SHOSTAKOVICH’S STRING QUARTET NO.15 IN E-FLAT MINOR, OP.144: HOW AN IC1 THREAD CONNECTS THE NARRATIVE TO THE MUSIC

Abstract

There has been ample increase in music-theoretical analysis in Shostakovich’s late works, yet there has been one composition that has comparatively evaded this attention. String Quartet no.15 in E-flat minor, op.144 has been approached with hermeneutics and descriptive analysis; however, music-theoretical analysis is lacking. The quartet has certain musical characteristics that have not been analyzed, which leaves the perspective of this work incomplete. An unfortunate result is that the mixture of musicological and theoretical analysis is a daunting task. According to Patrick McCreless: “any depth would lead quickly into a world of intriguing musical relationships and hermeneutic enigmas.” The aforementioned ‘musical relationships’ and ‘hermeneutic enigmas’ is a characteristic of Shostakovich scholarship. Music theory and musicology are equally utilized in Shostakovich research. Music theorists inevitably become musicologists out of necessity. This enigma results in an imbalance between the dual approach of musicological and theoretical approaches, where hermeneutics have been the majority of analysis. However, scholars such as Stephen C. Brown, Jonathan Drury, Levon Hakobian, and Michael Rofe, have recently used music theory and analysis to better understand Shostakovich’s late-period style. Though the literature has increased, String Quartet no.15 remains in the shadows of other late-period works. My thesis will provide a much needed music-theoretical analysis of the quartet. I will provide analysis of important musical features that have not been analyzed while centering on my primary focus—the ic1 becoming a thread that links the plot of the quartet within its movements.