Standard-setters for Shostakovich

by Julie Amacher, Minnesota Public Radio

Juilliard String Quartet: Shostakovich String Quartets Nos. 3, 14 & 15; Quintet in G minor w/Yefim Bronfman, piano (Sony Classical 82876)

St. Paul, Minn. — On October 11 the Juilliard String Quartet marks its 60th anniversary. Over that time, the group has had only 11 different members with change coming one person at a time. It maintained its traditions, but stayed on the cutting edge and explored fresh ideas as each new musician joined the group. The last change was in 1997, when second violinist Ronald Copes became a member of the quartet. Violist Samuel Rhodes has been with the Juilliard for 38 years, first violinist Joel Smirnoff for 21 and cellist Joel Krosnick for 22. As part of the anniversary celebrations, they've just released a new recording of Shostakovich string quartets, which also honors the composer's 100th birth anniversary.

They're performers, composers and, as quartet-in-residence for the Juilliard School of Music, they're also avid teachers. Having composers in the group has always affected their perception of the music they play.

Violinist Joel Smirnoff explains that "the vantage point is always from looking at a work and trying to find a playing tradition in some way that comes from the music itself."

In 1975, the Juilliard established a playing tradition for Shostakovich's final string quartet, No. 15, when it gave the work's American premiere. This quartet is made up of six slow movements, each varying in mood, but with an overall tone of despair and even death. The first is the longest; it is at times quite static, with harmonies that expand and grow slowly in a chorale-like fashion. The Juilliard String Quartet performs this movement with great feeling, lingering on each phrase, further pulling you into Shostakovich's sound and emotional world.

Shostakovich gave these instructions for the first movement: "Play it so that flies drop dead in thin air and the audience starts leaving the hall from sheer boredom."

Violist Samuel Rhodes says, "It's not for the general public looking for a brilliant effect, like the Tchaikovsky piano concerto…but for something much more profound."

Shostakovich wrote his String Quartet No. 3 in 1946, the year the Juilliard String Quartet was formed, a fact the current members didn't realize until they went into the recording studio. This work covers a tremendous range of emotion that is quite a contrast from his final quartet. Shostakovich had a special knack for keeping a listener on edge, and timing the release of tension in his music. Just as the chirpy quality of the first movement starts to feel tedious, Shostakovich cleverly throws in a double fugue to change things up. He wrote the second movement in triple meter, giving it a waltz-like rhythm. The Juilliard String Quartet breezes through this movement one step at a time, with loud, bold strokes, and soft, percussive staccatos.

With Shostakovich, we never quite get to the bottom of his music. That's why it's so fascinating to have an opportunity during this 100th anniversary year to dig into it even more deeply. With the Juilliard String Quartet in its 60th year, carrying on and adding to his performing tradition on this new set of string quartets, there's plenty more to discover from both Shostakovich and this precedent-setting ensemble.