6/30 – BRASS TRANSCRIPTION: Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet No. 12, Op. 133

Shostakovich composed fifteen string quartets, from 1938 (when he was 31) to 1974 (the year before he died at the age of 68). The first of them was written shortly after his Symphony No. 5, a time of profound effect on both his personal life and his professional life (more of that later).

The twelfth quartet dates from 1968, and while by this time both the symphonies and quartets of Shostakovich often were very personal statements, this work seems to closer to “absolute music” than some of the others – but it lacks none of its composer’s typical drama and astonishing invention.

The arrangement of today’s music for brass quintet is by Verne Reynolds , a noted horn player and composer who was a professor at the Eastman School of music for 36 years. Quoting Mr. Reynolds: “It was not my intention to make the trumpet part sound like the violin part, or make the trombone or tuba have the same colors as the viola or cello. I merely took a wonderful work by Shostakovich and arranged it into an emotional piece for brass quintet.”

Quartet No. 12 is listed as being in two movements, but its structure is more complex than that. The first movement (approximately seven minutes in length) goes through no less than six distinct – and varying – tempo markings and moods. The second movement (some twenty minutes long) is actually a continuous, three-movement piece in itself. It begins with an almost manic, driven scherzo, quickly stating all twelve notes of an (almost) octave and introducing a five-note rhythmic figure which appears frequently (and, in fact, concludes the quartet). It has been described as “sonically, one of the most unusual passages in all of Shostakovich’s quartets, and one of the most terrifying.” The succeeding Adagio is comparatively simpler in texture, its mood one of extended, tragic overtones. The Finale (about half the duration of the movement) – to quote a program note – “is a synthesis of all the preceding music; not simply a reminiscence of previous material, but a radical redefinition of all that has gone before.”

We mentioned earlier that Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony was a turning point in his life. One might say, more accurately, it was one of many turning points in his life. The Fifth was his first major work after Stalin had denounced the Shostakovich opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, placing the composer in a kind of musical Purgatory. The symphony, which the composer described publicly as a “creative reply to just criticism,” put him back in what might be called “guarded” favor, but Shostakovich never recovered from the terror and fear of what the totalitarian state might bring again at any moment (and sometimes did).

As has been revealed more and more since the composer’s death, so many of the compositions from the Fifth Symphony on (in various kinds of works, but especially most of the symphonies and quartets) held coded messages about the oppression of the Russian people under Stalin, and the miserable conditions – physically and emotionally – under which the people (both ordinary citizens and artists) lived. And more and more, those messages had to do with Shostakovich’s personal illness, depression, and thoughts of death.

Many books have been written about Shostakovich, but perhaps the most often quoted is the one titled Testimony, in which the composer – seemingly in conversation with Solomon Volkov – talks about his life. Many have disputed the authenticity of the book, but nonetheless there is a quote near the end, from Shostakovich, which is nothing less than heartbreaking. He said: “No, I can’t go on describing my unhappy life, and I’m sure that no one can doubt now that it is unhappy. There were no particularly happy moments in my life, no great joys. It was gray and dull and it makes me sad to think about it. It saddens me to admit it, but it’s the truth, the unhappy truth.”

Shostakovich was in the Evanston/Chicago area in 1973, to receive an Honorary Doctorate from Northwestern University. He really did not want to come, feeling it was all a propaganda ploy in re “Russian/U.S. Relations.” He was ill, was surrounded by KGB flunkies, and was generally in a gloomy mood. When Thomas Miller, Dean of Northwestern’s School of Music, handed the doctorate to Shostakovich, the composer, with sardonic Russian humor said, “What good will this do me?” Miller answered, “This and 25 cents will get you a ride on the subway.” It was probably one of the very few times Shostakovich laughed or smiled that week.

Additionally in today’s program, CINCO will play for us a delightful, three-minute dazzler called Firedance, composed by trumpeter Anthony DiLorenzo, who has appeared a soloist with many major orchestras and has held positions within several distinguished ones as well. Firedance was written for Center City Brass Quintet (CCBQ), of which Mr. DiLorenzo is a member. It was a hit at its première, and has become a favorite among professional and student brass groups around the world.