The Violin Sonata (1968) and the Viola Sonata (1975), testamentary works, date from the last decade or so of Shostakovich’s life, when his music became more introspective and he turned more and more to the intimacy of the chamber genre. Both of these works illustrate his amazing attempts to reconcile modernity and tradition. They are modern in that neither conforms to a preestablished compositional system; their language is no longer determined by tonality, atonality or serialism and the composer refuses to bow to the constraints of set aesthetics. They are traditional in their borrowings From Slavonic folk sources, folk songs and dances and the harmonies of the Orthodox liturgy form a rich mosaic in these compositions. They also contain quotations from the music of composers whom he admired and loved, as well as from his own. The music of Shostakovich’s final period, covering the years 19671975, shows a preoccupation with sombre thoughts; his works are generally less flamboyant, more pessimistic, bleak and inwardlooking. This darkening may have been the result of bitterness at the Soviet system, but it was most likely caused by his failing health in those years. In 1966 a serious heart illment had developed, from which he never fully recovered. Shostakovich remained creative, but his works of that time are coloured by a preoccupation with death.

PHAIA MUSIC reissued Shostakovich's Trios for Piano and the both Sonatas for violine and viola respectively on this recording, brillantly supported by Yakov Kasman (piano).