Ambrosia Music

Shostakovich's 13th String Quartet

I would like to hear about Shostakovich’s 13th String Quartet. It came at a time (1970) when tensions were mountain in the SU, his health was severely declining and he was in and out of the hospital. He was gearing much more towards the theme of death and 12 tone music (much frowned upon at that time). I recall the 13th quartet deals a lot with death or themes of death, maybe perhaps because he was nearing his own with his severely declining health and cancer.

Of the canon of 15 string quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich, the thirteenth is the one for which I have long had a special affection. It is alone in the cycle by being in one single movement (marked Adagio), albeit with subsections within it. It is one of the series of four quartets which Shostakovich wrote with one of the members of the Beethoven Quartet (which had premièred all Shostakovich's string quartets from Nos 2-10) in mind, with prominent parts for the particular instruments. The eleventh quartet is dedicated to second violinist Vasily Shirinsky (who had died shortly before the quartet's completion); the twelfth to the first violinist Dmitri Tsiganov and the fourteenth to cellist Sergei Shirinsky (who, sadly, died during rehearsal for the fourteenth quartet). The thirteenth is dedicated to violist Vadim Borisovsky, which explains the prominent role of the viola throughout this dark work.

In common with the twelfth quartet and other works written around this time (including the fourteenth symphony), the thirteenth quartet uses 12-note themes. However, this is NOT a product of serial writing. Shostakovich had never warmed to serialism but was not averse to using all 12 notes of the octave as equal partners within his own musical style. The opening melody on the viola is one of these 12-note 'rows'.

One must also remember that the quartets express very much the private side of Shostakovich's musical personality in contract with the 15 symphonies, which are much more 'public'. Shostakovich had had many unfortunate (and dangerous) brushes with the Soviet authorities between 1936 and 1962. The last thirteen years of Shostakovich's life found a slight 'thaw' and a greater degree of artistic freedom for him and his colleagues and so when this quartet was written in 1970 he was relatively free to compose at he pleased.

The thirteenth quartet is a sequel to the two-movement twelfth and shares a great deal of its mood and atmosphere. You are correct in your suggestion that this quartet, again in common with many of Shostakovich's late works, is dominated by his knowledge that he was very ill and that he would not have many years left to live. None of his late works make for relaxing or happy listening. However, they reward the performer and listener with their intense sincerity and profound depth of feeling.

The thirteenth is constantly dark and disturbing - there is no light relief. The viola has the lion's share of the important material so allow your viola player to come through the textures of the quartet. The interval of a falling semitone immediately after a rising interval is very important in this work and is one of the things that gives this work such a depressed, resigned feel. Don't overstate these but be aware of their musical and thematic importance. The mood is subdued throughout the work and I think will be a huge test of your stamina (emotionally and musically rather than technically) to maintain the necessary concentration and tension throughout the quartet's 20 minutes. It would probably help you to listen to all the quartets 11-15 (but especially No 12) so you can get the thirteenth into musical context and soak up the mood of these late personal statements. You will have to think about how you achieve those nasty, skeletal 'clicks' (bow struck lightly on the body of the instrument) in the middle section and that terrifying high B flat 'scream' crescendo which ends the work. Look at the dynamics - at the end you should be playing as loudly as your instruments will allow you, ending with an accented 'yelp!' Stagger your bowings so the crescendo is smooth and as overwhelming as possible. It's one of the most horrifying moments in all music. Perhaps imagine an musical representation of one of those chilling screaming faces of Francis Bacon's. You should leave the audience's blood running cold with that!

I don't know if you will 'enjoy' getting to know this work but I think you will find it immensely rewarding and stimulating. Good luck with it!

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C minor