Presents
Vissarion Shebalin
String Quartet No.6 in b minor, Op.34--New Edition
String Quartet No.6 in b minor, Op.34 was composed in 1943 a year after Quartet No.5, the Slavonic. In the very fetching Allegro which begins the work, Shebalin creates a spatial panorama of great breadth, with many moods and emotions. In the second movement, Andante, slavic lyricism, which was missing from the first movement, reappears, though not overtly so. Of striking beauty is the original melody introduced in the cello’s lowest register. Unlikely as it might seem, a mood of elegance is created. Next comes a nervous Vivo which serves as a scherzo. A short but very colorful trio section, in which the lower strings are made to sound like folk instruments, is provided for contrast. The closing Allegro giusto begins in an unassuming manner but fetching melodies and echoes of Borodin can be heard.. The soft coda, with the first violin high above the others, is the most striking of all.
Writing of his visit to Shostakovich, the Polish composer Krzystztof Meyer said that in Shostakovich’s study he found pictures of only three composers: Mahler, Mussorgsky and Shebalin. Not only Shostakovich but most of Shebalin’s contemporaries regarded him as being in the front rank of composers from their generation. Vissarion Shebalin (1902-63) was born in Omsk, Siberia where he began his musical studies. Later at the Moscow Conservatory, he studied under Myaskovsky. During the 1920’s he was attracted by modernism, but during the 1930’s he was drawn to traditionalism with its attachment to folkloric melodies. By 1942, he was appointed director of the Moscow Conservatory. When Stalin came to power, Shebalin was forced, as were all of the other major Soviet composers, to find some sort of modus vivendi with Socialist Realism. Although his music is well-known within Russia, it is virtually never heard outside of it. Chamber music always interested Shebalin and constitutes a sizeable part of his output. His nine string quartets span the length of his entire career from student right up until his death. They are an important body of work which deserves to be better known and to be performed.
This is another important Soviet string quartet. Within Russia the quartets of Shebalin are held in the highest regard. It surprising that they have never made a mark abroad. This quartet deserves to be heard in concert but can be managed by amateurs as well.
Parts: $29.95
Parts & Score: $39.95
