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Home , Sergei Prokofiev, Song of the Forests, Valentin Berlinsky

THE SOVIET EXPERIENCE VOLUME II ALSO WITH THE PACIFICA QUARTET ON CEDILLE RECORDS THE SOVIET EXPERIENCE VOL I STRING QUARTETS BY CDR 90000 127 “This is a marvelous beginning to what promises to be a AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES terrific Shostakovich cycle ...The Cedille engineers have outdone themselves with strikingly vivid sound quality.” SHOSTAKOVICH: QUARTETS NOS. 1- 4 —Ariama.com PROKOFIEV: QUARTET NO. 2 DECLARATIONS: MUSIC BETWEEN THE WARS CDR 90000 092 Music by Leoš Janáček, , & Paul Hindemith “This is not only a very fine demonstration of [the Pacifica’s] abilities but a winning recital on all counts.” —Fanfare MENDELSSOHN: THE COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS CDR 90000 082 “This box sets a new gold standard for performances of Mendelssohn’s string quartets.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

DVOŘÁK: QUARTET OP. 106, OP. 97 CDR 90000 059 “This is simply a lovely recording, warm in tone, sensitive, artfully played, and yet tastefully rambunctious when such bounce is appropriate.” —Fanfare PACIFICA QUARTET Producer & Engineer Judith Sherman THE SOVIET EXPERIENCE VOLUME II PACIFICA QUARTET Assistant Engineer & Digital Editing Bill Maylone Shostakovich Quartet No. 2 Editing James Ginsburg STRING QUARTETS BY SHOSTAKOVICH: QUARTETS NOS. 1-4 Editing Assistance Jeanne Velonis DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH PROKOFIEV: QUARTET NO. 2 Recorded Shostakovich Quartets Nos. 1 & 2: November 18–20, 2011; Shostakovich Quartet No. AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES 3: July 23–24, 2010; Shostakovich Quartet No. 4 & Prokofiev: August 29–31, 2011— Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana DISC ONE DISC TWO Microphones Sonodore RCM-402 & DPA 4006-TL DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975) DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Front Cover Design Sue Cottrill String Quartet No. 1 in , Op. 49 (14:43) String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73 (31:17) Inside Booklet & Inlay Card Nancy Bieschke 1 I. Moderato (4:16) 1 I. Allegretto (6:58) 2 II. Moderato (4:45) 2 II. Andante (5:01) Front Cover Art The Red Army Broom Will Completely Sweep Away the Scum 3 III. Allegro molto (2:13) 3 III. Moderato—Allegretto—Andante (4:00) From the Ne boltai! Collection — Viktor Nikolaevich Deni; October 12, 1943 4 IV. Allegro (3:17) 4 IV. Adagio— (6:14) 5 V. Moderato—Adagio (8:53) At bottom left corner of image, torn order signed by Hitler with Nazi seal reads: Terror and Slavery String Quartet No. 2 in , Op. 68 (35:18) for the People. On the bayonet-broom are the names of liberated Soviet cities, from left to right: 5 I. : Moderato con moto (8:23) (1891–1953) Bryansk, Smolensk, Orylo, Kharkov, Stalino, Novorossisk, Poltava, Chernigov, Nevel, Taman, 6 II. Recitative and Romance: Adagio (10:29) String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 92 (22:10) Melitopol. 7 III. Valse: Allegro (5:24) 6 I. Allegro sostenuto (6:25) 8 IV. Theme with Variations (10:49) 7 II. Adagio (7:28) Cedille Records is a trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation devoted 8 III. Allegro—Andante molto—Allegro I (8:09) to promoting the finest musicians and ensembles in the Chicago area. The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation’s String Quartet No. 4 in , Op. 83 (25:18) 9 I. Allegretto (4:11) activities are supported in part by contributions and grants from individuals, foundations, corporations, and TT: (53:40) government agencies including the Alphawood Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis Foundation, bk II. Andantino (6:44) bl III. Allegretto— (4:17) NIB Foundation, Negaunee Foundation, Sage Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. This project bm IV. Allegretto (9:58) Pacifica Quartet is partially supported by a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Simin Ganatra, violin TT: (75:37) CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CHICAGO CLASSICAL RECORDING FOUNDATION Sibbi Bernhardsson, violin Masumi Per Rostad, viola MAY BE MADE AT WWW.CEDILLERECORDS.ORG OR 773-989-2515. Brandon Vamos,

CEDILLE RECORDS trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation All works published by G. Schirmer Inc. 1205 W Balmoral Ave., Chicago IL 60640, USA Shostakovich String Quartet No. 1, Op. 49 ©1935; String Quartet No. 2, Op. 68 ©1944; 773.989.2515 tel - 773.989.2517 fax WWW.CEDILLERECORDS.ORG String Quartet No. 3, Op. 73 ©1946; String Quartet No. 4, Op. 83 ©1949 CDR 90000 130 P & C 2012 Cedille Records All Rights Reserved. Made in U.S.A Prokofiev String Quartet No. 2, Op. 92 ©1941

2 3 Dmitri Shostakovich and The former brilliantly and wittily The four years between the Cello expression within an ideologically Sergei Prokofiev exploits pizzicato (plucked) and and the First String Quartet approved musical language. That Quartets 1938–1949 grotesque arco (bowed) effects, while were fraught with problems: Just after Shostakovich was able to do so Notes by Elizabeth Wilson in the latter, the soaring soprano recovering from a major personal without compromising the quality of melody is successfully emulated by crisis involving his divorce from and his music or limiting its all-embracing SHOSTAKOVICH the first violin (although the quartet remarriage to Nina Varzar, both in range of emotional expression, is Dmitri Shostakovich came to quartet cannot match the emotional or 1935, Shostakovich’s life was changed testimony to his fierce tenacity of writing as a fully mature composer. physical power of the full in forever by the infamous Party editorial purpose and his unparalleled ability When he embarked on his first the lead up to the culmination). of January 28, 1936, in Pravda, to innovate within the strictures of quartet, he was 32 and had behind titled “” imposed boundaries. him a turbulent biography and large Shostakovich’s first piece of serious conceived in the — a vicious attack that reputedly As he approached his 32nd birthday, number of compositions, including represented the view and voice of five , three , and classical tradition was his Cello the time had come for a respite from Sonata, Op. 40. Its structural para- Stalin himself. Shostakovich was public forms. Shostakovich’s desire to two , as well as much incidental ostracized and forced at the eleventh music for theatre and cinema. So his meters are worthy of Brahms, but master the string quartet stemmed the enormous gamut of emotions hour to withdraw from rehearsal his from his need for in-depth private interests lay more with large dramatic yet unperformed Fourth . forms, and also entertainment, expressed, from grotesque to tragic study, reinforced by the challenge of to ironic to sentimentally lyrical, is In trepidation, he set to work on his treading on the holy ground of the rather than with the intimacies of monumental Fifth Symphony, which chamber music. Shostakovich’s first an original and entirely characteristic great classical tradition of Haydn, feature. These and three youthful was inevitably regarded as an offering Beethoven, and Schubert. encounter with the string quartet to the shrine of “.” medium dates from November 1931, pieces — the First Piano Trio, Op. The First Quartet (along with the 8; Three Pieces for cello and piano, After the triumphant first perform- when he produced a surprise gift ance in November 1937, the Party Seventh and 11th) is one of the Op. 9 (not extant); and Prelude and for the touring Vuillaume Quartet: authorities were ostensibly convinced shortest in Shostakovich’s output Scherzo for string , Op. 11 — transcriptions of two of his most of Shostakovich’s “reformation.” It for the genre. Over a mere 15 popular pieces, the Polka from his represented the composer’s entire minutes, the composer compressed chamber music output when he was a turning point in his biography, The Golden Age, and Katerina’s irreversibly forcing him to turn his back the classical cycle into four tautly Aria (labelled simply “Adagio”) from decided to tackle the classical string structured movements with masterly quartet form. on avant garde experiment and seek the Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

4 5 authority. The opening Moderato noticeably lacks a slow movement.) It The apparent simplicity and charm lend themselves to all kinds of is effectively a sonatina with a comprises a set of variations written of the moderato movements stand rhythmic variation and . shortened recapitulation, where the in a “stile russe.” The variation form in contrast with the two faster The composer brilliantly exploits the extreme simplicity of the thematic almost seems an excuse for a formal movements that follow, where the instrumental possibilities of the material and transparency of the C exercise, similar to a task set in a musical language is more refined and quartet and the virtuosity of the major key emphasize the composer’s conservatory class. The modal nature elaborate, and technical demands players. The music surges with purity of expression. (In this regard, of the melody places it firmly in the on the performers are considerably uninterrupted vitality to the end it fulfils a similar function to the sound-world of Russian folk song, increased. The restless and fleeting with a triumphant reiteration of C opening Prelude of his great cycle although the theme is Shostakovich’s scherzo, in the far-off key of C-sharp major chords in the violins over the of 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, own, not a borrowing or quotation. minor, recalls the fantastic world of lower strings’ resonating eighth- Op. 87.) The second subject theme In all, there are only three variations, Mendelssohn with its muted lightness notes. While Shostakovich’s public introduces a note of gentle humor, but the device of repeating the of touch, while its F-sharp major statements must always be taken as the viola’s repeated eighth- theme in two slightly varied phrases trio, full of wistful charm, sounds in with a grain of salt, the sunny nature note accompaniment and cello’s adds substance and instrumental a hushed pianissimo like a distant, of the finale appears to substantiate droll upward glissandi underpin diversity. The theme is initially stated whirling waltz. the composer’s claim, shortly after the first violin’s rhetoric. The short in the minor by solo viola, with cello The last movement was actually the completing the quartet, that he was development, based exclusively on accompaniment added in the second first one Shostakovich composed writing of “spring” and of “childhood,” the first subject theme, soon returns part. The first variation sounds in B-flat when he embarked on the quartet for the imagery here does indeed home to C major, followed by a short minor, while the second suddenly in May 1938. Whether or not it was evoke the ebullient spirit of youth. evocation of the second subject moves to a magical pianissimo the composer’s original intention to The quartet was first performed by theme, in A-flat major, and a 12-bar E major. The cello takes over the open the quartet with this cheerful the Glazunov Quartet in Leningrad codetta. This movement inhabits a “second half” of the theme from the and brilliant movement, it certainly on October 10, 1938. The first world of unclouded skies, and that of first violin and soon pushes the music makes an impressive end to the performance, a month later, a happy, untroubled childhood. forward to a dramatic culmination cycle. Its two contrasting themes came from the Beethoven Quartet, and short transition before returning — the first cheerfully rustic, almost who quickly established themselves The second movement, like the first, to the finalpp pizzicato variation in is designated Moderato. (The quartet like a pioneer’s march, the second as the leading interpreters of the initial key. cheeky and mischievous — both Shostakovich’s music: The composer

6 7 entrusted the “Beethovens” with Despite its grand design, the quartet polyphonic imitation, reminiscent at the dotted-rhythm motif featuring the first performance of his next 13 was composed extremely quickly. times of the effect Stravinsky achieves a falling semitone. Here again the quartets, from the Second through Indeed, Shostakovich confessed to in his neo-baroque . The accompaniment constantly pushes the penultimate 14th. his friend, the quartet’s dedicatee, first theme, in the bright A major tonic, forward in crescendo, emphasising Shostakovich wrote his Second composer Vissarion Shebalin, “I has two intrinsic parts; the first is a two unity rather than the difference Quartet, Op. 68, in September 1944, worry about the lightening speed bar motif (repeated twice) with falling between the two themes. The whole almost immediately after finishing his with which I compose. .. . I compose intervals of a fourth and fifth, where movement is laconically compressed Second Piano Trio, Op. 67, a memorial with diabolical speed and cannot each fundamental is ornamented and highly charged, and the general to his friend Ivan Sollertinsky, who stop myself!” This speed no doubt with a shorter note pushing the tone dynamic lies between forte and had died that February. Shostakovich represented the urgency with which a whole step upward or downward. fortissimo throughout the exposition; was staying in Ivanovo, where the Shostakovich wished to convey his Shostakovich marks crescendos relaxation (and piano) doesn’t come Composers’ Union had organized a thoughts onto paper, for the whole (<) under the accompanying, short until the beginning of the retreat to allow composers access to work is infused with a feeling of chords; these serve to emphasize development. fresh farm produce and uninterrupted concentrated meaning; there are no the forward direction of the phrasing. The heart of the work lives in the creative activity, something of a luxury unnecessary gestures or superfluous In this opening, the first violin second movement Recitative and in the harsh conditions of WWII. notes. Perhaps in tribute to Shebalin’s performs like a concertante soloist Romance, which opens with a The previous year in Ivanovo, he own recent “Slavyansky” quartet, the while the rest of the quartet acts as dominant sixth chord in the three completed his monumental Eighth thematic material bears a predominantly the supporting ripieno. In the next lower strings, an invitation to the first Symphony which, even more than Russian character, particularly in the bars, the violin develops the theme violin to conduct its recitative lament its famous predecessor, evokes the outer movements. The overall form with faster passages running up and over their static accompaniment. The tragedy and horror of war. Composed is that of a suite, with an opening down the scale. The second subject tragic intensity of the music suggests on a completely different scale than Overture (recalling the baroque theme, in C-sharp minor, starts with a an unsung text, as the violin’s the first quartet, the second presents era) followed by a Recitative and long note followed by a characteristic impassioned solos are punctuated by a large symphonic canvas in four Romance, a Waltz, and a Theme with dotted eighth-note rhythm. In mini-chorales, or religious-sounding movements that lacks the grotesque Variations finale. contrast to the first theme’s open “Amen” cadences, from the other imagery usually associated with The first movement’s two principal intervals, here the melodic design strings. The first part of the recitative Shostakovich’s war compositions. themes are tautly argued, often using emphasizes chromatiscism, with ends on a cadential resolution, where

8 9 the B-flat tonic is finally established mood of foreboding is never totally section eventually subsides into is generally considered one of his and the Romance section begins: a dispelled, even in the movement’s a relaxed F-sharp major variation greatest masterpieces in the medium. heartfelt melody, evoking an aria from other sections, or when the material with the violins’ dancing figuration In his catalog, the work follows the a or passion. Following this, undergoes transformation. sounding over a lyrical viola and cello Ninth Symphony, but the quartet the first violin resumes its recitative, The finale opens with a protracted theme. A transitional passage on emulates -movement model bringing it to a hushed conclusion introduction, reminiscent of the cello takes us to a D–A bass pedal, of the Eighth Symphony, with which it before the lower strings play their recitative movement, before moving signaling the return of the theme bears many similarities. Shostakovich final “Amen” pair of cadenceon to the advertised Theme with in the tonic key, where the tranquil wrote the piece between January chords. A particular feature of this Variations. (The enormous evolution mood of its initial statement is finally and August 1946, when hopes for an movement is Shostakovich’s masterly Shostakovich underwent between recaptured. Shostakovich appears to easier life in the wake of the Soviet ability to transfer the articulation writing his first and second quartets be preparing us for a quiet ending, Union’s victory in WWII were fast of apparent, meaningful texts to is nowhere more evident than in his but the piece instead concludes with receding, as he realized (perhaps string instruments with the utmost treatment of variation form.) The a forceful recall of the movement’s ahead of his contemporaries) that naturalness of expression. Here the theme’s melody is similar to the introduction and recitative before Stalin would revert to even harsher composer is undoubtedly looking a final sounding of the theme in forms of repression than in the late- Russian lyrical protyaznaya song, back to Beethoven — e.g., the whose intonational aspect, with its forte brings the work to its glorious 1930s. The piece is dedicated to the recitatives in his A minor quartet, Op. characteristic plagal drop of a fourth, conclusion. members of the Beethoven Quartet. 132, and the cello and is typical of Russian modal The Second Quartet was com- Although never included in any recitatives that open the finale of the (or lad ). The theme is passed to pleted on September 20, 1944. The published edition, the composer Ninth Symphony. each instrument in turn, with varying “Beethovens” got to work immediately gave programmatic titles to the The third movement, a fleeting accompaniments, before undergoing and gave the first performance on movements as follows (this was and shadowy waltz in E-flat minor, other forms of development. November 14, in the Grand Hall of confirmed in recent years by Valentin constructed in form, opens Numerous devices are used, and Leningrad’s Philharmonia. Berlinsky, cellist of the Borodin with a somewhat menacing theme the general level of intensity rises The Third Quartet, Op. 73 in F major, Quartet): in the cello’s low register that is continuously, building to a furious remained a personal favorite of the 1. Allegretto taken over by an anxious, faster- culmination over the pedal tone of composer throughout his life, and moving theme from the violin. The the cello’s low E-flat triplets. This Calm unawareness of the cataclysm

10 11 2. Moderato con moto Shostakovich’s request of performers of a pair of grotesque movements bars alternating), with heavy chords Rumblings of unrest and anticipation to play this first theme “tenderly that follow the first. In the opening, played against the first violin’s loutish 3. Allegro non troppo and not with intrepid dash.”1 The the viola doggedly plays heavy, macabre. A second theme, in The forces of war unleashed 4. Adagio quirky second subject is comprised repeated quarter-notes, over which F-minor, sees intensification of the Homage to the dead of various short motifs, where a five- the first violin winds a clumsy boorish same imagery, with the whole quartet 5. Moderato eighth-note phrase gets extended dance, ending with a jeering upward playing multi-stopped fff chords (as The eternal question – Why? And for what? and developed. A concluding theme . The second theme, again many as 13 voices in all), evoking then wittily unites elements of heavy and grotesque, is given to the searing lashes of a whip against the Whether Shostakovich used these the first and second subjects. The viola, accompanied by the ostinato first violin’s highly charged melody titles merely as a device to shake development starts with a brief figuration of a falling semitone in (perhaps a caricature of some Soviet off deeper probing by cultural ideo- statement of the first theme before the violins. A moment of relative patriotic song). A third theme stated logues, and whether they apply to launching into a masterly double respite comes with the third theme, on viola, sadistic and clumsy in the WWII, to cataclysmic events through- fugue worthy of Mozart. After the in F-sharp major, where eerie, extreme, is accompanied by sarcastic out history, or to the Great Terror recapitulation, an exuberant coda short staccato chords sound in a pizzicato notes alternating between that Stalin unleashed within his own brings the movement to a brilliant frozen, distant pianissimo, perhaps the cello and violins. (Here Vasily country, they still offer a useful general and positive conclusion. This is the reminiscent of a threatening march Shirinsky of the Beethoven Quartet overview of the work’s content. only movement of the quartet that that has moved away. The movement suggested the caricatured image The first movement, a sonata-allegro exhibits a close relationship with the ends quietly, using elements of the of a Prussian parade ground.) The with a polyphonic development, ebullient Ninth Symphony, rather first theme transformed, as if drained whole movement is unrelenting in its opens with a light-hearted, humorous than the profoundly tragic Eighth. of all energy. menace, suggesting a protagonist first theme that seems to have The quartet’s second movement, In the third movement, Allegro non trapped on all sides with no possible stepped out of a Haydn quartet and marked Moderato con moto, is a short, troppo in G-sharp minor, cruel and avenue of escape. in no way prepares the listener for the -like rondo in , whose grotesque elements are highlighted After the pain and cruelty so long journey and depths of tragedy three themes are differentiated, but to an even greater extent and the ferociously depicted in the previous to come. That he did not want the for the most part feature ostinato tension rises implacably throughout. two movements, the ensuing Adagio music invested with any form of (repeated pattern) accompaniments. In rondo form, it opens with an in C-sharp minor is an elegy, a space satirical overtone is evident from As with the Eighth Symphony, it is one asymmetric theme (2/4 and 3/4 to grieve in a devastated landscape.

1Letter to Edison Denisov, April 22, 1950 12 13 The three lower strings proclaim, world. The cello states quietly in its Shostakovich clearly recognized The Beethoven Quartet gave the like a Greek chorus, a refrain in low register a quasi-pastoral theme the enormous emotional impact of first performance of Shostakovich’s octaves characterized by a dotted in 6/8. This is taken over by the first the Third Quartet; he always asked Third Quartet on November 14, 1944, eighth-note rhythm, a hallmark of violin, which moves on to an achingly that it be programmed at the end in the Grand Hall of the Leningrad Shostakovich’s elegiac movements beautiful second theme, played of a concert. Fyodor Druzhinin, Philharmonic. The Moscow premiere (e.g., in his 11th and 15th quartets, over separated staccato notes from who became the Beethoven followed two weeks later. As with among other works). The first violin’s the other instruments. After the Quartet’s violist in the 1960s, left this the Eighth Symphony, the Third lamenting quasi-recitative interrupts return of the principal theme, a new reminiscence of the only time he Quartet drew a cold reception from the principal refrain with a heartfelt section emerges unexpectedly with a saw the composer visibly moved by the Union of Composers and Soviet melody of extraordinary beauty muted but playful melody in A major. his own music. In preparation for a cultural leadership. It was seldom and intensity. The refrain theme, This initially seems to be a dance, performance of the complete quartet programmed thereafter and was on initially severe, soon assumes a new but it soon takes on the lamenting cycle, the “Beethovens” played the the list of Shostakovich works that expressive range and is entrusted intonations associated with Jewish Third for Shostakovich at home: were banned from performance in principally to the cello and first violin. music. The finale reaches culmination January 1948. , He promised to stop us when he As the movement draws to a close, when the fourth movement’s elegiac cellist of the , had any remarks to make. Dmitri the viola takes over the elegiac refrain explodes in canonic imitation remembers how in those weeks Dmitriyevich sat in an armchair theme, sounding it over a cello bass between viola and cello — a final, following the Party Decree attacking with the score opened out. But line of repeated notes in an anapaest heart-rending expression of grief. “Formalism” in music (more on this after each movement ended he rhythm (short-short-long), an imitation The cello’s solitary recitative unwinds below), their young quartet played just waved us on, saying “Keep of muted at a funeral knell. the tension, followed by a wistful this masterpiece in a Moscow Playing!” So we performed the return of the dance-like theme. The Conservatory class for the composer, The attacca transition to the finale whole quartet. When we finished piece concludes in awed and hushed deliberately leaving the doors open grows out of this moment of playing he sat quite still in tones, with the first violin’s pianissimo so the magnificent music would complete emotional devastation. The silence, like a wounded bird, tears recitative, based on motifs from the resound around the building and act quartet’s longest and most substantial streaming down his face. This was movement’s opening, receding into as a magnet for students to come and movement, this structurally highly the only time I saw Shostakovich the distance over a quietly sustained listen. original Moderato (a modified so open and defenceless.2 sonata-rondo) starts in a shadowy F major chord.

2Elizabeth Wilson, Shostakovich A Life Remembered (Faber and Faber, London, 2006) p. 502 14 15 Shostakovich began writing the notorious “Doctors’ Plot” of 1952. considerable blow to the composer’s to carve some space for himself, he Fourth Quartet, Op. 83, in late-April This campaign against “rootless finances; he was reduced to earning started work on this highly personal 1949, and completed it on December cosmopolitans” was a license for his living by writing music for quartet. Shostakovich wrote it in 27. He dedicated it to the memory open anti-Semitism, something propaganda films. tandem with a patriotic of Pyotr Williams, a close friend and Shostakovich abhorred: his deep During the five-year period after designed to placate the authorities: artist with whom Shostakovich had compassion encompassed people 1948, when Shostakovich sat down The Song of the Forests (on texts worked in the theatre. of all races and creeds. The renewed to compose, he did so “for the desk of dubious artistic merit by Evgeny persecution of Jews undoubtedly The years that separated this work drawer.” It was clear that public Dolmatovsky). The chamber work no influenced his choice of material in from its predecessor were traumatic performances of his serious work doubt created a welcome distraction the last movements of the Fourth for Shostakovich and the whole would have to wait until better times. from a task he considered repellent. Quartet. country. In the aftermath of victory, His first work “for the drawer” was After its two predecessors’ new waves of Stalinist repression Shostakovich was not singled out the song cycle, “From Jewish Folk monumental depth and scale, shook society to the core. In an for criticism in 1948 as he had been Poetry,” written August–October the Fourth Quartet seems almost attempt to impose complete in 1936. Instead, he was condemned 1948, as a private reaction to lightweight. This appearance is ideological control over the arts, a along with Prokofiev, Miaskovsky, the official endorsement of anti- deceptive, however, for, as often series of campaigns were unleashed and Khachaturian as a principal Semitism. is the case with Shostakovich, by , Stalin’s cultural agent in spreading the pernicious Shostakovich’s next serious compo- the music starts as one thing and henchman. Literature and cinema influence of “formalist tendencies.” sition was the Fourth Quartet. He finishes as quite another. It begins were the first to suffer, but music Shostakovich was forced to recant started it shortly after returning with a short Allegretto movement was soon to follow. In January 1948, and make public declarations about from the USA, where, much against in D major, where an open, pastoral the campaign against “Formalism” composing tuneful music “for the his will, he was sent at the specific theme from the two violins sounds in music began, officially approved people.” He was also dismissed from request of Stalin as a delegate to over a sustained D pedal on viola and by Central Committee Decree on his teaching post at the Conservatory. the Cultural and Scientific Congress cello. When the theme is repeated February 10. Persecution intensified Most of his music was banned from for World Peace in New York in late- fortissimo, the voices are doubled, in the sciences as well; the country performance, and only commissions March 1949. The journey was an achieving the effect of choral singing, soon was in the grip of a mass on ideologically acceptable themes enormous strain. On return, wishing while the lower instruments’ open D hysteria that culminated in the were permitted. This proved a strings continue to resonate in the

16 17 bass. The laconic second subject movement ends with a return of the This codetta becomes a transition, through various transformations seems transitional by its very nature initial melody in muted pianissimo. leading directly to the introductory before reaching a culmination at the and leads to a further treatment of The Allegretto third movement portion of the extended finale, end of the development, based on the first theme material (this short starts quietly in . A staccato also marked Allegretto. Here the the viola motif from the introduction. movement lacks a real sonata-form theme in the cello’s bass register viola’s melody line, still in C minor In the recapitulation, the composer development), this time over a held creates an eerie and enigmatic (the previous movement’s key) is imbues the first Jewish theme with E bass. After a brief return of the atmosphere. A second, legato theme accompanied by pizzicato notes. heightened emotional significance, second theme material, the D tonic with a characteristic dotted rhythm, This passage soon compresses into as the cello plays with almost pedal is once again achieved, but played in three octaves by the cello, an isolated motif of significance: the desperate intensity in its high register. the music finishes in the minor, and in viola, and first violin, continues the viola’s B-flat–G–E-flat–C, sounding After this, the tension unwinds. There hushed tones. hushed, mysterious atmosphere of in half-notes, followed by specific follows a final, hushed reprise of the The second movement, Andantino the opening. Adhering to rondo rhythmic patterns in the pizzicato. same Jewish theme, as though the in F minor, starts with the first violin’s form, the first theme returns before Sudden loud chords announce musical material has exhausted itself. theme, an elegiac Romance, played the third appears, a dance-like the start of the finale in earnest, its The piece then concludes with a short over a sarabande-like quarter- melody in a bright A major, played main theme in with Jewish coda: Here the first violin’s rhetorical note, half-note accompaniment in by second violin and viola against intonations accompanied by “um- farewell is based on material from second violin and viola, a rhythmic the cello’s pizzicato eighth-notes and pah” pizzicatos in the lower strings. the movement’s introduction, but it motif that becomes a constant a repetitive ricochet motif on first This is immediately succeeded is, today, also instantly recognizable feature of the movement. When violin. This theme bears distinctly by a second “Jewish” theme, a as a reference to the from the theme is passed to the cello we Jewish overtones, with flattened song-like lament. Both melodies Shostakovich’s First Violin , hear the sighing, falling semitone seventh and ninth intervals. The contain the seeds for grotesque Op. 77 (another work written “for accompaniment of the first violin, ensuing recapitulation of the first and and tragic development, and are the drawer” during this period of which later assumes a separate life third thematic episodes reverts to the Shostakovich’s invention, rather than heightened artistic repression). The as an independent motif. A long initial shadowy mood before leading citations of actual Jewish folk tunes. music fades away into shadowy upward ascent in crescendo begins, to a short coda based on elements of (In this, he was following in particular gloom, and over the cello’s last held finally reaching culmination in the the second and first themes. Mussorgsky’s treatment of Jewish D harmonic, there sounds a final, high register of the first violin. The material.) The thematic material goes ghostly version of the introductory pizzicato motif.

18 19 Although the Fourth Quartet waited was conscience as much as artistic a particular interest in Caucasian mood of rustic humor, show the four years for its official premiere on taste that dictated his choice. music.) composer’s uninhibited enjoyment November 13, 1953, seven months The Moscow composers accepted of melody. The mood changes in the after Stalin’s death, the manuscript PROKOFIEV development, where the material In August 1941, less then two months Temirkanov’s challenge. Nikolai circulated among Moscow musicians Miaskovsky used this traditional becomes rhythmically charged and soon after its completion. Both the after the German invasion of Soviet dissonance is introduced. , Sergei Prokofiev and Mira material in his 23rd Symphony. Beethoven and the young Borodin Prokofiev interrupted work on his The second movement, a wistful quartets eagerly learned it. It appears Mendelssohn (his second wife) were evacuated from Moscow to Nalchik, opera, , to write nocturne in E minor, follows a short Shostakovich preferred the Borodin’s something that would incorporate introduction with a melancholic interpretation, but he would not capital of the Kabardino-Balkar autonomous republic in the northwest “these fresh and original melodies” theme of haunting beauty, sung in risk alienating the “Beethovens” by in a chamber context. The composer the high range of the cello. A triplet giving the premiere to the younger of the Caucuses. They were among a large group of artists and composers wrote: “It seemed to me that a scale-like figuration weaves its way group: he was always loyal to his combination of this untouched around a second theme in the major long-time performers. who found themselves in this normally sleepy outpost of the Soviet empire. source of oriental melodies with that before continuing as accompaniment The composer’s own attitude toward The local director responsible for most classical of all classical forms for a last statement of the minor- the Fourth Quartet in later life was — the string quartet — could give key nocturne theme. In the D major the arts, Khatu Temirkanov (father of 3 somewhat ambivalent. According conductor Yuri Temirkanov) was an interesting and unexpected results.” middle section, the folkloric origin to composer Edison Denisov, after enlightened man. To the evacuated The resulting Second Quartet, Op. of the thematic material becomes writing his large-scale Fifth Quartet composers, he recommended exam- 92, starts out in the best of classical more “authentically” identifiable, in 1951, Shostakovich dismissed the ination of a historic source of traditions: a brisk F major Allegro, since it is based on a light-hearted Fourth as “mere entertainment.” This Kabardinian melodies, a collection where the character of the folk Caucasian dance, a charming, playful assessment is contradicted, however, compiled in part by composer Sergei themes is refined and seamlessly Lezginka (well known as Stalin’s by both the obvious quality of the Taneyev in 1885. (Taneyev, evidently assimilated into the requirements of favorite kind of music). Prokofiev work and the enormous courage it following in the steps of his illustrious western sonata form. The cheerful accompanies the dance theme with took for a Russian composer in 1949 forbears, was drawn to the exotic in first theme, with a touch of swagger, pizzicato and ricochet bowing effects to write anything that smacked of music; like Mily Balakiriev, he evinced and the second subject, with its and swaggering scales. The return of Jewish origin. For Shostakovich, it 3“Khudozhnik I Vojna” (The Artist and War). Article in Sergei Prokofiev: Materials, Documents and Reminiscences ed. Shlifshteyn. Moscow 1961 20 21 the first section is achieved through humorous motif accompanied by he, unfortunately, never returned. Cellist, author, and teacher, Elizabeth a mirror effect, starting with the pizzicati, makes a brief appearance. This work also places him in the Wilson studied in Moscow under Mstislav triplet figuration and G major theme, Interrupting the proceedings, a cello long tradition of Russian composers Rostropovich. She has spent much of her before returning to the heartfelt cadenza with cascading downward (from Glinka to Borodin and Rimsky- professional life performing quartets and nocturne of the opening in the low scales is soon elaborated by the Korsakov) who approached folklore chamber music, including as a founding registers of viola and cello. A final whole quartet on a symphonic scale, as something exotic and foreign, member (in 1995) of Xenia Ensemble, farewell sounds in the high register bringing the work to a culmination of raiding it for thematic material, a group specializing in music by of the first violin against tremolando great tragic intensity. The music then rather than using it, as Bartók did, contemporary composers. She is author (trembling) accompaniment. subsides and returns to the second as a living part of the thematic and of Shostakovich A Life Remembered The third and final movement is a theme rumblings, now sounding like compositional structure. and biographies of Jacqueline du Pré the distant thunder of a retreating and (all published rondo of much greater dramatic The Beethoven Quartet gave the storm. After briefly revisiting the by Faber and Faber, London), and editor substance than the other movements. premiere of Prokofiev’s Second spiky and humorous third theme, the of an anthology of Shostakovich’s letters After a brief rhetorical introduction, Quartet in Moscow on September movement concludes in a positive (published by Saggiatori, Milan). the vigorous principal theme 5, 1942. announces itself in pointed staccato and sunny mood with its initial F rhythm and leaping intervals. This major theme banishing all thoughts contrasts sharply with the next of turbulent unrest. section, where the violins’ theme in The Second Quartet is unusual in octaves looms ominously over the Prokofiev’s output as an experiment lower strings’ rumbling sixteenth- to incorporate folk music into notes, tearing us away from the instrumental music. (The Overture on idyllic, pastoral world represented Hebrew Themes, Op. 34, is another in the other movements and pulling example, but here he was not us into the stark and terrible reality dealing with authentic folk material.) of war. A third theme, characterized In so doing, the composer shows an by two contrasting features, a exceptional grasp of the possibilities short legato phrase and a spiky of quartet writing, something to which

22 23 PACIFICA QUARTET only the second chamber ensemble Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberant honored in the Grant’s long history. Also performance style, and often-daring in 2006, the Quartet was featured on the repertory choices, the Pacifica Quartet — cover of Gramophone and heralded as Simin Ganatra and Sibbi Bernhardsson, one of “five new quartets you should violins; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; know about,” the only American quartet Brandon Vamos, cello — has gained to make the list. international stature as one of the The Pacifica Quartet tours extensively finest chamber ensembles performing throughout the United States, Europe, today. The Pacifica recently became Asia, and Australia, and performs in the quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan world’s major concert halls. Having given Museum of Art — a position held for 43 highly acclaimed performances of the years by the Guarneri String Quartet. In complete Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and 2009, the group was named Ensemble Carter string quartets in recent seasons, of the Year by Musical America and the Quartet presented the monumental received a Grammy Award for Best Shostakovich cycle in Chicago, New Chamber Music Performance. York, and Champaign, Illinois, during Formed in 1994, the Pacifica Quartet the 2010–2011 season. In summer 2011, quickly won chamber music’s top the Quartet presented the complete competitions, including the 1998 Beethoven cycle at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In in an unprecedented presentation of five 2002, the ensemble was honored with concerts over three days. In 2011–2012, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland the Quartet plays the Shostakovich cycle Quartet Award and the appointment in London’s and performs to Lincoln Center’s CMS Two. In 2006, the complete Beethoven quartets at the the Pacifica was awarded a prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art. Avery Fisher Career Grant, becoming Photo by Anthony Parmelee

24 25 An ardent advocate of contemporary of Art, the Pacifica Quartet also serves music, the Pacifica Quartet regularly as resident performing artist at the The Soviet Arts Experience is spear- commissions and performs new works. University of Chicago. headed by the University of Chicago It has been widely praised for its single- For more information, please visit Presents (UCP), the University’s pro- concert performances of ’s www.pacificaquartet.com. fessional presenting organization. five-quartet cycle in New York, San In one of the largest collaborative The Soviet Arts Experience sponsors Francisco, Chicago, and abroad. Critics artistic efforts across Chicago, twenty- include The University of Chicago, have called these groundbreaking seven of the city’s prominent arts The University of Chicago Arts Council, concerts “brilliant,” “astonishing,” and institutions join together in 2010, National Endowment for the Arts, “breathtaking.” In 2008, the Quartet 2011, and 2012 to present The Soviet Illinois Arts Council, and The Women’s released its Grammy Award-winning Arts Experience, a 16-month-long Board of the University of Chicago. recording of Carter’s quartets Nos. 1 and showcase of works by artists who 5 on the Naxos label; the 2009 release created under (and in response to) The Pacifica Quartet’s plan to perform of quartets Nos. 2, 3, and 4 completed the Politburo of the . the Chicago premiere of Dmitri the two-CD set. The Quartet’s other Shostakovich’s complete string quartet From the poignant string quartets recordings, including Mendelssohn’s cycle during its 2010–2011 concert and symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich complete works for string quartet and season inspired the University of Chicago to stunning, hand-painted WWII Declarations: Music Between the Wars, to organize The Soviet Arts Experience. propaganda posters, and from the both on Cedille Records, have also In keeping with the spirit of this grand orchestral and ballet music of attracted international acclaim. comprehensive, citywide festival of Sergei Prokofiev to the political satire Soviet-era music and art, the Pacifica The members of the Pacifica Quartet of Evgeny Shvarts, The Soviet Arts Quartet and Cedille Records decided were appointed to the faculty of the Experience takes patrons behind the to include music of other 20th-century University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Iron Curtain to explore its essence Russian composers on each volume in 2003, and the ensemble serves as through the creative work of its visual of The Soviet Experience. quartet-in-residence there. In addition to artists, choreographers, composers, their recent appointment as quartet-in- and dramatists. residence at the Metropolitan Museum

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