What do we know about Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No.3? Yes, it’s beautiful, emotionally charged and enigmatic. What else?
Dedicated to Beethoven Quartet, it was premiered by it in 1946. It was a difficult time for all artists, including composers, as the Soviet censorship machine was especially severe in the post-war years when the cold war in full play. Thus Shostakovich’s 9th Symphony that preceded the quartet was badly censored and banned too, just like the numerous work pf art in that period. The quartet, too, was banned from public stage shortly after its premiere.
In order to avoid the formalism, Shostakovich gave different names to the non-traditional 5 movements of the work on its premiere. They carried a war-descriptive character and made a little ‘story’ of the war time. The names were withdrawn soon in fear of the above-mentioned censorship, which still didn’t help the work ‘to survive’ the rules of the regime.
The String Quartet was perhaps the only composition among his works that fascinated Shostakovich so much. On attending the private rehearsal of Beethoven’s Quartet a few years after, composer was supposed to make remarks concerning the performance. The Third Quartet was the only work that he didn’t stop but asked to keep playing, listening to it defenceless, with tears in his eyes.
Another interesting fact has popped up recently and that one was a bit unexpected to me. The famous horror sounds from Hitchcock’s “Psycho” soundtrack are believed to be a reworked version of the seven notes from the Third Quartet. Bernard Herrmann decided that Shostakovich’s creation would convey the necessary spirit in the best way. Well, that’s rather a theory than a fact, but still, sounds kinda convincing, have a listen:
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| Dmitry Shostakovich |
In order to avoid the formalism, Shostakovich gave different names to the non-traditional 5 movements of the work on its premiere. They carried a war-descriptive character and made a little ‘story’ of the war time. The names were withdrawn soon in fear of the above-mentioned censorship, which still didn’t help the work ‘to survive’ the rules of the regime.
The String Quartet was perhaps the only composition among his works that fascinated Shostakovich so much. On attending the private rehearsal of Beethoven’s Quartet a few years after, composer was supposed to make remarks concerning the performance. The Third Quartet was the only work that he didn’t stop but asked to keep playing, listening to it defenceless, with tears in his eyes.
Another interesting fact has popped up recently and that one was a bit unexpected to me. The famous horror sounds from Hitchcock’s “Psycho” soundtrack are believed to be a reworked version of the seven notes from the Third Quartet. Bernard Herrmann decided that Shostakovich’s creation would convey the necessary spirit in the best way. Well, that’s rather a theory than a fact, but still, sounds kinda convincing, have a listen:
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