A17 Shostakovich, Life Letters and Friendship with Carducci Quartet

Music from Shostakovich’s Quartets Nos 1,2,4,7,8,10,11,13 and 15
With readings from the Composer’s letters

Carducci String Quartet

Experience the intense emotional power of Shostakovich’s String Quartets as the Carducci Quartet paint an intimate portrait of the great composer through music and spoken word. Take a journey deep into Shostakovich’s psyche, as he walked a delicate tightrope balancing political pragmatism with personal expression against the backdrop of Josef Stalin’s tyrannical Soviet regime. Historical sources and letters from the composer to one of his closest confidantes are paired with extracts from contemporaneous quartets, painting a fascinating picture of how music offered a much-needed emotional outlet in the most difficult of times.

Dmitri Shostakovich – A selection of movements from string quartets:

Allegretto (Polka) for String Quartet

I. ‘Moderato’ from String Quartet No 1 in C major
I. ‘Overture: Moderato con moto’ from String Quartet No 2 in A major
I. ‘Allegretto’ & II. ‘Andantino’ from String Quartet No 4 in D major
I. ‘Allegretto’ from String Quartet No 7 in F-sharp minor
I. ‘Largo’ and II. ‘Allegro Molto’ from String Quartet No 8 in C minor
III. ‘Adagio’ from String Quartet No 10 in A-flat major
IV. ‘Etude: Allegro’ & V. ‘Humouresque Allegro’ from String Quartet No 11 in F minor
String Quartet No 13 in B-flat minor
IV. ‘Epilogue’ from String Quartet No 15 in E-flat minor