String Quartet No. 3 (Shostakovich)

Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 3 in F major, op. 73, was composed in 1946 after his Symphony No. 9 was censured by Soviet authorities. It was premiered in Moscow by the Beethoven Quartet, to whom it is dedicated, in December 1946.

Structure

The quartet has five movements:

1. Allegretto
2. Moderato con moto
3. Allegro non troppo
4. Adagio –
5. Moderato

Playing time is approximately 33 minutes.

For the premiere, most likely so that he would not be accused of "formalism" or "elitism," Shostakovich allegedly renamed the movements in the manner of a war story:

1. Blithe ignorance of the future cataclysm
2. Rumblings of unrest and anticipation
3. Forces of war unleashed
4. In memory of the dead
5. The eternal question: Why? And for what?

A chamber symphony arrangement (Op. 73a) was made of this quartet by Rudolph Barshai. It calls for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, harp, and strings. It adds winds for tonal colour in the style of Shostakovich's symphonies.

The first movement is constructed using sonata allegro form. The first theme appears in the first violin and is often heard interacting with the cello. The second theme is stated in the first violin and then imitated and transformed by the other three instruments. The development is rather long and pulls its material mainly from the first theme. Finally the coda arrives with an acceleration and crescendo, borrowing, once again, the main theme as its material.

External links

• Griffiths, Paul (2012). "Quartet No. 3 in F major for Strings, Op. 73". The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. 
• Harris, Stephen (2014). "Shostakovich: the string quartets, Quartet No. 3". Shostakovich: the string quartets. 
• Jones, Evan Allan, ed. (2009). Intimate Voices: The Twentieth Century String Quartet, Vol. 2 Shostakovich to the Avant-Garde. University Rochester Press. ISBN 1-58046-322-3. 
• Kim, Rang Hee (2010). Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op.73: A Performer's Analysis (D.Mus). Florida State University. 
• Matthew-Walker, Robert (1999). Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos 2 & 3 (PDF) (CD). Hyperion Records. CDA67153. 
• Wilson, Elizabeth (2012). The Soviet Experience: Volume II (PDF) (CD). Cedille Records. CDR 90000 130. 

Dmitri Shostakovich
Operas and operetta	Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District Moscow, Cheryomushki The Nose Orango (unfinished) The Big Lightning (unfinished) The Twelve Chairs (unfinished) The Gamblers (unfinished)
Ballets	The Bolt The Golden Age The Limpid Stream
Symphonies	No. 1 in F minor No. 2 in B major (To October) No. 3 in E♭ major (The First of May) No. 4 in C minor No. 5 in D minor No. 6 in B minor No. 7 in C major (Leningrad) No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in E minor No. 11 in G minor (The Year 1905) No. 12 in D minor (The Year 1917) No. 13 in B♭ minor (Babi-Yar) No. 14 No. 15 in A major
Concertos	Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor Violin Concerto No. 2 in C♯ minor Cello Concerto No. 1 in E♭ major Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major
Orchestral works	Suite from The Nose Suite from The Golden Age Suite from The Bolt Suite from The Limpid Stream Suite from Encounter at the Elbe Suite from The Gadfly Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 Suite for Variety Orchestra Tahiti Trot Festive Overture in A major for Orchestra Novorossiisk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory for Orchestra
Film music	The New Babylon Alone Golden Mountains Counterplan The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda The Youth of Maxim Girl Friends The Return of Maxim The Vyborg Side Friends The Great Citizen Zoya Simple People The Young Guard Pirogov Michurin Meeting on the Elbe The Fall of Berlin Belinsky The Unforgettable Year 1919 The Gadfly Five Days, Five Nights Sofiya Perovskaya Hamlet King Lear
Vocal music	Anti-Formalist Rayok The Execution of Stepan Razin From Jewish Folk Poetry Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok Song of the Forests Suite on Finnish Themes Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti The Sun Shines over Our Motherland
Chamber music	String quartets No. 1 in C major No. 2 in A major No. 3 in F major No. 4 in D major No. 5 in B♭ major No. 6 in G major No. 7 in F♯ minor No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in A♭ major No. 11 in F minor No. 12 in D♭ major No. 13 in B♭ minor No. 14 in F♯ major No. 15 in E♭ minor Other Cello Sonata in D minor Piano Quintet in G minor Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Quartet Movement in E♭ major (c. 1960s) Viola Sonata Violin Sonata
Piano music	Twenty-Four Piano Preludes and Fugues Children's Notebook (6) Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor Three Fantastic Dances
Named for Shostakovich	2669 Shostakovich London Shostakovich Orchestra Shostakovich Peninsula
Related articles	List of compositions by Dmitri Shostakovich DSCH motif Leningrad première of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 Literaturoper Maxim Shostakovich (son) Muddle Instead of Music Neoclassicism Post-romanticism Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Testimony The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin Wihuri Sibelius Prize
Portal:Classical music