Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor (I)

[lambonastickdead]

Shostakovich is terrible mozart is better and lowry is the best painter of all time

[Brakermaker21]

@lambonastickdead pshhh. Shostakovich kicks mozart in the butt.

[cigtt]

the quartet is autobiographical. The dedication seems to represent victims of WWII, but also indicates the victims of fascism in the Soviet Union including himself, because he felt he could not express himself properly as an artist. In the piece there are many quotes from his own compositions, and those of others

to name a few: DCSH-initials

Glazunov violin concerto

Lady Macbeth of Mdsensk

5th symphony

2nd piano trio

cello concerto

etc. Its about his life, disguised as a tribute to war victims.

[Montyleeny14]

You could have combined all of the songs together, as they can equate just around 10 minutes.

[TheFowlyetti1]

I have always listen to this when im depressed to make myself feel worse! 

[Wellsypig15]

The motif DECBb is his initials DSCH as this work was a tribute to himself hence much of the material is taken from his previous works, incredibley well written and emotional piece

[athrough0]

He composed the whole work in like 3 days, after he reluctantly joined the Communist Party.

[fusionmetal1]

@charleyzard

Your right in a certain way, but wrong about this piece. Many of Shostakovich's large scale works, orchestral ones, had to be approved by Stalin. It was different for his chamber works however. These were his more clandestine, free works that were unscathed by Stalinist censorship. They were often held underground in secret. This is from his heart,

[krassutemerian]

I think, the motif of DSCH is like a symbol for indiviuality; so, it´s not standing for himself - it is a an example: "me, the individual and composer D. Schostakowitsch".

[miepdetruus]

woowwww, this sounds amazing, i know this, but from what/where?? who cares.. i know what i have to type in right now to listen to this :)

[Charleyzard]

Just wanna say that this piece could absolutely not be written about Stalin's communist Russia. The cipher DECBb (DSCH) was inspired by a visit to Dresden in Germany after the ruins of world war 2. It was very politically influenced from the politics of Russia though, which means that alot of shostakovic's music couldnt be played, or written in most cases due to it not conforming to Stalin's general will. I love the use of all 12 semitones in this piece as well as its tritone and tetrachord.

[Fatimaaaa1000]

anyone has the sheet music? I search but can not find them .

if someone has please send them to: foxi_kaori12@hotmail.com

thanks

[Fatimaaaa1000]

anyone has the sheet music? I search but can not find them .

if someone has please send them to: foxi_kaori12@hotmail.com

thanks

[sadhbhag]

@joshviolinviola I was lead to believe this piece was written when Shoster's believed himself to be nearing death - he was writing it as a memoire of his life, if you will, as he believed no one else would. Hence signing it with D-Eb-C-B (DSCH - his signature) and exerpts from his most famous works - the 1st and 5th symphony.

Or so I believe.

[Loony153]

@sadhbhag. I was told that this piece is mainly in the memory of people suffering under communist rule, slightly dedicated to himself seeing as he was forced to join the communist party in the sixties. The cipher is used in this piece, but also in other pieces too so i'm unsure if this is dedicated to himself

[HannahHorrorxify]

Set piece for music a level. I love this. :)

I adore what he's done with the simple counterpoint and the tonal ambiguity at first... he's amazing. And it was written to comemorate the victims of fascism, but people have suggested that it's also the victims of Stalin's Communist rule? Perhaps a thought.... :)

Love it though. Speaks to me more than Mozart ever could.

[MrBeethoven333]

My favorite part of the first movement is the C GG Ab G motif @ 1:47

[MrOboeMafia]

I've always been an avid listener of shosty, this quartet in particular. I recently saw a live performance of his first symphony, and had come back to this quartet shortly after. I instantly recognized the quoted motif! Brilliant man, brillliant music, brilliant performance. Bravo

[greenkng420]

shosti is the shit..

[JosephGlaser]

My piano teacher described this piece (and this movement especially) as Shostakovich writing his own name on his tombstone

[myliberation]

@JosephGlaser the piece contains a cipher of, D, Eb, C, B

in german or russian or whatever, this spells out D, S, C, H - which resembles his intials, and is meant to be a little tribute to himself

[danielmountain]

the volume is too low

[thrash666girl]

this is going to sound strange...

but this piece kind of reminds me of a desert, shimmering with heat. Hypnotic and beautiful, but you know you're not going to make it out alive.

[C0urante]

You sound no stranger than the music...

[COLEVANY]

If you notice, I think that the beginning and the end of this quartet aren't so properly, that is, they seem to be a "continuation", as if there's more of the quartet before the start and after the end, or better, as if this music is intended to mean that the drama and feelings it expresses are endless and don't have a beginning (eternal)!

[Will170392]

first entry: DSCH

[TrayofCreamCakes]

@Will170392  or D Eb C B

[Will170392]

2nd entry..: quote from first symphony.

[MrUtube14]

its odd how he puts in different themes from other compositions throughout his life. like around 40 there is ma phrase from his first symphony. its lik his life story

[Romencer17]

this guy wrote some pretty kvlt music

[chesroes]

the borodin play this very well, too, though, not having that recording with me, i cant say whether it is better (definitely the borodin + richter give the best sho piano quintet) -- the members of borodin knew sho personally and most of his string chamber music was written with them in mind, so no surprise they interpret brilliantly

[joshviolinviola]

This piece is supposed to be a memoire to the victims of Fascism, this is as sad as it gets, first of all Shostakovich's music was supressed by the dictator Stalin and then WWII broke out which really depressed everyone, in the third movement where the violins have their duet it represents the jew's screaming being carried off in the night by the gestapo, and then the fourth movement symbolized the gestapo knocking on the door.

[BraveUlysses01]

You'd think the knocking would come before the whole getting carried off thing!

On topic, though, this is my favourite piece by Shostakovich. And it's by the Emerson String Quartet! I've got a CD of them performing 3 of Mozart's string quartets and they give a magnificent performance, as they do here. I'll have to track this one down :)

[sleepins]

dude...this piece isn't at all about the gestapo. This is about stalinist russia, not germany. i dont know why 8 people liked this comment, because its wrong. the knocks in the fourth movement are of the KGB coming at night and making the infamous "three knocks" on doors of suspected enemies.

a lot of musical historians (and according to his children and other sources), this was a piece protesting stalinist russia.

[nearestfarwayplace]

@ sleepins thanks for pointing out some other reason than the one that is recycled often when analysing music, it's good that we look at this as well as other influences. Apparently his sightings of what happened to Dresden also had a serious impact on him.

[crubbish123]

i tought it also had strong links to the WW2 bombing dose by english on a german village (cant remeamber for the life of me what it is called)

[boxmanlol]

dresden?

[StripedxStockings]

@joshviolinviola Actually, it's symbolizing the native people of Russia, who were persecuted like the Jews, and then the fourth movement symbolizes the KGB knocking. But the same idea, only with Stalin-era Russia.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

@joshviolinviola I don't believe any of this and it shocks me that this is the interpretation that so many people subscribe to. This piece clearly embodies Shostakovich's own suffering. "According to the score, it is dedicated 'to the victims of fascism and war'; his son, Maxim, interprets this as a reference to the victims of all totalitarianism, while his daughter Galina says that he dedicated it to himself, and that the published dedication was imposed by the authorities."

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

@joshviolinviola And to further suggest that this piece is the embodiment of Shostakovich's suffering, and not dedicated to the victims of fascism, if you analyze the score, you would realize that his name is literally written ALL over the music, in the form of the DSCH motif.

[JRR951]

@joshviolinviola Is that how you interpret it or did you actually read that somewhere?

[LlamaLlord21]

@JRR951 This quartet is actually dedicated to the victims of fascism and war.

[WYiXiang]

@joshviolinviola It is also quite possibly a suicide note, as he meant for this to be his last piece before his suicide. Fortunately, he was persuaded not to commit suicide.

[electricviolinist92]

silentsteps, you've got a great playlist, good stuff

[Redmarkviolinist]

he was a genious. i just love how the first violin comes in at 2:03. brilliant recording, also. kudos to the emerson string quartet

[PrivateAlexx]

Moving. Blissful.. and the pain that overtakes him.. The anger and the fear..

[speedy2343]

what a bad life hes had...... he mustve hated sum one to write this kind of music D:

[adrianmcccxxxiv]

speedy, the 8th Quartet was composed after Shostakovich visited Dresden, Germany, which had been absolutely destroyed in WW2. you can "hear" that bleak scene in this piece. what haunting music!

[lachnessmonster1]

you are very right about playing the next movement straight after this one. just a suggestion, if you made this quartet into one playlist the next mvmt. would play automatically. and do you know yet who is really performing this??

[lachnessmonster1]

nevermind about the playlist thing, there's too much of a break.

[Redmarkviolinist]

its definitely the emerson quartet. i have this recording at home

[FlamingGnats]

Thank you for uploading this.

[immafatpig]

I LOVE THIS PIECE! :D

[ingvdrue]

D Eb C H

[Khu827]

D Es C H in German notation. We were both wrong haha

[Khu827]

Just so you know, the first four notes (I forget what type of notation) are DSCH: Dmitri Shostakovich.

[sudi1234]

its german notation

[lonestargirl500]

It's amazing.

What a fantastic piece of music!

[riceboi91]

emo + anger

[tylerjaye]

lol close enough

[dat1988]

what do u feel when u listen to his piece.

[jsh8844]

Loneliness, sadness, pain, anger and death.

I find it all very exciting and calming in a way though.

You?

[karoloandria]

his pain

[Phantasm996]

Supreme tranquility, abiding peace and warmth.

[bassplayer10000]

tranquility? dude, listen to the piece again. :-P

[bassplayer10000]

He was about to kill himself after he wrote this piece.

[doofmann0]

Totally agree. When I listen to this quartet(especially the 2nd movement), I feel like I'm lying down on a soft bed of flowers, with the warm sun glowing on my face, beautiful birds singing, and happy bunnies hopping gracefully all around me.

[peacelovecoexist]

lol. and rainbows with unicorns too, right?

[Redmarkviolinist]

probably in a world where war doesn't exist, and there are no problems. A perfect utopia.