Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartets Nos. 7-9

   This edition of Quartets Nos. 7-9 is based on the scores of the quartets published by DSCH Publishers:

• Quartet No. 7—DSCH, Moscow, 2001 (S-2001)
• Quartet No. 8—DSCH, Moscow, 2006 (S-2006)
• Quartet No. 9—DSCH, Moscow, 2001 (S-2001)

as well as the publications of the scores of Quartets Nos. 7 and 8 in Vol. 35 and of Quartet No. 9 in Vol. 36 of Shostakovich’s Collected Works—Muzyka Publishers, Moscow, 1979 (S-79) and 1980 (S-80). The author’s manuscripts of the quartet scores, the first editions of the scores of Quartet No. 7 printed during the composer’s lifetime—Sovetskiy kompositor Publishers, Moscow, 1960 (S-60), and of Quartet No. 9—Muzyka Publishers, Moscow, 1966 (S-66), as well as a publication of the score of Quartet No. 8 printed during the composer’s lifetime in the 1964 edition—Dmitri Shostakovich, Quartets, Vol. 2, Muzyka Publishers, Moscow (S-64) are also taken into account.
   The comments note the differences between the main editions and this edition, while the obvious typos in S-79, S-80, S-2001 (both editions) and S-2006 have been corrected without stipulation. The author’s manuscripts are discussed in a comparative analysis of the comments that apply to the aforementioned differences. Furthermore, the comments on Quartets Nos. 7 and 8 mention the metronome differences between manuscript, S-79, S-2001 and S-2006, on the one hand, and this edition, on the other. References to the editions published during the composer’s lifetime are only given in the most disputed cases. In S-79, many directions are placed in square brackets—these are editorial additions and directions found in manuscript, but not in the editions published during the composer’s lifetime, while in a few cases they appear in both the S-2001 editions. In this edition, when all the above directions are used in the score, the brackets have been removed without stipulation, nor are the brackets mentioned when these directions are referred to in the comments.
   The scores of Quartets Nos. 7-9 are published in their current renditions in separate editions as follows:

• Quartet No. 7—Moscow, DSCH, 2013 (S-2013), reprinted in 2020 (S-2020)
• Quartet No. 8—DSCH, Moscow, 2012 (S-2012), reprinted in 2020 (S-2020)
• Quartet No. 9—DSCH, Moscow, 2015 (S-2015)

   Certain changes were made to these scores during meticulous editing, part of which took place after each of these editions was published. The most important of these changes are stipulated in these comments.
   This edition of the Unfinished Quartet is based on the edition of the score revised by Roman Ledenyov—DSCH, Moscow, 2005 (S-2005), as well as on the author’s manuscript of the unfinished score, corresponding to bars 1-225 of this edition.
   Most of the errors in S-2005 and A (including those carried over from A to S-2005) have been corrected without stipulation. However, several episodes with more substantive corrections and additions are noted in the comments.