Gone were the days of thick and complex polyphonic textures(1). 92, 101, 108, 110) By Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) - study score Sheet Music for Strings, String Quartet - Buy print music HL.50159850 Sheet Music Plus.The classical period brought many changes to Western Music. 378 Franz Schubert String Quartet 1824 Play. 14 in D Minor (Death and the Maiden), D. 390 Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet 1960 Play. 412 Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet 1825 Play.

When studying the rise of the string quartet, there is no composer more influential than Joseph Haydn.The String Quartet No. The quartet was unique because, unlike in other musical genres, within the four-part string texture all four parts are equal and they interact intimately with each other(6), although absolute equality of the voices rarely exists in the very earliest quartets(7). As noted in the Oxford New Grove Dictionary, вЂњwith the exception of the accompanied sonata, theВ quartetВ was probably the most widely cultivated genre of вЂchamber musicвЂ™.вЂќ(4) The quartet epitomized the classical style of refined and nuanced music(5). One of the best examples of this light and entertaining music style is chamber music, particularly the string quartet. These melodies featured a light accompaniment that was meant to make the music more appealing to all nationalities thereby entertaining all listeners(3).

Both the 9th and 10th quartets are light-hearted works and. Way back in October of 2011 I posted on Shostakovichs String Quartet No. Then he broke the silence by writing two in the summer of 1964: numbers 9 and 10.

Haydn had other contemporaries who also were writing music for this genre. Oddly enough, being the first to write a string quartet is not one of them. This newly-rendered adaptation is a manipulated 'SynthFont' derivation from a conventional MIDI transcription.There are many evidences pointing to Haydn being the father of the string quartet.

One researcher described HaydnвЂ™s style saying that the quartets he created were вЂњmultifunctional masterpieces which offer pleasure for the performer and the audience but also a sophisticated вЂessayвЂ™ in composition for the connoisseur reader.вЂќ(17) This quality was achieved partially by the instrumentation of the string quartet. By somewhat standardizing the quartet structure, Haydn was able to produce an incredible number of quartets without sacrificing quality. For this reason alone we could consider Haydn the Father of the String Quartet.Yet it is not only the musical output that gives him this title but rather, the quality of all his works. HaydnвЂ™s musical output was astonishing and unmatched by any of his peers. To put that in perspective, Haydn wrote 68 string quartets, over ten times more than Xavier Richter and nearly triple that of Mozart and Beethoven(16). Xavier Richter, one of HaydnвЂ™s contemporaries, wrote 6 pieces that were later published as his string quartets(15).

Generally, this melody was given to the first violin while the rest of the group accompanied. By making all four musicians string players, Haydn created a homogenous sonority that promoted a unity of sound(18).Another way Haydn molded the string quartet was to embrace the classical style(19) and write short periodic melodies with the other three parts lightly accompanying the melody. Perhaps equally as important as the number of players is the fact that all four of them play string instruments.

Looking at this movement one can see that while the first violin has an elaborate melodic line, the other three voices play repetitive sequences of simple accompaniment. 5 located in the appendix of this paper. An example of this technique of using light accompaniment to compliment the continuous melody can be found in the first movement of HaydnвЂ™s Quartet in F minor, Op. 5 as pictured below.As seen here the melody begins with a short four-measure phrase and then is answered with a second four-measure phrase creating a short melody in an eight-measure period.Reviews written of performances of HaydnвЂ™s quartets often only mentioned the 1st violinistвЂ™s name, further illustrating the fact that the quartets were written with the 1st violin playing the melody during the majority, if not the entire time(22). An example of a short periodic melody can be found in the first violin part of HaydnвЂ™s String quartet in D major вЂњthe LarkвЂќ Op. Another reason the violin was given the melody was that by adding the melody to the highest sounding sonority, it stabilized the tonal center of the quartet and the contrast between high and low sonorities made it very clear which part had the melodic material(21).

1.As noted in the score, after using three chords to establish the key, the cello then introduces the theme which is answered by the viola creating a eight-measure period out of two four-measure phrases. An example of the melody being in another voice can be found in HaydnвЂ™s Quartet Op. One researcher described this interaction of melody in different voices as a вЂњpolite conversation.вЂќ(23) This could be where Beethoven, Mozart, and other later composers got the idea to give the other voices more melodies. His signature structure of light accompaniment to go with the melody continued, but the melody was placed in different voices.

It was some time before he wrote another quartet. These early quartet works were unique in the sense that they contained five movements instead of adhering to what is now considered as the traditional four-movement quartet normally expected. When Haydn first attempted to write quartets, sometime between 1755-1760, he called them divertimentos(24).

33 were marked with the term scherzo or scherzando which simply meant to play the movement lightly and cheerfully(34). The dance movement was intended to be a minuet in triple meter(33) although other quartets such as the six quartets of Op. They included a dance movement and a slow song like movement(32).

2, the slow movement was described as containing вЂњthe passion behind the darkly imaginative operatic-scena-without-words. Unlike the fast lively tempos of the 1st movement sonata form and the 2nd or 3rd movement dance forms, the slow movement allowed Haydn to express a more serious emotion. Often they contained a theme and variations as well(36).

Shostakovich String Quartet 8 Analysis