String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor

The 11th (1965-66) is the most mysterious of all Shostakovich’s quartets. It was composed while the composer was recovering after a prolonged stay in hospital, at the same time coming to terms with the death of his friend Vasili Shirinsky, second violinist of the Beethoven Quartet, to whose memory the Quartet is dedicated. But if this is an elegy, it’s a very odd one. The seven short movements are linked, and motivic material is shared amongst them. Yet passing from one movement the next can be a perplexing, even dislocating experience. Themes that resemble folksong, even children’s playground games, abound, especially in the opening “Introduction” and “Scherzo”. But almost immediately one begins to sense something sinister at work. Is this innocence under threat, or is the innocence itself highly ambiguous—a mask for something even more disturbing? The mask seems to slip for a moment in the violent, fragmentary “Recitative”, but then comes the “Etude”: hushed scurrying violin above half-solemn, half-grotesque chant phrases. The “Humoresque” glances nervously backwards, with an insistent, stubborn two note figure running throughout on second violin (Shirinsky? If so, what is he trying to say?). A darkly eloquent “Elegy” seems to bring release, but then the “Introduction” and “Scherzo” themes return to haunt the “Finale”, mocking at first, but soon slipping into an eerie, hushed sadness. There is a sense of loss here, but so many questions remain hanging in the air.