String Quartet No. 5 (Shostakovich)

Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 92, was composed in autumn 1952. It was premiered in Leningrad in November 1953 by the Beethoven Quartet, to whom it is dedicated.^[1]

Structure

It consists of three movements, performed without a break:

Allegro non troppo —
Andante — Andantino — Andante — Andantino — Andante —
Moderato — Allegretto — Andante

Playing time is approximately 30 minutes.

The work grows from a five-note motif, C–D–E♭–B–C♯, which contains the four pitch-classes of the composer's musical monogram: DSCH (E♭ being Es and B being H in German). This motif appears in a number of his other string quartets, including String Quartet No. 8, as well as his Symphony No. 10.^[2]

Notes

^ Harris (2014)
^ Griffiiths (2012)

References

Griffiths, Paul (2012). "Quartet No. 5 in B-flat major for Strings, Op. 92". The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Harris, Stephen (2014). "Shostakovich: the string quartets, Quartet No. 5". Shostakovich: the string quartets.

External links

Parloff, Michael (25 March 2013). "Lecture on Shostakovich Quartets Nos. 1, 5, 6, & 12". YouTube.

[1] Harris (2014)

[2] Griffiiths (2012)

[1]

[2]