SHOSTAKOVICH. STRING QUARTETS. Fitzwilliam String Quartet (Christopher Rowland, Jonathan Sparey, vIns; Alan George, vla; loan Davies, v/c). Decca @ D 188D7 (seven records, nas). Notes included.

No. 1 in C major, Op. 49; No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 (from L'Oiseau-Lyre DSL031, 3/791; No. 3 in F major, Op. 73; No. 11 in F minor, Op. 122 (0SL028, 6/781; No. 4 in D major, Op. 83; No. 12 in D flat major, Op. 133 (DSL023, 11/771; No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 92; No. 6 in G major, Op. 101 (DSL029, 12/78); No. 7 in F sharp minor, Op. 108; No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 138; No. 14 in F sharp major, Op. 142 (DSL09, 12/75); No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110; No. 15 in E flat minor. Op. 144 (DSL011, 4/76); No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 117; No. 10 in A flat major, Op. 118 (DSL030, 2/791.

The Mahlerian qualities of Shostakovich's symphonies have often been discussed, but they are equally evident in the string quartets. It is not so much any similarity of style but the fact that the same shapes and procedures recur in work after work, to a greater extent than with any other major modern composer—though none is in any case comparable in productivity. A hearing of these 15 quartets within a relatively short space of time is bound to heighten awareness of the extent to which the composer constantly revealed his obsession with certain rhythmic and melodic patterns. Such phraseology, however, begins to suggest that Shostakovich was no more than the prisoner of his own highly personal style, whereas what is most remarkable about the quartets is their marvellous freedom of form and spontaneity of invention. The music is indeed utterly personal, yet immediately accessible. One may be tempted to regard the entire cycle as preeminently an exercise in varieties of lament, with all apparently contrasting moods merely variants on the basic themes of regret and loss, but the series reveals the full richness of possibilities which existed within Shostakovich's style and technique, and it is especially fascinating in the later works to observe the skill with which the outer reaches of that style and technique are approached and explored.

The Fitzwilliam Quartet are the first to offer a complete cycle of these works on record as a single set: the Borodin Quartet's cycle (Nos. 1-13; HMV SLS879, 6/74) still lacks Nos. 14 and 15, though recorded performances of those two by the Borodin have apparently been available on the continent. Detailed comparison is therefore not appropriate—and any criticism of the Fitzwilliam should be made only against the background of the clear understanding that their achievement is a fine one. It is possible to observe an occasional heaviness and lack of fantasy in their playing— for example, in the first movement of No. 1, and also at the start of No. 9, where it seems as if the players are already too strongly under the spell of the tensions to come. But such moments are rare; the Fitzwilliam performances are in no sense monotonous or inflexible, and the recorded sound is splendidly consistent and lifelike. RL's comment, in his original review of the disc containing Nos. 5 and 6, that a more backward placing might have helped the players to make more of pianissimo markings, points out one general characteristic of the recordings, and the very closeness at times seems to bring insufficient separation in certain textures. Nevertheless, the recording team of Peter Wadland, Raymond Ware and John Dunkerley deserves every credit for the essential naturalness and freshness of the sound.

Even in a set with such generally high standards, there are highlights. For me, these come in the performances of two adjacent 'pairs', Nos. 3 and 4 and Nos. 11 and 12. Nos. 4 and 12, when issued separately, justly won a GRAMOPHONE Award, and in my original review of No. 11, I said that "the performance was unflinchingly true to the spirit of the music and to the memory of its troubled, inspired creator". At that time I had not heard the Fitzwilliam's performance of No. 12, but here, if possible, the sense of truth is even more powerful, for the full range of moods is caught without any hint of exaggeration, and the considerable technical difficulties are overcome without either stress or superficiality: just as memorably conveyed are the delicacy of the Seventh Quartet and the haunting ending of No. 14. This, then, is a set whose rewards it will take many playings to savour in full. The Fitzwilliam Quartet earned the composer's approval of their performances, and their recordings are as fine a tribute to their own skills as to the genius of Shostakovich himself. A.W.