Aspects of the "Jewish" folk idiom in Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No 4, Op 83 (1949)

Abstract

This thesis examines the context in which the Soviet composer Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich turned to the "Jewish" folk idiom in his Fourth String Quartet, op. 83 (1949). The Fourth String Quartet falls into the second of three "Jewish" periods of composition, a period that aligns with the continual denunciation of Shostakovich as a "formalist" and "anti-People" composer, as well as with Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign. Because Shostakovich was not Jewish, these works have been read as either an attempt to rehabilitate himself following the Resolution on Music or as a method of identification with an oppressed minority. This thesis examines Shostakovich's professional and private life from 1948 to 1953. It outlines the rise of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union during this same period and analyses elements of "Jewish" musical language in the Fourth String Quartet. Ultimately, this thesis discusses how Shostakovich both followed Party demands and found a personal response to persecution.