Harmonia Mundi: HMC901953

Shostakovitch - String Quartets Nos. 6, 8 & 11

Shostakovich had just finished his Seventh Quartet when the leader of the Beethoven Quartet told him that Melodiya had asked them to record his 'last quartet': "Last quartet?" exclaimed the composer. "When I've written all my quartets, then we'll talk about my last quartet!" "And how many do you intend to write?" "Twenty-four", replied Shostakovich. "Haven't you noticed that I never repeat a key? I'll write twenty-four quartets, so as to have a complete cycle." Shostakovich only managed to finish fifteen quartets , but it is necessary to bear this large-scale project in mind in order to place these quartets in their rightful context.