Their Tonal Structure: Shostakovich's String Quartets

7/23/13
Shostakovich's String Quartets: Their Tonal Structure
their tonal structure

Shostakovich's string quartets 1
10
11
12
13
14
15
Shostakovich and his string quartets
The string quartets: ways to listen
The quartets and symphonies compared
The tonal structure of the cycle of quartets
Related articles
In the introduction I alluded to the possibility of the quartets being a whole tonal
work. Elizabeth Wilson supplies the evidence for this. She recalls that when asked
how many quartets he intended to write, Shostakovich replied, twenty-four:
Haven't you noticed that I never repeat a key? I'll write twenty-four quartets, so as
to have a complete cycle (Shostakovich: A Life Remembered, p 389).
If he intended to write twenty-four and never repeat a key then it is pertinent to
enquire in which order he intended to compose them. As we shall see this, in the
phraseology of the mathematician, is a non-trivial question.
The seminal work for a complete tonal cycle is Bach's 'Das Wohltemperierte Klavier'.
This consists of two collections, BWV 846 to 869 and BWV 870 to 893, each
composed of twenty-four preludes and fugues. In each collection Bach used the
same simple system, based on semitones, to progress from one scale to the next
throughout the cycles. He started with C major then selected, as the tonic for the
next scale, the next note to the right on the keyboard thus placing flats before
naturals, and naturals before sharps. Before proceeding to the next major scale he
composed a piece in the same minor scale. This arrangement is shown in Table 1
where the right-hand column shows the number of flats or sharps in each of the
scales. This system produces an "alphabetic" arrangement rather one than based on
an orderly progression of flats or sharps.
Table 1:
The tonality arrangement in Bach's 'Das Wohltemperierte Klavier'
No.
key
no. of or
C major
C minor
C sharp major
C sharp minor
D major
D minor
E flat major
E flat minor
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8
E flat minor
E major
10
E minor
11
F major
12
F minor
13
F sharp major
14
F sharp minor
15
G major
16
G minor
17
A flat major
18
G sharp minor
19
A major
20
A minor
21
B flat major
22
B flat minor
23
B major
24
B minor
Between October 1950 and February 1951, Shostakovich composed his opus 87 as
a tribute to Bach. Like Bach this work is a cycle of twenty-four preludes and fugues
for piano, each piece being written in a different key. But he chose not to follow
Bach's method for progressing from one key to the next, deciding instead on a
slightly different arrangement. Shostakovitch also arranged the pieces in pairs but
now each couple consisted of a major and its relative minor (that minor scale with
exactly the same notes as the major). The first two pieces were in C major and A
minor respectively; both of these scales have neither sharps nor flats. The third and
fourth pieces were in G major and E minor, each of which has one sharp in its scale
(it is actually C sharp). The two scales with two sharps were then employed for the
following two pieces and this system, of adding one sharp, was continued until the
thirteenth piece in F sharp major; a scale with six sharps. The next prelude and
fugue was in E flat minor which has six flats. From then on scales were employed
with flats but the number of flats was progressively decreased by one until the final
two pieces were reached. These, written in F major and D minor, have only one flat
(it being B flat).
This arrangement is generated not by raising each tonic by a semitone, as Bach did,
but by using the dominant (the fifth note in the rising scale) as the tonic for the
next scale. Doing this will generate a major scale with one sharp more than those in
the previous major scale, and then, after G flat major (which is equivalent to F
sharp major) has been reached it, will decrease by one the number of flats
incrementally. Finally Shostakovich, like Bach, placed the major scale before the
minor.
This arrangement, is shown in Table 2. In this table the first column shows the
order of the piece Prelude and Fugues as it appears in the opus 87. Column 2 shows
the scale in which the work is written whilst the next column shows the number of
sharps or flats in that scale. Next comes an explanation how the next major scale is
derived from its predecessor (remember the following minor scale is just the relative
one of the major) , whilst the final column explains the change that has occurred in
the scale from that of the previous pair. As can be seen Shostakovich's method of
arranging the works is just as methodical as that used by Bach, and although it
might at first sight appear rather miraculous it is based on elementary musical
theory. The reason for giving such a detailed explanation of the tonal arrangement
of the opus 87 will be understood when the scheme used in the fifteen string
quartets is analysed.
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Table 2:
Tonality Arrangement in Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues Op.87
No.
Key
no. of
or
C major
A minor
G major
E minor
D major
B minor
A major
F sharp
minor
E major
10
C sharp
minor
11
B major
12
G sharp
minor
13
F sharp
major
D sharp
minor
notes identical to E flat minor

(no.14)
C sharp
major
notes identical to D flat major

(no.15)
A sharp
minor
notes identical to B flat minor

(no.16)
C flat
major
notes identical to B major

(no.11)
A flat
minor
notes identical to G sharp minor

(no.12)
G flat
major
notes identical to F sharp major

(no.13)
14
E flat
minor
15
D flat
major
16
B flat
minor
17
A flat
major
18
F minor
19
E flat
major
20
C minor
21
B flat
major
22
G minor
23
F major
24
D minor
Reason for choice of scale
Notes in scale
notes are all naturals
G being the dominant of C

major
as in C major but leading note F

raised to F
D being the dominant of G

major
as in G major but leading note C

raised to C
A being the dominant of D

major
as in D major but leading note G

raised to G
E being the dominant of A

major
as in A major but leading note D

raised to D
B being the dominant of E

major
as in E major but leading note A

raised to A
F sharp being the dominant

of B major
as in B major but leading note E

raised to E
D flat being the dominant of

G flat major
as in G flat major but leading

note lowered to C
A flat being the dominant of

D flat major
as in D flat major but leading note

lowered to G
E flat being the dominant of

A flat major
as in A flat major but leading note

lowered to D
B flat being the dominant of

E flat major
as in E flat major but leading

note lowered to A
F being the dominant of B

flat major
as in B flat major but leading

note lowered to E
For the quartets Shostakovich appears to have selected a system similar to that
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used in the opus 87. As we have seen, in the cycle for piano the dominant note of
the major scale was used to generate scales with an increasing number of sharps
and then a decreasing number of flats, each of which he then selected for a
composition. For the string quartets he used the submediant note in the scale
instead of the dominant note for this purpose. The submediant is the sixth note in
the rising scale, and in any major scale the submediant note defines the tonic of the
major scale's relative minor, that is the minor scale which uses exactly the same
notes (naturals, sharps and flats) that the major uses. For example the scale of C
major has no flats or sharps and thus uses only the white notes on the piano
keyboard. The sixth note in this scale is A, and the scale of A minor (the relative
minor to C major) has exactly the same notes in its scale as C major (the difference
being, of course, that the scale starts on A and is played as a minor!) By
generating scales using the submediant a cycle would contain pieces which first
contain an increasing number of flats and then a decreasing number of sharps as is
shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Tonality arrangement using submediant of

previous scale
Basic
Tonality
Number of sharps /
flats
Submediant of
Scale
C major
A minor
F major
D minor
B flat
B flat major
G minor
E flat
E flat major
C minor
A flat
A flat major
F minor
D flat
D flat major
B flat
B flat minor
G flat
G flat major
E flat
E flat minor
B major
G sharp
G sharp
minor
E major
C sharp
C sharp
minor
A major
F sharp
F sharp
minor
D major
B minor
G major
E minor
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However Shostakovich then added cryptic complications into this scheme. Whether
or not this was his aim, the first complication disguises his plan for the tonality of
the quartets. What he did was that instead of using the submediant note to
generate the next scale in an alternating succession of major and minor as is shown
in Table 3, he first chose to use only major scales and only when they had been
used did he start to compose in the minor scale. This first modification is shown in
Table 4. In that table the first three columns reproduce the scheme already shown in
table 3, whilst the fifth shows his scheme of using the key of column 3 first as the
tonic of a major scale before it is employed in the minor.
Table 4: Submediant tonality arrangement and Shostakovich's scheme for the Quartets
Basic
Tonality
Number of
sharps/ flats
Submediant
of Scale
Quartet
Number
Shostakovich's basic tonality

scheme for the quartets
Q1
C major
C major
Q2
A major
A minor
Q3
F major
F major
Q4
D major
D minor
B flat
Q5
B flat major
B flat
major
Q6
G major
G minor
E flat
Q7
E flat major
E flat
major
Q8
C minor (C major already used)
C minor
A flat
Q9
A flat major
A flat
major
Q10
F minor (F major already used)
F minor
D flat
Q11
D flat major (C sharp major)
D flat
major
B flat
Q12
B flat minor
B flat
minor
G flat
Q13
G flat major (F sharp major)
G flat
major
E flat
Q14
E flat minor (E flat major already

used)
E flat
minor
Q15
B major
B major
G sharp
Q16
G sharp minor (A flat major already

used)
G sharp
minor
Q17
E major
E major
C sharp
Q18
C sharp minor (C sharp major

already used)
C sharp
minor
Q19
A minor
A major
F sharp
Q20
F sharp minor
F sharp
minor
Q21
D minor
D major
Q22
B minor
B minor
Q23
G minor
G major
Q24
E minor
E minor
C major
But in 1960 he introduced a second complication when he wrote his seventh
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quartet. Table 5 compares the tonality scheme derived in the previous table with
those that he actually employed. As can be seen there is complete agreement up to,
and including, quartet number six, but then two further modifications occur. The
tonality of F sharp minor instead of E flat major is suddenly used for quartet number
seven and then after correctly proceeding to C minor, E flat major follows instead of
A flat major.
Table 5: Shostakovich's scheme for the Quartets

and the actual tonality used
Quartet
Shostakovich's
planned tonalities
(Table 4, Column 5)
Actual tonalities
Q1
C major
C major
Q2
A major
A major
Q3
F major
F major
Q4
D major
D major
Q5
B flat major
B flat major
Q6
G major
G major
Q7
E flat major
F sharp minor
Q8
C minor
C minor
Q9
A flat major
E flat major
Q10
F minor
A flat major
Q11
D flat major
F minor
Q12
B flat minor
D flat major
Q13
F sharp major
B flat minor
Q14
E flat minor
F sharp major
Q15
B major
E flat minor
Q16
G sharp minor
Q17
E major
Q18
C sharp minor
Q19
A minor
Q20
F sharp minor
Q21
D minor
Q22
B minor
Q23
G minor
Q24
E minor
C major
Why this divergence? Both these alterations occur in the quartets dedicated to his
wives. As can be seen in Table 5 these modifications however cause only a transient
disturbance to the guiding scheme which Shostakovich seemed to have set himself
when he composed his first quartet in 1938. From the tenth to his final fifteenth
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quartet he returned to, and faithfully followed, his original scheme. However
because of the modifications started in 1960 the tonality of these last six quartets
would, due to the insertion of the F sharp minor in quartet seven, always be one
quartet in arrears compared to his original scheme. Can his deviation from his first
concept be explained by certain tonalities associations with his first and third wives,
or could it be more prosaic?
Ian Strachan1 has proposed that the insertion of F sharp minor and the rotation of
E flat major and C minor were done so that quartet number nine would be written in
E flat major and quartet number sixteen in B major. (By doing so Shostakovich
would ensure that his initials (DSCH) were used as the keys in quartets whose
number are a perfect square (D major: quartet number four or 2 squared; S, in the
German notation or E flat major in the English: quartet number nine or 3 squared; C
major: quartet number one or 1 squared; and H or B major in the English notation
as quartet number sixteen, or 4 squared).
So it seems that Shostakovich, a tonal composer who delighted in keeping detailed
numerical records of football scores 2, indulged in numerical as well as musical
ciphers.
Footnotes:
[1]. Ian Strachan, 'Shostakovich's DSC H Signature in the String Quartets' DSCH Journal, 10, (Winter
1998), 48-49.
[2]. Laurel E. Fay, Shostakovich: A Life (Oxford University Press, 2000), p.111.
2004 - 2013 Stephen Harris
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7/23/13

Shostakovich's String Quartets: Their Tonal Structure