25 12 II Allegretto furioso 4:04 13 III Adagio – 6:41 14 IV Allegretto – Andante 10:06 TT 76:25 7 COMPACT DISC FIVE String Quartet No. 11, Op. 122 (1966) 17:56 in F minor • in f-Moll • en fa mineur In memory of Vasily Shirinsky 1 I Introduction. Andantino – 2:33 2 II Scherzo. Allegretto – 2:45 3 III Recitative. Adagio – 1:22 4 IV Etude. Allegro – 1:19 5 V Humoresque. Allegro – 1:06 6 VI Elegy. Adagio – 4:54 7 VII Finale. Moderato – Meno mosso – Moderato 3:54 String Quartet No. 12, Op. 133 (1968) 26:17 in D flat major • in Des-Dur • en ré bémol majeur To Dmitri Tsiganov 8 I Moderato – Allegretto – Moderato – Allegretto – Moderato – Allegretto – Moderato 6:34 9 II Allegretto – Adagio – Moderato – Adagio – Moderato – Allegretto 19:41 8 10 String Quartet No. 13, Op. 138 (1970) 22:24 in B flat minor • in b-Moll • en si bémol mineur To Vadim Borisovsky Adagio – Doppio movimento – Tempo I – Poco meno mosso – Tempo I TT 67:05 COMPACT DISC SIX String Quartet No. 14, Op. 142 (1973) 28:56 in F sharp major • in Fis-Dur • en fa dièse majeur To Sergey Shirinsky 1 I Allegretto – Meno mosso – Allegretto – Meno mosso – Allegretto 9:20 2 II Adagio – 10:14 3 III Allegretto – Poco meno mosso – Adagio 9:17 9 String Quartet No. 15, Op. 144 (1974) 41:22 in E flat minor • in es-Moll • en mi bémol mineur 4 I Elegy. Adagio – 14:04 5 II Serenade. Adagio – 6:17 6 III Intermezzo. Adagio – 1:54 7 IV Nocturne. Adagio – 5:42 8 V Funeral March. Adagio molto – 5:36 9 VI Epilogue. Adagio – Adagio molto – Adagio – Adagio molto – Adagio – Adagio molto – Adagio – Adagio molto 7:46 TT 70:34 Brodsky Quartet Daniel Rowland violin Ian Belton violin Paul Cassidy viola Jacqueline Thomas cello 10 Brodsky Quartet performing Shostakovich in concert Paul Cassidy and Jacqueline Thomas performing Shostakovich in concert Shostakovich: Complete String Quartets Reflections a performance of No. 11 off the radio and set The year was 1971. Middlesbrough, in the about writing it down by ear. north-east of England, was experiencing In the mid ’70s we won a nationwide a musical genesis. Under the inspirational competition, which led to a performance at the leadership of local teachers, an early version of first-ever School’s Prom. We chose to play the El Sistema was creating orchestras for young second and third movements of No. 3. Imagine players whose skills ranged from beginner to the excitement we experienced as teenagers, pre-conservatory level. Four youngsters would delivering this emotionally charged music to a get together after youth orchestra rehearsals packed Royal Albert Hall! every Friday night. Inspired by the music they The early ’80s would herald the beginning had been playing and wishing to prolong the of our lengthy association with Dartington experience, they discovered the rich repertoire Summer School. It was here that we would of the string quartet. experiment with introducing more theatre On the stands in those very early days one into our performances. We worked endlessly, would find the likes of Schubert’s G major both alone and with directors, on many works Quartet, Bartók’s Fifth, Beethoven’s Op. 130, but particularly Quartet No. 11, believing that Janáček’s Second. Nothing too ambitious for its many, highly characterised movements ten-to-twelve-year-olds!! Also on that initial pile coupled with its unusual voicing (employing was the Third Quartet of Shostakovich. Whilst numerous solos and duets as well as full all the music was monumentally demanding quartet) lent it real theatrical possibilities. and thrilling, there was an added piquancy to 1988 was the year in which we first the Shostakovich in that the composer was performed the complete cycle of quartets, still alive, and still actually writing quartets. giving it several times in the build-up to a We would avidly await the next premiere. presentation at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall Such was our fascination with this music at a as part of the major Shostakovich festival time when the parts were all but impossible entitled ‘Music from the Flames’. This led not to acquire, that we even went as far as taping only to our first, award-winning recording of 13 the cycle (for Teldec in Berlin) but also to our forty-five-year history. At our post-concert first meeting with that amazing musician Elvis dinner, Irina treated us to rare insights into the Costello. great man and we felt closer than ever to the He had attended all five London concerts essence of this highly personal music. and it was undoubtedly the power of this By this time we were playing the cycle in experience which precipitated our coming various formats all over the world, from Sydney together. We subsequently wrote a song Opera House to remote churches on five cycle together, called The Juliet Letters. different Norwegian fjords in just two days! In acknowledgement of Shostakovich’s We have played them spread out over a whole undoubted inspiration, we buried a poignant season or packed into one day. Our preferred quote from Quartet No. 5 right in the emotional presentation is five concerts over a weekend. heart of that piece. We play them chronologically, making two In 1996, when we toured with Björk, our small exceptions, and without fail the effect of opening twenty-minute solo slot included the the music, on performers and listeners alike, is third movement of Quartet No. 3. Playing that profound. So much so that when we once again to 5,000 or 10,000 people, often outdoors and felt we had something new and valid to bring highly amplified, never ceased to overwhelm to these towering masterpieces, we decided to not just us but the gathered masses, too. record them ‘live’ in this format, in an effort to One of the most extraordinary and moving capture the uniquely personal journey that this accounts we have given of any of these works cycle affords one. must surely have been when we took part in It remains a highlight within our calendar the theatre piece The Noise of Time by Théâtre when we are asked to play the cycle and we de Complicité. This called for us to perform feel forever blessed and privileged to be able Quartet No.