Monday, January 10, 2022

CXXXI. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri: String Quartet #1 in C Major, Op. 49

CXXXI. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

String Quartet #1 in C Major, Op. 49 (1938)
1. Moderato
2. Moderato
3. Allegro molto
4. Allegro
Jerusalem Quartet
(14:06)

"In composing my First Quartet, I visualized childhood scenes, somewhat naive and bright moods associated with spring."

Written the year after the Fifth Symphony, this first quartet seems almost designed to shield him from Stalin's tirades about the opera and the Fourth Symphony.

First Movement

A picture of innocence:










and sweetness:






















Second Movement

A beautiful, lilting viola solo with pizzicato cello:



































Third Movement

In a hushed Allegro, DS moves to the unlikely and unrelated key center of C-Sharp Minor:




Fourth Movement

A lively Allegro with a wonderful melody:
















A Beethoven-like ending:



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