https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8LXpPkfa20&t=545s
Towards the end of his life Shostakovich dedicated his last string
quartets to various members of the Beethoven Quartet, which had
premiered many of his works in the genre. SQ 11 (1966) was dedicated to
the memory of the 2nd violinist, who had died the previous summer. SQ
12, in the moonlit key of D flat major, was dedicated to the first
violinist. Nr 14, an extraordinary piece from 1973, was dedicated to the cellist. Nr. 13, from 1970, was dedicated to the alto player. It starts
with a long dodecaphonic solo (unaccompanied) for the alto, followed by
a choir lament in the four fiddles, like something from an orthodox
rite.
It's also the piece where the players are required to tap their bows rhythmically on their fiddles, as a sort of boogie woogie dance macabre.
Most players rather tap their music stands than their precious
instruments. The piece ends with a 'bullet-thru-the-head' sforzando on a
high B flat.
The viola in this performance is the Ukrainian viola star Maxim Rysanov.
The cellist is Alexander Buzlov, who unfortunately died in 2020, 37
years old.
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