28.11.2017
Three ages of genius
A chamber concert in the dress circle foyer on 10 December will feature music written by Dmitri Shostakovich at different periods in his life.
„Shostakovich composed the little trio while he was studying at the conservatory“, explains violinist Vladislav Gluz. „This is an example of typically Russian music, in which you can hear everything that the Russian school of composition had come up with at the time. The Shostakovich we all know so well is barely recognizable in this piece. But it is all the more interesting to trace his subsequent evolution and the emergence of his own distinctive musical language.“
At the midpoint of his creative development, after Lady MacBeth of the Mtsensk District, and having been hounded by the authorities, Shostakovich finally found recognition and even official acknowledgement. He was at the height of his fame when he wrote his concerto for piano and trumpet. The piece came out at the same time as his hugely popular cycle of 24 preludes — characterful and unique genre sketches. The concerto is full of humour, quotations, and sequences that are almost cinematographic in their power of expression. In this music, we can hear a happy genius.
„From Shostakovich’s later works, we have chosen the Chamber Symphony“, Vladislav Gluz continues. „This is a version of his String Quartet No. 8, rearranged by composer and conductor Rudolf Barshai in 1967. Shostakovich wrote this celebrated quartet in C minor while he was in Dresden working on a score for the film Five Days, Five Nights, and completed it astonishingly fast. It was written in just three days in July 1960.“
The composer formally dedicated it ‘To the victims of fascism and the war’. The recollection of the humiliations that Shostakovich himself had suffered under Stalin, his constant fear for the lives of his family and friends, and his memory of the mass terror inspired him to create one of the most poignant and personal works ever composed. Shostakovich incorporated his monogram motif in the piece and quoted over twenty musical themes from his earlier works. The quartet contains recurring references to Wagner’s Funeral March, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, and the revolutionary song Tormented by Grievous Bondage.
„We will be playing around with the chronology a little in this concert“, Vladislav Gluz says in conclusion. „For purely logistical reasons, we’ll begin with the early work, move on to the latest piece, and finish up by playing the upbeat Shostakovich from his heyday.“
„Shostakovich composed the little trio while he was studying at the conservatory“, explains violinist Vladislav Gluz. „This is an example of typically Russian music, in which you can hear everything that the Russian school of composition had come up with at the time. The Shostakovich we all know so well is barely recognizable in this piece. But it is all the more interesting to trace his subsequent evolution and the emergence of his own distinctive musical language.“
At the midpoint of his creative development, after Lady MacBeth of the Mtsensk District, and having been hounded by the authorities, Shostakovich finally found recognition and even official acknowledgement. He was at the height of his fame when he wrote his concerto for piano and trumpet. The piece came out at the same time as his hugely popular cycle of 24 preludes — characterful and unique genre sketches. The concerto is full of humour, quotations, and sequences that are almost cinematographic in their power of expression. In this music, we can hear a happy genius.
„From Shostakovich’s later works, we have chosen the Chamber Symphony“, Vladislav Gluz continues. „This is a version of his String Quartet No. 8, rearranged by composer and conductor Rudolf Barshai in 1967. Shostakovich wrote this celebrated quartet in C minor while he was in Dresden working on a score for the film Five Days, Five Nights, and completed it astonishingly fast. It was written in just three days in July 1960.“
The composer formally dedicated it ‘To the victims of fascism and the war’. The recollection of the humiliations that Shostakovich himself had suffered under Stalin, his constant fear for the lives of his family and friends, and his memory of the mass terror inspired him to create one of the most poignant and personal works ever composed. Shostakovich incorporated his monogram motif in the piece and quoted over twenty musical themes from his earlier works. The quartet contains recurring references to Wagner’s Funeral March, Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, and the revolutionary song Tormented by Grievous Bondage.
„We will be playing around with the chronology a little in this concert“, Vladislav Gluz says in conclusion. „For purely logistical reasons, we’ll begin with the early work, move on to the latest piece, and finish up by playing the upbeat Shostakovich from his heyday.“
