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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 February 2010
Unlike Beethoven and Bartók, Shostakovich turned to the string quartet comparatively late in his career. He had already reached his Fifth Symphony, in 1937, before the Quartet No. 1 appeared, almost as a diversion—an isolated work composed only on a modest scale. Any influences that it was to have on the later quartets (and these are by no means negligible) could hardly have been foreseen. It was not until after the great Seventh and Eighth Symphonies that Shostakovich really felt the continued creative need for the outlet of the string quartet. Since then this medium has taken a very firm place in his output, and this longlasting creative attention to such an intimate form of expression has brought its rewards both for the composer and for the listener. Indeed, Shostakovich's gradual mastery of form in general and unity in particular is one of the notable features of these works.
page 9 note 1. A twelfth has recently been completed. The performances of Nos. 1–11 by the Borodin Quartet, presented in London by the BBC last June and recorded for future transmission, are being broadcast in the Music Programme on January 12, 19 and 26.
page 9 note 2. Some of the later symphonies, e.g. 8, 9, 11 and 13, also show this tendency.
page 15 note 1. For more details see Keldysh's, Yury article in the Musical Times, 04 1961Google Scholar.