String Quartet No. 1 in C major, Op.

49 (1938)
1. Moderato
2. Moderato
3. Allegro molto
4. Allegro

When Shostakovich composed his first string quartet, he had already written, among other things,
five symphonies and incurred the rancor, often fatal, of Stalin. It was not enough for those in
Shostakovich's position to be tough: they had also to be lucky. The black humor in Shostakovich's
music reflects one way of coping with danger. Such humor shows in the last movement of this
quartet. The quartet as a whole stands out, however, in sunny contrast to many of his later quartets.
He began it as an exercise, but quickly became absorbed in his task and finished it in six weeks. He
made alterations. The movements that were to be first and last switched positions. The work is
brief, fewer than 15 minutes long.
Shostakovich denied that he intended the quartets to carry any meanings different from that of his
other music, but this denial takes little account of the special qualities of the string quartet. In
intimacy and concentration of means it becomes a more personal document than other musical
forms. Although there may be a unity of meaning in Shostakovich's music, the string quartets speak
more directly and on a more personal level.

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

1. Overture. Moderato con moto
2. Recitative & Romance. Adagio
3. Dance. Allegro
4. Theme & Variations. Adagio

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 genius...The 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."

String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73 (1946)

1, Allegretto
2. Moderato con moto
3. Allegro non troppo
4. Adagio
5. Moderato

The second string quartet by Shostakovich had marked a watershed in his developing mastery of the
genre. He returned to the medium two years later, producing his next string quartet in 1946. As
Robert Matthew-Walker points out, however, he had by now also "successfully tackled a formal
challenge which had long fascinated Beethoven -- the joining-together of movements of different
character, yet done in such a way as to make their continuation both seamless and inevitable...he
had not thus far attempted it in quartet writing."
As Robert Matthew-Walker concludes, "It is sometimes claimed, not always convincingly, that
there is often a hidden meaning in Shostakovich's work." In the case of his Third String Quartet,
this notion may well have some foundation. The Borodin Quartet, who knew the composer well,
insisted upon the following subtitles being appended to the movements whenever they performed
this work. These were never published, and in any case, these epithets closely mirror the music
itself, and are worth restating here:
I: "Calm unawareness of the future cataclysm" – II: "Rumblings of unrest and anticipation" – III:
"The forces of war unleashed" – IV: "Homage to the dead" – V: "The eternal question: Why? And
for what?"

String Quartet No. 4 in D major, Op. 83 (1949)

1. Allegretto
2. Andantino
3. Allegretto
4. Allegretto

Like the Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67 (1944), the String Quartet No. 4 features thematic elements of
Jewish inspiration. But in the postwar era and until Stalin's death in 1953, Shostakovich had become
well aware he could not display any obvious sympathies with Jews and Jewish culture in his
compositions and thus withheld the work from performance until after the tyrant's passing.
The first movement, marked Allegretto, begins with the viola and cello playing a drone while the
violins present the main theme, with Jewish folk music figurations. The music quickly reaches an
intense, ecstatic climax, and for the rest of this brief movement (typically less than four minutes'
duration), the mood remains subdued. A second theme is heard, followed by a brief development,
reprise, and coda, but all these sections have a deliberate sense of anticlimax in their generally dark
character. The second movement (Andantino) presents a melancholy waltz, first played by the
violin, then by the cello. The music intensifies as the theme is developed in the middle section, but
the calmer, somewhat foreboding mood of the opening returns in the closing pages.
The third movement is a muted Scherzo (Allegretto), launched by a driving ostinato from the viola
and second violin, over which the cello, then first violin play a sinister melody. A second theme
provides contrast in its brighter, livelier character, but cannot dispel the generally anxious, dark
mood in this four-minute panel. The finale, despite its Allegretto marking, starts slowly with a
sustained viola note held from the Scherzo, over which is presented a somber melody. Soon,
however, a theme of decidedly Jewish flavor is presented over a pizzicato rhythm. A second lively
theme, also evidently of Jewish inspiration, is heard and both are then developed. The colorful,
infectiously rhythmic, and generally bright mood prevails until the sober reappearance of the
opening theme, after which the mood turns darker and the music slowly fades, the quartet
pessimistically ending.

String Quartet No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 92 (1953)

Dedicated to the Beethoven Quartet who premiered it in Leningrad, November 1953

1. Allegro non troppo –

2. Andante - Andantino - Andante - Andantino - Andante –
3. Moderato - Allegretto - Andante

The work grows from a five note motif: C, D, E flat, B and C sharp, which contains the four pitch-
classes of the composer's musical monogram: DSCH (E flat being S and B being H in German).
This motif appears in a number of his other string quartets, including the Eighth, as well as his
Tenth Symphony.

String Quartet No. 6 in G major, Op. 101 (1956)

1. Allegretto
2. Moderato con moto
3. Lento –
4. Lento – Allegretto

Like No. 2, this quartet was written very quickly during a summer break, within three and a half
weeks in August 1956, and like No. 4, it is relatively concise. It also makes a return to classical
four-movement form, but with the scherzo – a waltz, as so often in Shostakovich – in second place.
In another similarity with the Second Quartet, the first performance was given by the Beethoven
Quartet, in Leningrad, when the score was still fresh, on October 7, 1956. For three years,
Shostakovich had been concentrating on film music and songs; this was his first important première
since the three that had come in the last months of 1953, those of his two preceding quartets and
Tenth Symphony.

String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108 (1960)

1. Allegretto –
2. Lento –
3. Allegro - Allegretto - [Adagio]
The String Quartet No. 7 was preceded by the Cello Concerto No. 1 (1959), a work for years
thought to be optimistic, but now viewed in a different light as recent interpretations by cellists and
conductors have emphasized its darker side. The Quartet No. 8, Op. 110, would come later in the
year and divulge not only the kind of bleakness and tragedy heard in the Seventh, but a brutality and
harshness as well, a somewhat unusual combination in Shostakovich's works from any period.
It appears from all the evidence that Shostakovich had begun to reassess the direction of his career
in the years around 1960, turning away from the less adventurous and simplistic worlds of works
like the patriotic 1954 Festive Overture and 1957 Piano Concerto No. 2. Still, he would write the
bombastic and relatively weak Symphony No. 12, "The Year 1917," in 1961, fortunately his last
major effort to kowtow to party officials.
The Quartet No. 7 is cast in three continuous movements, each quite short; the whole has a duration
of only about 12 minutes. The opening Allegretto begins with a descending three-note theme whose
character is both cynical and nonchalant. As the movement progresses, the mood darkens, setting
the stage for the ensuing Lento. Here the music is brooding and melancholy, with an eerie, lyrical
main theme whose chilling harmonies taint the sonic fabric with perversely satisfying color. The
finale begins with a rush of anxious energy which is then interrupted briefly for a return to the
closing harmonies of the Lento. A nervous, driving theme appears, and now both thematic and
rhythmic elements from the previous two movements are presented. The latter half of the finale is
somewhat subdued in its restatements of the main theme and other materials.

String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 (1960)

I. Largo
II. Allegro molto
III. Allegretto
IV. Largo
V. Largo

The String Quartet No. 8 is a complex, melancholy work written while Shostakovich was visiting
Dresden, Germany, in 1960, where he was to provide music for the film Five Days-Five Nights.
There, amid the rubble still visible from the Allied bombings during World War II, he was inspired
to composed this quartet in remembrance of the victims of both Hitler and Stalin. The work is cast
in five continuous movements and contains numerous thematic references to other works by
Shostakovich.
- The first movement, marked Largo, opens with the now famous motto theme derived from the
composer's initials, DSCH (given in its German equivalents as D, E flat, C, and B natural). It is
treated fugally in this dark and tense movement, and later there are thematic quotations from
Shostakovich's First and Fifth symphonies.
- The ensuing Scherzo (Allegro molto) rages with a driving, rhythmic treatment of the motto, then
suddenly erupts with a frenzied account of the Jewish theme from the composer's Piano Trio No. 2.
The motto returns and the Jewish theme also makes another appearance, before the music settles a
bit as the Allegretto third movement begins.
- The motto theme is heard here in a dark waltz rendition, its relative calm quickly divulging
underlying menace. Another waltz theme is heard, hardly breaking from the sinister mood, and soon
the main theme from the composer's Cello Concerto No. 1 makes an appearance.
- The fourth movement (Largo) is perhaps the most starkly pessimistic: it features a three-note motif
that constantly threatens and intimidates in the outer sections, which it shares with the motto theme,
while the middle panel is sweetly mournful. This movement also contains thematic references to
Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and to the song "Tormented by Grave Bondage."
The finale (Largo) is a condensed version of the opening panel. The string quartet is dedicated: "In
memory of the Victims of Fascism and War".

String Quartet No. 9 in E-flat major, op. 117 (1964)

Dedicated to Irina Antonovna Shostakovich

Played without pause:

1. Moderato con moto –

2. Adagio –
3. Allegretto –
4. Adagio –
5. Allegro

Shostakovich rarely changed or revised his works, but the Ninth Quartet is one of the rare
exceptions. Elizabeth Wilson writes in her biography Shostakovich: A Life Remembered,
"Shostakovich finished the first version of the Ninth Quartet in the autumn of 1961. In a fit of
depression, or, to quote his own words, 'in an attack of healthy self-criticism, I burnt it in the stove.
This is the second such case in my creative practice. I once did a similar trick of burning my
manuscripts, in 1926.'"
Shostakovich took three years to complete the new Ninth Quartet, finishing it on 28 May 1964. The
premiere was by the Beethoven Quartet in Moscow on 20 November 1964. The Beethoven Quartet
had the exclusive rights to perform all of Shostakovich's string quartets. Dmitri Tsyganov, the first
violinist, recalled that Shostakovich told him that the first Ninth Quartet was based on "themes from
childhood", and the newer Ninth Quartet was "completely different".

String Quartet No. 10 in A flat, Op. 118 (1964)

1. Andante
2. Allegretto furioso
3. Adagio
4. Allegretto

Shostakovich wrote the String Quartet No. 10 in a mere ten days, while resident at a composer's
retreat in the Armenian town of Dilizhin. Its expressive language is not as advanced as that found in
his later quartets, but it is far from that of the mild-mannered and politically acquiescent world of
the Piano Concerto No. 2 and Symphony No. 12. The overall character of the work is dark, in some
places sinister and fearful. The quartet is made up of four movements: Andante, Allegretto furioso,
Adagio, and Allegretto. The last two movements are continuous, with the finale the longest of the
four and containing thematic references to the earlier movements. The quartet opens with a four-
note motif that seems to pose a question or establish a sense of doubt. The mood then turns dark,
but remains subdued throughout the movement. The ensuing panel, as its marking indicates,
contains furious music, but it is the fury of fear and anxiety, as well as of anger. The Adagio is a
mournful passacaglia and offers a touching theme that turns darker and more ponderous as the
movement progresses. The finale begins as if it is breaking away from the melancholy character of
the piece, its main theme seemingly jaunty and carefree. But the music cannot escape its dark nature
for long, as ghostly reminiscences of the Adagio theme and motifs from the first movement haunt
the latter moments of the work. The quartet closes quietly in a somewhat detached and lonely mood.
Some have viewed this work as a statement that human feelings and emotions can overcome evil.
They interpret the second movement "furioso" as that evil, and because there is no reference to its
music in the closing measures, only to the serene, if melancholy, strains of the other themes, its
absence signals its vanquishing. While there may be merit to this view, it might also be an overly
simplistic interpretation of an enormously complex and multifaceted composition.

String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 122 (1966)

1. Introduction. Andantino
2. Scherzo. Allegretto
3. Recitative. Adagio
4. Etude. Allegro
5. Humoresque. Allegro
6. Elegy. Adagio
7. Finale. Moderato

It's no coincidence that Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 11 shares the key of Beethoven's 11th
(Op. 95); Shostakovich's work is dedicated to the memory of Vasily Petrovich Shirinsky, second
violinist of the Beethoven Quartet, which had premiered nearly all of Shostakovich's previous
quartets. Yet the Beethoven connection becomes tenuous after that point. The angry earlier work
falls into four fairly conventional movements, whereas Shostakovich has produced a suite of seven
short movements, the first five no longer than a minute or two each. Yet Beethoven toys with
harmonic conventions, and Shostakovich, too, challenges expectations -- not harmonically so much
as in terms of tone. The work's mood is predominantly elegiac, but, except in one movement, hardly
tragic. Indeed, an element of quiet whimsy creeps into much of this peculiar score.
The Introduction: Andantino employs a wiry, restless theme with minimal accompaniment; when
the instruments all take an equal part in the voicing, the melody falls flat and static, an amplification
of the chords underlying the main tune. This leads straight into the Scherzo: Allegretto, with its
nagging, repetitive theme (including a big, sardonic glissando near the end) that Shostakovich
sometimes treats in simple canons. This slows and disintegrates, only for listeners to be jolted
awake by the intrusion of the jagged, dissonant beginning of the Recitative: Adagio. This settles
into long, ominous chords under fragments of the jagged figure, soon to be interrupted by the fourth
movement, Etude: Allegro. A high, wasp-ish, perpetual-motion theme obsesses the first violin,
while the other instruments play slightly menacing accompaniment; the theme is stripped down and
simplified into a frantic ostinato that forms the basis of the ensuing Humoresque: Allegro.
The mood suddenly changes with the dark, grimly funereal Elegy: Adagio, a forlorn processional
that makes much of concentrated two- and three-note motifs. After about four minutes -- a lavish
expanse, by this quartet's standards -- the music segues into the Finale: Moderato. It begins with a
very quiet, nattering, almost childlike tune that briefly turns into a barcarolle rhythm before
reappearing as a sharp-edged pizzicato figure. Its slow, repeated-note patterns intertwine with a
more sinuous melody drawn from material early in the quartet, ascending on the violin to a quiet,
remote conclusion.

String Quartet No. 12 in D flat major, Op. 133 (1968)

1. Moderato
2. Allegretto

Shostakovich's last four quartets are generally viewed as a related group. They share a certain
creative boldness in their use of various advanced compositional techniques, such as the use, or
partial use, of 12-tone rows. Regarding this latter aspect, there has been some controversy about the
Quartet No. 12 in particular. Is it a composition rooted in tonality or atonality? For all its daring,
especially coming from the pen of a Soviet composer from the late 1960s, it is not truly a 12-tone
composition. Had it been written by a Western composer who had previously embraced serial
techniques, it would have been greeted largely as a return to tonality.
The work is divided into two movements, the latter running over 20 minutes. The first movement
opens with a 12-tone row stated by the cello, and the mood immediately established is dark and
mournful, typical of the music of this late stage in the composer's career. He was suffering from a
serious heart ailment by now and endured considerable pain from arthritis. The main theme here has
a nobility to its sadness, offering consolation but little hope. The second subject, played at a faster
tempo, is emotionally cold and sounds slightly Schoenbergian. After some development the
movement comes to a quiet close.
The second movement opens with an angry, desperate scherzo in which tonality again becomes
uncertain. Its main theme is a five-note idea -- four short and one long -- not far removed from the
four-note motto of the Beethoven Fifth Symphony, though here the last two notes descend and the
mood is decidedly darker. This motif dominates the first third of this long movement and serves as
the stimulus, if not the agitator, behind the frantic and anxious atmosphere. There is also much
colorful and virtuosic writing throughout the scherzo, including some rapid sul ponticello passages
that are both chilling and thrilling. This section finally winds down on the cello, and the Adagio
ensues. It is despairing in tone; even a colorful pizzicato section does not break the dark mood. A
brief development section follows, wherein elements from the preceding sections and the first
movement appear. Still, the mood remains rather bleak, despite the faster Moderato marking. The
finale features quicker tempos and reprises material from both movements. Here the dominant motif
from the scherzo section appears, but now less threateningly. Gradually it grows more exultant until
it finally revels in total triumph, rejecting the implied atonality of its first appearance and settling
into a very affirmative D flat. Curiously, the ending is rather Stravinsky-like; the closing chords
sound similar to the ones at the end of the Dumbarton Oaks chamber concerto.

Op. 138 No. 13 in B-flat minor (1970)

Adagio - Doppio movimento - Tempo primo

String Quartet No. 14 in F sharp major, Op. 142 (1973)

1. Allegretto
2. Adagio
3. Allegretto

Shostakovich composed this work for the cellist of the Beethoven Quartet, the chamber group most
commonly associated with his quartets during his lifetime, having premiered 13 of the 15 (Nos. 2-
14). They would have introduced the last had Sergei Shirinsky, the quartet's cellist, not died shortly
before the premiere was to take place. The String Quartet No. 14 is cast in three movements, and
each features a prominent part for the cello.
The first movement is marked Allegretto and opens with a busy, somewhat menacing theme played
by the cello in its lower ranges. The melody is then taken up by the first violin and then developed
by the whole ensemble, whereupon the music divulges a strong sense of agitation. Another theme, a
bit less animated, but otherwise of similar character, is introduced by the cello and soon the
development section commences, wherein both themes are expanded upon. The ensuing reprise is
only partial, with the cello playing the theme with which it opened the work.
The Adagio middle panel begins with the first violin introducing a melancholy theme in its lower
ranges, after which the cello takes up the somber melody. Though the alternate theme, given by the
cello to pizzicato accompaniment, divulges a somewhat brighter, even serene character, the overall
mood of this movement is dark and sad.
The finale (Allegretto) begins without pause, as the first violin gently plays pizzicato, but with a
sense of wandering and uncertainty. The ensemble then joins in, making a steady, soft rhythm of the
notes, but soon the music intensifies with a dark theme played by the first violin. Rhythms turn
anxious and the music seethes with tension until it finally relaxes for an eerie passage for cello and
violin. Elements from the two previous movements are then recalled and the work ends quietly and
serenely.

String Quartet No. 15 in E flat minor, Op. 144 (1974)

I. Elegy: Adagio
II. Serenade: Adagio
III. Intermezzo: Adagio
IV. Nocturne: Adagio
V. Funeral March: Adagio molto
VI. Epilogue: Adagio

This was Shostakovich’s last string quartet, and one of the most moving of all his compositions.
Like most of the composer’s late works, it is an introspective meditation on mortality, and it is
arguably the most intimate and cryptic quartet in the cycle. The profound melancholy of the music
is akin to a requiem. His concern with death is clearer here than in any other chamber work. The
composition was started in February 1974 and completed three months later in a Moscow hospital
on 17th May 1974. The quartet is written in the mysterious but traditionally morbid key of E flat
minor and bears no dedication. It was premiered in Leningrad by the Taneiev Quartet on 15
November 1974 (one of only two Shostakovich quartets not premiered by the Beethoven Quartet).
- "Play the first movement so that flies drop dead in mid-air and the audience leaves the hall out of
sheer boredom"...were Shostakovich’s strange instructions for its performance, but his advice can
be understood when the movement is heard. The elegy is sombre, unhurried and peaceful. It starts
with a fugue, but this quickly ceases after all four voices have been heard. The second theme is in C
major and suggests the innocence of the first quartet. But the music seems not to progress. It seems
that time has ceased; that we are in a platonic world of perfection and beauty, where change is
impossible; an incorruptible world of motionless eternity.
- The opening of the next movement, the serenade, remains indelibly in the memory. The
motionless world of the elegy is scattered by four sets of three searing cries that break out one after
another from the first and second violin and the viola. The first is in B flat and refers back to the
13th Quartet which ended on a similarly sustained pitch. Each, equal in duration, start ppp and
expand to sffff. Are they screams of anguish? Their significance is not revealed but their effect is to
introduce change and motion; time is moving again. These cries recur during the movement, before
a tortured waltz appears.
- Then the next movement begins, an intermezzo, introduced through a deep pedal, and a dramatic
solo violin cadenza occurs before... - the nocturne emerges. A simple march rhythm becomes
apparent which leads to... - the funeral march. Slowly, however, the passion subsides and... - the
final movement, the epilogue, begins. This movement based on the final eight bars of the first
recalls its sense of timelessness although without making reference to its fugue. The music, depleted
of energy, culminates in a fateful and bleak viola solo only to terminate in a despairing morendo.
Approximately 35 minutes in length, the work is unforgettably death-bonded. We sense that these
are the composer’s final words and that the whole cycle of quartets has terminated. We have
traveled from the innocence of the first quartet into a world full of memories, pain, resignation,
peace and death. Significantly too, but only to be expected from this composer, we know that with
the key signature of six flats we cannot travel any further: we are now at the greatest tonal distant
from the C major of the first quartet; the journey took 36 years.