String Quartet No. 3

In 1992 at the Dartington Summer School I have listened to almost a complete cycle of Dmitry Shostakovich's String Quartets in the impressive performance by the Brodsky Quartet. This is why I decided to compose my own new piece in that genre. Very soon, by a happy coincidence, I received from the South Bank Festival the commission to write a new string quartet. I was in the middle of my work, when I was told that it will be played by the Brodsky. My Third String Quartet was completed on 19th March 1993 at Keele, Staffordshire, UK, and dedicated to the Brodsky Quartet. This is one-movement piece in tempo Andante with some features of a sonata and cyclic forms. It is based on a thematic pattern combined of two very expressive intervals: the minor sixth and the minor second. The piece begins with a solo cello and concludes with solo violin, supported by the chorale of the rest three instruments. It was premiered by the Brodsky Quartet, on 14th April 1994, at the Purcell Room, London. Dmitri N. Smirnov