Aphorisms, Op. 13: No. 4. Elegy

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Musical Terms (8)

• doppio movimento Italian
  Double the speed — a tempo marking requiring the performer to double the prevailing pulse. Appears in Shostakovich's scherzo and dance contexts to create a sudden acceleration of energy.
  Prepare the transition in the preceding bars so the new tempo does not feel abrupt. Maintain rhythmic clarity; do not allow doubled speed to blur articulation.
• DSCH motif German
  A four-note musical monogram — D, E♭, C, B — derived from the German spelling of Shostakovich's initials: D. SCH. (D. Sch. = D, Es, C, H in German musical nomenclature, where Es = E♭ and H = B natural). It recurs throughout his mature works as a personal signature.
  When this motif appears in the piano works — notably in the Op. 87 Prelude and Fugue in D minor — give it profile and weight. It functions as both a structural anchor and a personal declaration.
• grottesco Italian
  Grotesque — a stylistic mode in Shostakovich's music combining the comic, the macabre, and the satirical. Often expressed through jarring juxtapositions of register, exaggerated rhythmic articulation, or modal distortion of familiar styles.
  In the Aphorisms and the sharper Op. 34 preludes, grotesque passages demand crisp staccato and precise rhythmic exaggeration rather than expressive smoothing. Do not soften the edges.
• martellato Italian
  Hammered — a percussive articulation requiring each note to be struck with a firm, detached impact. Common in Shostakovich's toccata-like passages and mechanical dance sequences.
  Use firm fingertip contact with minimal pedal. The effect should be dry and precise. Common in the Polka from The Golden Age and the more driving Op. 34 preludes.
• ostinato bass Italian
  A persistently repeated bass figure — rhythmic, harmonic, or melodic — that underpins a contrasting upper voice. Shostakovich uses ostinato bass extensively in his toccata passages, passacaglia-like structures, and march sequences.
  Keep the bass ostinato rhythmically rigid and dynamically subordinate unless the score specifically brings it forward. The tension between a mechanical bass and an expressive melody is a defining texture.
• polystylism English
  The deliberate use of multiple contrasting stylistic idioms within a single work — Baroque counterpoint, Soviet march music, jazz-influenced dance, lyrical Romanticism — as a compositional strategy. Shostakovich employs this across the Op. 87 cycle and the later piano sonatas.
  When styles shift abruptly, commit fully to each idiom rather than seeking a unified middle ground. The contrast itself is expressive and intentional.
• senza sordino Italian
  Without mute — in piano music, meaning without the damper pedal, allowing notes to ring without sustain. Shostakovich uses this marking in his Op. 87 preludes to enforce a transparent, dry texture that resists expressive blurring.
  Resist the instinct to add pedal for colour in passages marked senza sordino. The clarity of the individual voices is the intended sound, especially in the contrapuntal fugues of Op. 87.
• subito piano Italian
  Suddenly soft — an abrupt dynamic reduction from a louder dynamic without gradual transition. A hallmark of Shostakovich's characteristic ironic gesture, undercutting climaxes unexpectedly.
  Honour these sudden drops literally — no diminuendo approach. The shock of the sudden soft is the point. Particularly significant in the Second Piano Sonata and the Op. 87 cycle.