Posts tagged chamber music

Yesterday was Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich’s 106th birthday and to honour the memory to one of the greatest composers of the 20th century I’ve posted excellent (historical) recordings of three symphonies. Today, I would like to add a recent recording of his 15th and last string quartet, which he wrote in 1974, just a couple of month before he died. Like most of his late works, it’s dark, enigmatic and full of presentiment of his nearing death.

Check out this quite nice recording of the Pemi Paull String Quartet from 2004.

Download here: VBR.MP3 (41,9 MB) or FLAC (174,5 MB)

and check out the original page at archive.org (see source below) to find more recordings of the ensemble.

37 years ago, russian composer Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich left this world, leaving us some of the most impressive chamber music, orchestral works and piano music of the 20th century. Here are two of his masterworks as free downloads:

String Quartet No. 8 in C minor - dedicated to the victims of fascism and war, op. 110 (1960)

Sonata for viola and piano, op. 147 (1975)

I. Moderato
II. Allegretto
III. Adagio

Anybody into Shara Worden aka. My Brightest Diamond here? Well, since I first heard her music, I fell in love with her voice and her music. Soon her third album will be released and I’m really looking forward to that. In the meantime, I will enjoy this free download of a remix of her today released single “Be Brave”.

My Brightest Diamond, “Be Brave (Prefuse 73 Remix)” by My Brightest Diamond

PS.: The player/download doesn’t work (»This track is currently not available«)? Go to this page to listen & download.

And here’s the offical video:

I couldn’t find a free, legal download (maybe you? Drop me a note…) of the Quatuor pour la fin du temps (also known by its English title Quartet for the End of Time) by french composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), but to be honest, I couldn’t think of many other tracks I’d like to present here, after this weekend.

Without any more words…

And if your prefer a more symphony sound, then listen to this arrangement of the String Quartet No. 8, op. 110, the so-called Chamber Symphony, which was arranged by Shostakovich’s long-time friend Rudolph Barshai with Shostakovichs approval.

Again, it’s all about grief, fear, rage and despair. Just listen.

or download it → here at archive.org

I don’t feel like talking or writing much today. Instead I let the music of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) speak about grief, fear, rage and despair. The String Quartet of the Indiana University in 2010 was formed by Alex Boissonnault and Steffen Zeichner (Violin 1 & 2), Dan Ericksen (Cello) and Dan Wang (Viola). This recording is not CC-licensed, but it is a free download, available at the bandcamp.com-page of Steffen Zeichner.

Just Listen.