Mexico.P eople compelled – even infatuated – by the music of Dmitri Shostakovich tend to have reached this condition as a result of two experiences, and I am no different.
Shostakovich string quartet 8 analysis pro#
In the 2021/2022 season there will be two premieres: the String Quartet 2 in Vancouver and an untitled piano piece in the Pro Musica series in San Miguel de Allende, Gto. In April 2015 a new piece for violin and piano, "Chase" was premiered in a concert at Belles Artes in San Miguel de Allende, Gto. Publications include two books of pedagogy for guitar, one on technique and the other on playing Bach, which included eight new transcriptions for guitar.įour Pieces for Violin and Guitar were published by The Avondale Press in Vancouver. Degrees in music from McGill University in performance, post-graduate study in musicology.Ĭatalogue includes a cycle of twelve songs, two suites for solo guitar, chamber music for violin, viola and guitar, two guitars and harpsichord and other combinations including three pieces for guitar orchestra published by Guitarissimo of Stockholm, Sweden. 60īorn in Alberta, Canada, grew up on Vancouver Island, lived a decade in Montreal, resident in Mexico since 1998. Townsend: El Decameron Negro, I El Arpa del Guerre.Is it Still Possible to be a Philistine?.Townsend: El Decameron Negro, II Huida de los Aman.
Townsend: El Decameron Negro III Balada de la Donc.Townsend: Suite in A major, BWV 1007 by J.Townsend: Suite in A major, Allemande by J.Townsend: Suite in A major, Courante by J.Townsend: Suite in A major, Sarabande by J.Townsend: Suite in A major, Minuets and Gigue by J.Let's listen to that first movement and hear how he does it. Trimming it even further, he gets to simple repeated eighth notes. Shostakovich gets to this by trimming that first theme from a half note (tied to an eighth) followed by three eighths, to a quarter followed by two eighths. Later on in the first movement we see a lot of this rhythm: long, short, short-the opposite of the anapest known as the dactyl. This is just one subtle detail that adds to the structural unity of the quartet.
Interestingly enough, both the middle movements of the quartet are in C major, a major third above the tonic. A diminished fourth is the enharmonic equivalent to a major third. The held A flat is answered with an E minor chord! The E natural is a diminished fourth below the tonic. The key is A flat, but the theme makes the A flat sound, not like a tonic, but like a diminished fourth (one of Shostakovich's favorite intervals). But here is an interesting thing about this theme. It comes with the second phrase when each of the other three instruments enters with an anapest on repeated notes. 10 also uses the anapest, but to quite different effect. That quartet used the anapest 'foot' which is two short syllables followed by one long (this comes from English and classical prosody). For example, there is often a basic rhythmic cell that tends to permeate the whole work-every movement. In a string quartet, the basic materials are chosen carefully. But how you deliver these elements can vary enormously. Each one of Shostakovich's quartets is unique, but he developed a formula for making them unique! It is a bit like building a house: every house needs the same things: kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, living areas. The contradiction becomes particularly interesting when you are composing a multi-movement piece.
There are always two contradictory urges present when composing: one is the urge for variety and contrast and the other is the urge for consistency and unity. Both the 9th and 10th quartets are light-hearted works and both were premiered in Moscow by the Beethoven quartet in November of 1964. Then he broke the silence by writing two in the summer of 1964: numbers 9 and 10. Way back in October of 2011 I posted on Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 was a deeply disturbing piece for him to write and after it he did not write a quartet for some years. Like many creative people, after a success in one direction, Shostakovich seems to have felt the urge to go in a completely different direction. After all these symphonies, I feel the urge to go back and look at some more string quartets.
0 kommentar(er)
