Shostakovich - String Quartet No.8, Op.110: Mvt 1

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  • Created by: HRM_1999
  • Created on: 17-06-17 16:07

Background

-Composed in July 1960

-First performance by the Beethoven Quartet in Leningrad on 2nd October 1960

-Most important Russian composer but was frequently at odds with the Soviet authorities

-This string quartet is said to be in the nature of an obituary for himself as he had contemplated suicide

-There are important quotations from previous works and much use of the motto theme D, Ebm C, B (comparable to Berlioz's idee fixe) whose pitches spell his name in German

-Serialist tendancies

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Performing Forces and their handling

-Two violins, viola and cello (standard use in a string quartet)

-The sombre character of the music is shown through the use of many low notes 

-The ranges are all generally quite narrow

-Restraint and self-denial extend to avoidance of even relatively common devices such as pizzicato, tremolo and double-stopping

-Very little use of staccato, tenuto or accents

-Dynamics remain quiet, with the only f appearing in b.25

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Texture

-B.1-11 = contrapuntal with imitative entries, rising from cello to violin I, based on the DSCH motif and transpositions of it

-Cello enters alone (monophony)

-Viola imitates the motif two bars later (b.23) a fifth higher

-Violin II enters only one bar after the viola, then Viola I is heard two bars after violin II but a fourth higher

-Two-part counterpoint occurs at b.19-23 and four-part free counterpoint at b.92-94

-Homophonic textures are widely used:

 >b.23-27 where the music is partly homorhythmic (all parts sharing identical or similar rhythms)

 >b.28-45, extended tonic and dominant drones

-Parallelism occasinally used in ways uncharacteristic of pre-20th cent music; b.11-12

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Structure

-5 sections: A B C B (varied) A (varied)

-Intro= b.1-11; five entries of the DSCH motif

-A= 11-27, includes quotation material from the First Symphony

-B = b.28-49, new chromatic melody in violin I, with drones in lower parts, DSCH in cello b.46

-C= b.50-85, Fifth Symphony material appears b.55, 63, 71

-B varied = b.86-104, melody is similar to section B, played by the cello

-A varied = b.104-126; b.104-114 are almost identical to 11-21 leading to the third homophonic statement of DSCH at b.118

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Tonality

-C minor, with three flats

-B.1-11= C minor cello entry, however the first four entries (b.1-8) include all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, creating ambiguity

-B.11-27= C minor at beginning and end, with considerable ambiguity in between, tonality is obscure during the reference to the First Symphony (from b.16), hiting at C# minor (b.19), B minor (b.21) and A minor (b.23)

-b.46-49 clear C minor with DSCH motif in cello

-b.50-54, sustained C and G with abscence of E flats and E naturals, A flats point more to C minor than to C major

-b.55,63,71 suggest C maj

-b.79-84 C minor, but with ambiguous bare 5th in b.84

-Section B, b.86-91 moves to A minor before hinting at F# min (b.91-94) and C maj (b.95-104)

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Harmony

-Harmony is very varied- ranging from one or two passages that could have been written pre-twentieth century, to dissonant writing that goes beyond traditional major and minor triads and seventh chords

-b.23-27 C minor V-Ib-IV-V (9-8sus)-1 (without 3rd); a perfect cadence

-b.79-84; b.79 = C minor V, b.80 = III with flattened 3rd (E flat minor chord), b.81= IV with raised 3rd, b.82-83= V with semibreve Ab appoggiatura in Violin II, Viola's dissonant Fb resolves to Eb then D.   B.84 - I but without 3rd

-Insistence on tonic and dominant notes of the scale (traditional features), often prolonged and would be considered pedals but there are usually no clear changes of harmony above them so they are 'drones'

-use of consecutive chords of E minor, E major, Eb major, D major and Eb maj sustained under a B natural  (b.13-16 and 106-109)

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Melody

-Placed in the lower ranges

-much conjunct mvt, with some scailic passages e.g b.67-70 with notes B natural-C-D-Eb from C minor scale

-Chromatic scailic passages (particularly descending ones) occur several times, notably in Violin I (b.28-30) and cello (b.87-89)

-Descending minor 3rds that belong to the DSCH motif

-Melodies are often narrow in range

-Repetition of motifs (b.50-56 in violins)

-Sequential repetition (b.19-23 in viola)

-References to First Smphony from b.16 and b.109.

-The first four notes of a theme from the Fifth Symphony in b.55-58, b.63-65 and 71-74 in violin I. In this piece the descending tritone pattern is faster.

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Rhythm & Metre

-First mvt of Quartet No.8 is in simple quadruple time (4/4)

-Rhythms are generally simple and syncopation is uncommon, although examples include b.24-25 (violin II) and b.120-121 with the ting of minim to minim in an inner part

-Quotation from the First Symphony is typified bt its dotted rhythm and a dotted rhythm alsi appears in the cello's opening motif

-same dotted rhythm follows the chromatic groups of crotchets in such places as b.30-33;these irregular three-bar phrases can be contrasted with the 'regular' structure of 3x eight bars in the violin I in b.55-78

-rhythmic audmentation in the second homophonic statement of the DSCH motif

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