Shostakovich: UNPACKED with Antipodes Quartet

Welcome to

Shostakovich: UNPACKED

In this 50th year since the death of great Soviet-Russian composer Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, we celebrate his life, struggles and profound contribution to the canon by programming 5 of his 15 string quartets, set in the company of some of his greatest other chamber music. Well-known for the hidden messages and codes inside his music due to the terrifying cat-and-mouse game he endured with Stalin, Shostakovich’s music expresses universal emotions and the power of the human spirit to endure.

In each concert, we collaborate with an exciting guest ensemble or musician, who join the NZSQ in exploring these masterpieces. We also showcase reflections on or reactions to Shostakovich’s music by a different New Zealand composer on each evening, giving the audience the chance to reflect on the power and relevance of Shostakovich’s music in today’s political and social climate.

Thank you for joining us on this journey.

New Zealand String Quartet Trust

PROGRAMME NOTES

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906—1975)

String Quartet No.7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108 (1960)

Dedicated to the memory of Shostakovich’s wife, Nina, Shostakovich’s Seventh String Quartet is only thirteen minutes in duration. Described as ‘alternatively playful, sorrowful and hysterical’ by David Fanning, its three movements follow a pattern of allegretto, lento and allegro. When listening to the rapid shifts of time, mood and colour, it’s not hard to see why this quartet has been considered to symbolise everything from death, rite and remembrance to Shostakovich’s personal struggles with the Soviet state.

1960 marked many musical milestones for Shostakovich, including the composition of his seventh and eighth string quartets, both featuring the ‘footprint’ of the three-quaver knock, and, in his political life, joining the Communist party. To do so meant to fulfil the ideals of the Soviet state for classical excellence, centred around ideas of patriotism and loyalty to Russian music traditions. This stood in contrast to an alien ‘formalism,’ which the the Central Committee labelled “a striving after chaotic and neuropathic discords and accumulations of sounds.” What we might now describe as atonal and experimental was considered a crime, for which Shostakovich had already been denounced twice. There are stories of Shostakovich’s suicidal and depressed mental state following this entrance to the Party.

The question for all in this room tonight is how these ideas play out in the music, and what that means to us. We invite you to imagine this world today as you hear the existential beauty and chaos unfold in this quartet.

by Eden Annesley

GAO Ping (1970—)

A Lingering Echo — homage to Dimitri Shostakovich (2025)

Dimitri Shostakovich was part of the reason I became a composer. I was most likely not alone in this in China as he was a hero for whole generations of Chinese musicians.

Like a lingering echo, he exists in our musical memory, but more than that, he holds a special symbolism in our consciousness. In his life’s struggle and compromises, and in the fierce and defiant expression in his music, we witness a human condition that resonates with us regardless of era or space.

A Lingering Echo for string quartet is my personal response to the man and the musician Shostakovich. There is no direct quotation from him in the sense of borrowed material (except a rather obscured DSCH motif), but in all three movements, there are constant references to the Shostakovich in my memory and imagination.

by GAO Ping

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906—1975)

String Quartet No. 6 in G major, Op. 101 (1956)

The sudden death of Nina, Shostakovich’s 1st wife, in December 1954, sent Dmitri into a period of creative hibernation, from which he only emerged on the acquaintance of and sudden marriage to Margarita Kainova 18 months later. While on their honeymoon, in August 1956, he wrote this string quartet, his first composition since Nina’s death.

Of all Shostakovich’s 15 quartets, no. 6 is the only one written in an atmosphere of political hope. The famous speech of Khrushchev at the 20th Soviet Party Congress in February 1956, in which he condemned the rule of Stalin and his horrific purges, signalled the beginning of a new era of freedom. This was, however, short-lived, with the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the brutal suppression of opposition only nine months later in November 1956.

In this brief interim of political optimism and his state of new love, Shostakovich wrote one of his most outwardly-seeming relaxed and optimistic quartets, in sunny G major. The overall lightness and whimsy of the first two movements is however broken in the subdued third movement, a lonely passacaglia, where the cello repeats the theme seven times, below motives that seem to search endlessly for something never reached. With a quote from Prokofiev inserted between variations five and six, it can be seen as a lament for his fellow composer, his murdered friends, his first wife and possibly himself. The last movement releases us into a twirling solo violin dance in triple time, interrupted twice by an ominous march-like theme before trailing off in a mood of peaceful resignation.

by Gillian Ansell

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906—1975)

Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11 (1924—1925)

The string octet was originally intended to be a much longer work, but Shostakovich set it aside to allow him to complete his first symphony. Upon returning to and completing the octet, the work consisted of just two concise and contrasting movements: a prelude and scherzo. Written more than a decade before his first string quartet, Shostakovich wrote the work in memory of his close friend, the poet Volodya Kurchavov, who had recently died of typhoid fever.

In the prelude, Shostakovich begins with an almost neo-baroque feel, replete with echoes of typical French overture rhythm. He goes on to explore various fractured emotional states, already imbued with trademark Shostakovichian dissonance, but finishes the movement with a peaceful D Major chord. In the scherzo, the emotional state is more frenetic and unrelenting, perhaps paying homage to the energetic and driving last movement of Mendelssohn’s own octet, though here filled with an unashamedly demonic and cacophonous character.

Like composers Enescu and Mendelssohn, Shostakovich completed his octet before his twentieth birthday and at the time, the composer felt the scherzo “the very best thing I have written.”

It is such a pleasure to perform this exhilarating work alongside the incredibly talented artists of Antipodes Quartet.

by Peter Clark

ARTISTS ON STAGE

Peter Clark Violinist, New Zealand String Quartet

Gillian Ansell Violist, New Zealand String Quartet

Arna Morton Guest Violinist, New Zealand String Quartet

Lavinnia Rae Guest Cellist, New Zealand String Quartet &

Cellist, Antipodes Quartet

Eden Annesley Violinist, Antipodes Quartet

Mana Waiariki Violinist, Antipodes Quartet

Tal Amoore Violist, Antipodes Quartet

Inbal Megiddo Guest Cellist, Antipodes Quartet

THANK YOU

EXPLORE THE REST OF THE SERIES

#3 with GHOST TRIO

Wednesday 1st October, 6:30pm

Shostakovich: 4th String Quartet, Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano, 2nd Piano Trio | Unpacked: The music of Robert Burch

#4 with JIAN LIU

Tuesday 25th November, 6:30pm

Shostakovich: Piano Quintet, Sonata for Viola and Piano | Unpacked: Special announcement to follow

BOOK NOW

FOR MORE ANTIPODES QUARTET

Join us this weekend as we perform in Classical on Cuba alongside Antipodes Quartet and string students from New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī.