i Allegro ma non tanto (C minor), ii Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto (C major), iii Menuetto: Allegretto (C minor) – Trio (E♭ major), iv Allegro – Prestissimo (C minor)
Beethoven's String Quartet in C minor is an eccentric work, by turns moody, mocking, musing and manic. The beat stays at the upper range of the human heartbeat, with nothing slower than a stately Andante in its four characterful movements. There is no slow movement at all, no moment of lyrical repose amid the onrush of musical ideas. More eccentric still, there is both a scherzo and a minuet (normally the former replaces the latter), and even these seem to be cross-dressing, conflicted as they are over their ‘genre identity’.
i Largo, ii Allegro molto, iii Allegretto, iv Largo, v Largo
The piece was written shortly after Shostakovich reluctantly joined the Communist Party. According to the score, it is dedicated "to the victims of fascism and the war"; his son Maxim interprets this as a reference to the victims of all totalitarianism, while his daughter Galina says that he dedicated it to himself, and that the published dedication was imposed by Soviet authorities. Shostakovich's friend, Lev Lebedinsky, said that Shostakovich thought of the work as his epitaph and that he planned to commit suicide around this time. The quartet is in five movements played without pause. Its most important landmark, and primary building block, is a four-note theme built on an abbreviation of the composer’s name, DSCH, which becomes D–E flat–C–B in German nomenclature. Shostakovich had used it as a theme previously, notably in his 10th Symphony.
Regent String Quartet (String ensemble)
The Regent String Quartet was formed in the mid-1990s. They have supported many artists, including KanYe West, McFly, Vanessa Mae, Gabrielle, Mostly Autumn, Nigel Kennedy, Julian Lloyd Webber, Luciano Pavarotti, Russell Watson, and The Opera Babes.
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