Cellokonzert shostakovich biography
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The encounter would be “a determining factor in my life,” as Rostropovich later recalled. It is one of the concerto's most demanding passages, requiring the soloist to engage in virtuosic and emotionally charged playing. This, again without pause, dumps us into the slashing, sardonic finale, which concludes with restatements of earlier material by solo horn, then high winds, the cello itself, timpani, and ultimately by all the winds, whose howling is cut short by some decisive timpani thwacks.
Moderato
The second movement contrasts the first, offering a haunting, reflective, lyrical passage.
The concerto comprises four movements with a unique structural layout: the first and second movements are linked without a break, as are the third and fourth. The ensemble’s sonority is also distinctive because Shostakovich does not use brass but assigns a prominent role to a single horn, who acts as a sort of alternate soloist.
This motto has an obsessive character than can even suggest a sense of paranoia.
About this Piece
Concertos have traditionally been written with specific performers in mind, and none are more intimately associated with their initial protagonists than those of Shostakovich. But at least one important Soviet critic detected, without being specific, “a welcome strain of Soviet realism.” The work was allowed to achieve its high level of popularity at home without official hindrance.
The opening movement was described by its composer as “an allegretto in the style of a jocular march.” It has a simple, four-note rhythmic motto theme, essential to the entire structure of the movement, that is brought back at the work’s end.
The nervous quality of the first movement at last transforms into frenzy, and the opening four-note motif recurs with the eerie certainty of fate.
In addition to solo cello, scored for piccolo, 2 flutes,
2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, horn, timpani, celesta, and strings
− Thomas May is the Nashville Symphony's program annotator.
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The Cello Concerto No.1 was an immediate success when Rostropovich gave the premiere in 1959 in Saint Petersburg (known in Soviet times as Leningrad). It’s filled with syncopations, rhythmic vitality, and a mix of jubilant and tense moods. This motif is often described as mocking or ironic, setting a tone of defiance and nervous energy. The movement ends with excitement yet retains the tension and ambiguity that characterize much of Shostakovich’s music.
Only once before the Second World War had he ventured into the concerto format—with the Piano Concerto No. 1 of 1933 for himself as pianist (and featuring a prominent solo trumpet part).
Shostakovich’s friendships with extraordinary performers inspired him to return to the medium for two pairs of concertos for string instruments: two concertos for the violinist David Oistrakh and two cello concertos tailor-made for Rostropovich’s signature combination of lyricism and dramatic intensity.
This leads without break into the third movement, a ferociously demanding solo cadenza based on themes from the preceding movements. The work is known for its intensity, dynamic contrasts, and unique orchestration.
I. Here, it is placed at a focal point that bridges the way to the finale.
Shostakovich in fact treats this cadenza as a separate movement, so the entire work can be described as having four movements, with the last three joined together without a break.
The orchestra, especially the brass, adds a sharp, biting edge to the cello’s material.
The biographer Laurel Fay writes that the idea comes from a film he had scored in 1948—the year in which Shostakovich faced his second denunciation by Soviet authorities; the film depicts a “procession to the execution.” The movement’s march-like motion darkens with the menacing contributions of timpani and contrabassoon.
The warm sounds of the strings, to which the solo horn adds its own flavor, open the slow movement peacefully.
Rostropovich famously memorized his part within four days.
Considered one of the finest achievements in the cello repertory from the 20th century, the Cello Concerto No. 1 includes a famously innovative treatment of the main cadenza usually expected to occur in the opening movement. The orchestra supports with delicate, ethereal textures, creating a mood of reflection and solitude.
III.
Allegro con moto
The final movement returns to the first's more aggressive, driving energy. Here Shostakovich disguises fragments from a Georgian folk song that was known to be a favorite tune of Stalin.