Shostakovich completed his Third Quartet at the dacha he rented in the village of Komarovo outside Leningrad in early August 1946. It was dedicated to...

Shostakovich completed his Third Quartet at the dacha he rented in the village of Komarovo outside Leningrad in early August 1946. It was dedicated to the members of the Beethoven Quartet, who gave the first performance in Moscow on 16th December of the same year. It was withdrawn shortly afterwards, but remained in private circulation during the difficult years that followed. The first movement, in tripartite sonata form, offers a characteristic first subject, introduced by the first violin, and leading to a pianissimo second subject. The material is developed in a double fugue, before the final recapitulation and the re-appearance of the first subject in the coda. The E minor second movement is based on three themes. The first of these is presented by the first violin against an ostinato viola pattern and the second by the viola, with cello ostinato. The third theme is played staccato and pianissimo, the first returning to frame the contrasting episodes. A similar rondo form is used in the third movement, in the key of G sharp minor. Here two of the themes are based on an irregular rhythmic pattern, while the third is a curious march, the viola accompanied by plucked strings, the violins in syncopation. The C sharp minor fourth movement is at the tragic heart of the quartet, the mood established in the strong opening notes, answered in bitter sadness by the first violin. The heart-felt restatement of the theme by the viola, accompanied by the solemn notes of the cello, leads immediately to the last movement, with the first theme stated by the cello, pianissimo and then handed to the first violin. The same instrument introduces the second theme, then taken up by the viola, leading to the return of the first subject in this sonata-rondo movement. A mock-jovial third theme is introduced by the cello. The first theme returns and is elaborated, leading, in a dramatic climax, to the return of the ominous theme of the fourth movement, played by the viola and cello in canon. Other thematic material of the movement is heard again, in full or fragmentary form, before the work comes to an end. The Fifth Quartet of Shostakovich was first performed in December 1953. It had been completed the year before, but the death of Stalin now provided an opportunity for the performance of works that Shostakovich had held back. Once again the quartet, a work of great intensity, is dedicated to the Beethoven Quartet, entrusted, as always, with it's first performance. The opening Allegro non troppo, in sonata form, has a first theme that grows in power, marked always by a brief figure in the viola. There is a more lyrical second subject, introduced by the second violin, and a third, closing theme. The exposition is repeated before the central development. This reaches a dynamic climax with the introduction of a new theme, leading before long to the recapitulation, when the viola figure is heard once more. A sustained high F in the first violin links the movement with the following B minor Andante, with it's characteristically Russian theme shared by viola and first violin. There follows a B major theme of particular and unusual tenderness, in largely consonant harmonies. Both themes return, with a closing theme, and a sustained first violin high F sharp, doubled by the viola, with a cello D, links the second with the third movement. Here a Moderato introduction ushers in a sonata-rondo form Allegretto, in which the viola states the first theme. There is a quietly expressive second theme, but tension mounts in the development section, which brings back themes from the earlier movements. Harmonic tension is relaxed when the first violin, followed by the viola, introduces a passage of recitative. The earlier themes of the movement return, as the music dies away.