Most visitors to this site are initially interested in the best known of all of Shostakovich's fifteen string quartets: the Eighth. If this is your prime interest then just click the number eight in the navigation bar above. If, on the other hand, you would like to sample the types of music contained in the quartets then the extracts given from the Fourth, Sixth and Tenth Quartet may be an easy way to start. Or, of course, you could simply read this introduction to the contents of this website. It's your decision!
Ways to Listen to the Quartets
There seems to be three ways that we listen to music - be it pop, jazz, classical or whatever. The first is the most common: we use it as background music. We listen but our thoughts are elsewhere. We are shopping in the supermarket, or enjoying ourselves at a nightclub, or we use it to block all other distractions whilst studying. In these cases the music creates a backcloth, an environment in which we feel well and relaxed. We are not really conscious of the music; we might not even remember afterwards what was played. We hear the music rather than listen to it.
The second way is typified by falling onto the sofa with the headphones on, gazing at the ceiling and letting ourselves be seduced by the pleasure of the sound. We endulge ourselves in a sensual experience which Wagner exemplified in the 'Liebestod'. We submerge ourselves in the music and it overwhelms us. Lost in rapture we are conscious of nothing else. Consumed by the music we let our feelings freely drift in its cross-currents. But we are mesmerized emotionally, but not intellectually: we are engulfed in the aural experience, but not in a dispassionate analysis of the musical structure.
The third way is rarer. Here we treat the music as, in the terminology of philosophy, an 'intentional object for our scrutiny'. In otherwords we are concerned not with our emotional reactions to the music but rather with the music itself. It is its form rather than its effect on us which is important. We are interested in perceiving the musical ideas; seeing how they appear, develop and resurface. We follow the syntax of the piece; how it is constructed; how the various elements are related to each other; we follow the logic of music's development. We also try to understand the music in a wider context; relate it to the time of its composition; to the circumstances and conditions of its creation. When we listen to a composition in this way it seems that the deeper our background knowledge is, the richer is our musical experience.
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich1 wrote fifteen string quartets and in listening to any of them in this third manner some background information is essential. There are two reasons:
the first is that Shostakovich lived in a period of history and in a society which has now vanished. His creative life was deeply influenced by Soviet communism and the Cold War, and although both have only recently disappeared it is now difficult for us to relate to those times. However an understanding of the political aesthetics of that period is essential for a deeper appreciation of the works themselves and for comprehending how those works were received during his lifetime and after his death on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
By the time Shostakovich had begun his cycle of fifteen string quartets 'Socialist Realism' had been extended from being required in Soviet literature to being the doctrine governing Soviet music. The impact of this policy on Shostakovich's music was profound. By defining the aesthetic standards deemed acceptable 'Socialist Realism' essentially defined the form, or syntax, of his compositions. This important influence on his music is the subject of an article on this site entitled 'Socialist Realism and music'.
Shostakovich's music was not only affected by 'Socialist Realism' but the Soviet authorities introduced it suddenly by publicly condemning one of his operas. The effect was so traumatic for Shostakovich that he never composed an opera again despite his theatrical talent. Instead he began to write string quartets. Exactly what happened at the end of January 1936 is described in the article 'The Lady Macbeth Affair'.
The second reason why non-musical knowledge is essential for a deeper understanding of Shostakovich's string quartets is that they appear to have semantic content: they seem to be saying something. This is in itself strange for just as it would appear impossible for purely instrumental music to represent social reality (which is what 'Socialist Realism' demanded) so too would it seem impossible for music without the aid of words to convey a message. Yet throughout his works Shostakovich makes intensive use of musical quotations from songs, operettas and operas all of which have, of course, textual content. Furthermore his compositions contain, like many composers before him, encryptions achieved through numbers and the letters associated with notes. As a result Shostakovich's works give an impression of containing covert messages. The best-known examples occur in the Eighth Quartet but other examples can be found in the whole cycle. Indeed the pure quantity of examples should be enough to dispel any doubts that such covert messages are the fantasies of musicologists rather than the intent of the composer.
A description of each individual quartet can be read by clicking the relevant number in the navigation bar at the top of the page. Each description contains an example taken from a movement (usually one of the lighter ones!) from the quartet in question. If a quick overview of his fifteen quartets is required then the article 'The quartets and symphonies compared' might prove useful.
A close examination of the choice of key for each quartet shows that Shostakovich was following a plan; a plan that would illustrate his identification with the cycle by associating his initials with certain quartets. This is explained in another, more technical, article entitled 'The tonal structure of the cycle of quartets'.
There is an article dealing with 'The genealogy of the string quartet' in general.
Finally although I give no explicit recommendations for recordings of the works, I do have suggestions for further reading in the 'Bibliography'.