A lot of illuminating and useful biographical information in this lecture, however the interpretation of the music of the 7th quartet is rather surfacy. For all its brevity, Shostakovich's 7th quartet is perhaps his best and is a highly attuned effort to portray the stages of grief over a loss of a loved one. Someone as educated as Mr. Parloff is about Shostakovich's compositions surely must know that they can only be viewed and judged in their entirety, that the first movement (sometimes even first few movements) are not to be taken at face value but can only be made sense of in the context of what follows. To view it from the get go as a some sort of an icky character portrait of Shostakovich's departed spouse or their relationship is to miss the point entirely.
14:30 - S.Q. 7
23:45 - S.Q. 13
34:39 - S.Q. 14
A lot of illuminating and useful biographical information in this lecture, however the interpretation of the music of the 7th quartet is rather surfacy. For all its brevity, Shostakovich's 7th quartet is perhaps his best and is a highly attuned effort to portray the stages of grief over a loss of a loved one. Someone as educated as Mr. Parloff is about Shostakovich's compositions surely must know that they can only be viewed and judged in their entirety, that the first movement (sometimes even first few movements) are not to be taken at face value but can only be made sense of in the context of what follows. To view it from the get go as a some sort of an icky character portrait of Shostakovich's departed spouse or their relationship is to miss the point entirely.
could you add subtitles?