Talk:String Quartet No. 10 (Shostakovich)

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Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 10:18, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Note: for assignment purposes

User:Aza24, User:Loriendrew, User:Jack Ryan Morris, and User:Nikkimaria were consulted for feedback. The discussion with them can be found on their user talk pages.

Suggestions?

I was about to make a few edits to this article, but decided not to lest I accidentally annoy some of my fellow editors who have worked hard to improve this article. However, I would like to make a few suggestions which, if invited to do so, I would be happy to apply myself:

• The statement that no other Russian composer had devoted so much time to the medium of the string quartet prior to Shostakovich is simply not true, certainly not at the time Op. 118 was composed. For one thing there is Sergei Taneyev, who even in his lifetime was considered the father of the Russian string quartet; altogether he composed 10. Then there was Nikolai Myaskovsky, whose totaled 13 quartets in all by the time of his death in 1951. Finally there was also Shostakovich's friend and colleague Vissarion Shebalin, who string quartets were very influential and important in the Soviet Union, and whose skill in the quartet medium in particular was cited by Shostakovich himself as an example he wanted to emulate, at least early on.
• A lot of the final paragraph in the "composition" section deals with material irrelevant to the subject. The conjectured "reading" at its close is debatable. Ian MacDonald, as fine a writer and as dedicated a Shostakovichian he certainly was (his writings on the composer helped foster my own lifelong interest in this composer since my youth), was also a polemicist at heart and loose with the facts. The feelings of "disgust" and "puritanical fury" (how does one determine the fury was "puritanical" to begin with?) say more about him than Shostakovich himself. The facts are that Shostakovich didn't say very much about the work. We can guess as to the reasons why this is the case, but the fact of the matter is that nowhere did he ever ascribe anything about "disgust" or "fury," however one could qualify it, to Op. 118. In fact, according to Sofia Khentova's 1985 bio, the composer seemed chipper upon completion of the work. Roughly translating on the fly here: "Vacationing composers idling in Dilijan started their merry picnics along the shores of Lake Sevan and Lake Parz, but Shostakovich would rise at dawn to compose. He began the Tenth Quartet on July 11. . . and finished it at 2:00 p.m. on July 20. That evening he had a celebratory dinner by candlelight, which Shostakovich loved, with candles procured by [his wife] Irina Antonovna. Thirteen candles marked the anniversary of the Symphony No. 13's completion, while the large fourteenth candle was lit in honor of the new quartet. (Шостакович. Жизнь и творчество, Т. 2, p. 466)" At least in order to avoid POV issues it should be made clear in the article that these readings are being imposed upon the quartet by outside commentators, not originating from the composer himself.
• The basic anapest rhythm which MacDonald claims is the "betrayal" motif occurs throughout Shostakovich's music, including that of his early youth. It also shows up in music which is among his brightest and most cheerful, such as the Festive Overture. Again, it should be made clear that this reading of a basic rhythm which permeates all of Shostakovich's (and many other composers') music does not originate from the composer.
• Consider replacing the image in the article's infobox for one that is strictly relevant to Op. 118. Perhaps a likeness of the composer from the same year he composed the work, a scan of a manuscript page of Op. 118, a photograph of the premiere, etc. Using a generic portrait of the composer from about 30 years prior to the work's composition looks like a mere placeholder for a better image to be inserted later. Some may disagree, but I think it's better to leave an image out rather than shoehorning one into an article that it is not relevant to.
• One more thing: I am practically drowning in materials relating to Shostakovich (and classical music in general) in my personal library. I'd be glad to reach over and grab some books on the composer and help add to this article if others wouldn't mind my participation. Some of the articles on the composer I've rewritten/created include the articles for his Piano Sonata No. 2, String Quartet No. 15, Intervision, and Symphony No. 15.

--CurryTime7-24 (talk) 22:09, 2 June 2021 (UTC)