Miaskovsky’s last quartet
begins with an easy-going movement which
is quite Haydnesque; the second subject
is very playful as befits the great
master. It’s quite delightful. The scherzo,
second, movement, is fast and vital,
a rapid dance with simple, contrasted,
trio. Despite Calum MacDonald’s claim,
in his excellent notes, that Miaskovsky
was a master of the demonic scherzo,
I hear nothing demonic in this movement,
but within the scale of this music it’s
quite dynamic. The slow movement is
pure melody and there is no better writing
for strings than melody. The finale
is an amiable quick movement. There’s
nothing pretentious about this music.
It’s simply very good-natured, well
laid out for the instruments and very
tuneful.
Shostakovich’s 1st
Quartet is equally amiable. It’s
interesting that after all the experimentation
of the 1920s, and the denunciation concerning
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District,
not only should he turn to the most
intimate of music media, but that he
should write such a slight work. Perhaps
because he wasn’t to return to the medium
for another six years he hadn’t realized
what he could achieve with the string
quartet. Originally named Springtime,
although this name was quickly dropped,
this quartet is bright and breezy as
befits the season and gives no hint
as to what was to come.
The 8th
Quartet is both the most popular
and the most personal of all Shostakovich’s
works for the medium. Written whilst
staying in Dresden, and working on the
score for the film Five Days, Five
Nights, the composer dedicated the
work "To the victims of Fascism
and War" but privately declared
that the true dedicatee was himself.
Full of self quotation this is a fantastic
emotional trip. Three slow movements,
a very fast and demonic scherzo and
an demonstrative middle movement. Like
Beethoven’s 5th Symphony,
our knowledge of the music can cloud
our appreciation and understanding of
the argument. The opening movement may
be seen as a lament for the victims/composer,
whilst the wild danse macabre of
the second, which quotes the 2nd
Piano Trio in the most manic of
fashions, could be yet another of Shostakovich’s
portraits of Stalin and his machinations.
So here we have three
Soviet Quartets, each exploring different
lands, each giving much satisfaction
in the journey we take with them, and
each receiving performances of superlative
stature. No ensemble will ever match
the great Decca recording of the 8th
Quartet with the Borodin Quartet
(originally issued on Decca SXL 6036
and currently available on 425 541-2DM,
coupled with a marvellous Borodin 2nd
Quartet and the Tchaikovsky 1st
Quartet played by the Gabrieli Quartet),
but the Kopelman comes very close. Their
intensity, poetry, insight and magnificent
musicianship is obvious in every bar
of these works. Their work is not to
be missed and neither is this excellent
disk.
Bob Briggs
