Building Your Library: Shostakovich String Quartet No.8

Composed July 12-14, 1960

Premiered by Beethoven Quartet

Lasting on average a little over twenty minutes and composed in the span of three days, this quartet was in all likelihood intended to be a requiem by Shostakovich for himself. It tells a tale of, what I would imagine, the mentality and inner turmoil one suffers while living under the Soviet regime. The year 1960 was a bad year for Shostakovich; shortly before the genesis of this quartet, he was diagnosed with myelitis (an inflammation of the spinal cord) and was forced to join the Communist Party. This quartet is a very personal statement by Shostakovich; the musical cryptogram of his own name, where Dmitri Shostakovich (DSCH) become D-E♭-C-B in musical annotation, serves as the melodic motif that each movement is derived from. It’s quite amazing how in intervals between each note in the DSCH motif can sound lugubrious and threatening at the same time. Officially, the dedication of the piece is for all “the victims of fascism and war”. However, Shostakovich’s son interprets this as for the victims of all totalitarianism while his daughter believed it to be a dedication to himself. Even Shostakovich, in his characteristic sarcasm, describes the piece as "an ideologically deficient quartet nobody needs... It is a pseudo-tragic quartet, so much so that while I was composing it I shed the same amount of tears as I would have to pee after half-a-dozen beers". [1] Given all this, it is easy to see why many believe that this quartet serves as an epitaph preceding suicide.

The piece begins with the DSCH motif in canon, starting from the lowest member of the quartet to the highest.

Austere, defeated. While Shostakovich usually uses DSCH in a more bombastic and defiant manner (e.g. Symphony No.10, Violin Concerto No.1), the emptiness and complete absence of texture is what speaks to the heart of the listener. The whole movement seems to be enveloped in a smoky haze. Even the most beautiful moment in the movement is marred by something ominous, a disturbance beneath the surface.

If the first movement represented the introspective resignation of life, the second movement represents the fury that led up to it. This movement, no more than 3 minutes, is a fist that refuses to unclench for the duration. It is the complete compression of kinetic energy and release of reckless abandon that makes it so effective next to the disturbed placidity of the first movement. Perhaps in remembrance to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, Shostakovich recalls in this movement the famous Jewish theme he used for his second piano trio.

Just as suddenly as it began, the music abruptly cuts off. A little introduction by the first violin bridges into the danse macabre of the third movement. Perverted and grotesque, Shostakovich envisioned himself dancing this waltz of death with the DSCH motif skittering above the waltz rhythm.

Schizophrenic paranoia pervades the movement. What’s most shocking in this sequence is the ending to the phrase. Just when the music seems to be fading away, a bloodcurdling scream erupts, as if someone has just been brutally stabbed.

The penultimate movement begins with knuckle-breaking knocks. What is it like to be a public servant in a totalitarian government and living in constant fear that small mistake would result in one disappearing into the night? This fear plagued Shostakovich his whole life, especially after the first denunciation in 1936 (after the fallout from Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District) and the second denunciation in 1948. It was during that time that Shostakovich "waited for his arrest at night out on the landing by the lift, so that at least his family wouldn't be disturbed". [2] How he must have dreamt nightmares of or imagined those knocks on the door, always unsure if the next time would be his turn. The last movement serves as an epilogue; wretched back to reality, the memories of before remain only as whispers within an empty room.

The ideal recording results from an ensemble that chooses effective tempi in the inner three movements (usually on the faster side) and a strong sense of musical continuity in the outer two.

While the Emerson SQ recording has been much praised, resulting from both their Grammy win as well as their reputation as a quartet, I find there are major issues with the balance. The microphones pick up the viola and cello easily enough but it makes the violins sound far away in comparison. The sound is also very dry and brittle in the violins and overly resonant in the lower voices.

For a great historical recording, the Borodin SQ really lets the music speak for itself. Their cellist, Valentin Berlinsky, once told of a story where his quartet went to Shostakovich's home and played this piece for the composer. After the last chord faded away, the composer sat there, deep in thought, staring at nothing. Shostakovich rose from his seat shakily, and left the room. The quartet packed up and left. The next day Berlinsky received a call from Shostakovich, whereupon the composer apologized for not speaking to them afterwards, for their performance transported him back to a dark place and time in his life. Needless to say, this recording if a must-have for fans of this piece.

One of the most stylish readings comes from the Fitzwilliam SQ. They employ some daring slides in the third movements that heighten the perversion of the waltz. The only complaint I may have (and it's not that big a complaint) is their tempi are too fast, especially in the second movement. The music should always have forward momentum, but not frenetically so.

The St. Lawrence SQ has also recorded a great recording of the work. Embodying the swashbuckling American-style of quartet playing, their collective tone carries rougher edge that makes the music pop. The downside is the individual tones from each member are too different, which effects moments in the slower movements when the music is more static.

JEFF RECOMMENDS

The Jerusalem SQ is a quartet with the Midas touch; every piece they record turns to gold. They are, in my opinion, the perfect quartet. The way they balance the heart and the head in their playing along with their homogeneity in sound is what makes them special. In this recording, the way they are able to maintain the melodic line without sacrificing the Largo tempo in the first and last movement is amazing. Their tempo choices are perfect and their intensity and high-octane reading serves them well in the inner movements. I am convinced there will never be a better recording than this one.

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[1] Shostakovich, ed. Glikman; pp.90-91
[2] Shostakovich: A Life Remembered, Elizabeth Wilson; p.183