Dmitri Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 (1944)

[@BrucknerMotet]

DSCH lifelong fan here, hearing the Fitzwilliam Quartet for the first time. Impressed. Will be a repeat customer.

[@brodieainsworthmusic]

I've got their box set of the entire Shostakovich quartet cycle, and I'm very happy with it.

[@syroyid]

indeed, one of the greatest openings for string quartet, period

[@smokefan4000]

It sounds so joyful yet so dark at the same time

[@johnpcomposer]

The level of writing in this in terms of the amount of contrapuntal texture and interplay between instruments is so much higher and more characteristic of good quartet writing than what you get in No. 8 written about 16 years later. You can hear and see him pushing much harder on his material here, certainly with greater rigor, variety of expression and on a much larger scale.

[@karespratt5131]

This is one of the greatest string quartets in my opinion. It’s so rich and has so much variety

[@angelosilva4051]

Straordinaria composizione scrittura perfetta per gli archi molto intensa e fortemente espressiva.Grandissimo.

[@notaire2]

Wunderschöne und spannende Interpretation dieses neoklassischen doch einzigartig komponierten Streichquartetts im veränderlichen Tempo mit seidigen doch teilweise neue-sachlichen Tönen aller Instrumente. Der zweite Satz klingt besnders schön und melodisch. Im Kontrast klingt der dritte Satz echt lebhaft und auch beweglich. Wundervoll und atemberaubend zugleich!

[@notarbolz926]

Together with Brahms' 1st piano trio, one of the few works in classical music that begin in a major key, but end in the parallel minor key.

[@gigogrom216]

check out also Schubert impromptu Eb major Lemba 2nd piano concerto

[@zaggojhon]

third movement is an incredibly good writing

[@adigozelov-enjoyer]

The third movement appears to be heavily based off of his Fourth Symphony. From around 22:09, you hear direct quotations from around rehearsal number 181 of the fourth. I am sure that someone can dive into this more deeply and compare the two works more thoroughly.

[@SOBIESKI_freedom]

Powerful

[@adigozelov-enjoyer]

Interesting how he composed 15 string quartets, but only 1 in his early period...

[@notarbolz926]

As he became older, he may have felt that he could express himself more freely in chamber music genres such as the string quartet. His later quartets are very intimate and haunting works.

[@adigozelov-enjoyer]

@@notarbolz926 I see!

[@classicore22]

I've read that he didn't compose any in his early period. Surprisingly, he wrote his Fifth Symphony before the First Quartet.

[@adigozelov-enjoyer]

@@classicore22 Oh, I see! Even more so, then!

[@yowzephyr]

Shosty sure knows sad.

[@BrucknerMotet]

perhaps "contemplative" fits the mood better? I say this only to encourage my fellow humans not to totally surrender all hope of contemplation at times when one's mood is not padlocked into blissful happiness/ignorance mode.

[@sneddypie]

26:45 similar to his second cello concerto

[@manuelrico1593]

I came here from a Scratch example project

[@GadgieBloke]

Are you sure you'll be able to find your way back?

[@manuelrico1593]

@@GadgieBloke I'm not really sure...