Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 (Landmarks in Music Since 1950) (Landmarks in Music Since 1950) (Landmarks in Music Since 1950)

When it was first performed in October 1960, Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet was greeted with a standing ovation and was given a full encore. Its popularity has continued to the present day with over 100 commercial recordings appearing over the last 40 years. The appeal of the work is not hard to identify. Immediately communicative, the quartet also contains rich seams of deeper meaning. This book examines its musical design in detail and seeks to overthrow the charges of superficiality that have arisen as a result of the work's popular success. The core of the study is the close analysis of the work, but this is placed in context with a discussion of Shostakovich's reputation and historical position, the circumstances of the quartet's composition and the subsequent controversies that have surrounded it. The work was composed during the so-called "Thaw" years of the Soviet Union, and the cultural and political background of this period is considered, together with Shostakovich's life and work during this time. David Fanning argues that the Eighth String Quartet is a landmark in 20th-century music in its transcendence of the extra-musical meanings that it invokes; that it is "music that liberates itself from the shackles of its contexts." When it was first performed in October 1960, Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet was greeted with a standing ovation and given a full encore. Its popularity has continued to the present day with over a hundred commercial recordings appearing during the last 40 years. The appeal of the work is not hard to identify; immediately communicative, the quartet also contains rich seams of deeper meaning. This book is the first to examine its musical design in detail and seeks to overthrow the charges of superficiality that have arisen as a result of the work's popular success. The core of this study is the close analysis of the work, but this is placed in context with a discussion of Shostakovich's reputation and historical position, the circumstances of the quartet's composition and the subsequent controversies that have surrounded it. The work was composed during the so-called 'Thaw' years of the Soviet Union, and the cultural and political backgrounds of this period are considered, together with Shostakovich's life and work during this time. David Fanning argues persuasively that the Eighth String Quartet is a landmark in twentieth-century music in its transcendence of the extra-musical meanings that it invokes; that it is 'music that liberates itself from the shackles of its context'. The book features an accompanying CD of the work. When it was first performed in October 1960, Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet was greeted with a standing ovation and given a full encore. Its popularity has continued to the present day with over a hundred commercial recordings appearing during the last 40 years. The appeal of the work is not hard to identify; immediately communicative, the quartet also contains rich seams of deeper meaning. This book is the first to examine its musical design in detail and seeks to overthrow the charges of superficiality that have arisen as a result of the work's popular success. The core of this study is the close analysis of the work, but this is placed in context with a discussion of Shostakovich's reputation and historical position, the circumstances of the quartet's composition and the subsequent controversies that have surrounded it. The work was composed during the so-called 'Thaw' years of the Soviet Union, and the cultural and political backgrounds of this period are considered, together with Shostakovich's life and work during this time. The author argues persuasively that the Eighth String Quartet is a landmark in twentieth-century music in its transcendence of the extra-musical meanings that it invokes; that it is 'music that liberates itself from the shackles of its context'. The book features an accompanying CD of the work 1. Placing Shostakovich And The Eighth Quartet -- 2. The Ussr And Shostakovich In The 'thaw' -- 3. The Eighth Quartet : An Analysis -- Layout Of Movements -- Quotations, Allusions And Affinities -- First Movement : Largo -- Second Movement : Allegro Molto -- Third Movement : Allegretto -- Fourth Movement : Largo -- Fifth Movement : Largo -- App. A. Zamuchen Tyazholoy Nevoley (tormented By Harsh Captivity) -- App. B. Documents -- 1. Shostakovich (letter) -- 2. Lev Lebedinsky -- 3. Shostakovich (interview) -- 4. Solomon Volkov -- 5. Matias Sokolsky -- 6. Nikolay Martinov -- 7. Yury Keldish -- 8. Alexander Dolzhansky -- 9. Rudolf Barshai -- 10. Alfred Schnittke. David Fanning. Title Of Accompanying Cd: Webern/shostakovich/burian. Includes Discography (p. 161-166), Bibliographical References (p. 167-175), And Indexes. By most conceivable methods of measurement Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet may be said to enjoy extraordinary esteem: extraordinary, certainly, for a concert work from the second half of the twentieth century.