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| Shostakovich was only 24 when he penned the Impromptu op. 33 |
The short piece, which shares the same opus designation as Shostakovich’s music for the Soviet-era film, “Counterplan,” was discovered in Moscow’s central archive in 2017 – the exciting find was revealed on the 25th of September that year, to coincide with the composer’s birthday.
The impromptu was previously unknown to scholars. It was discovered among the possessions of the late violist Vadim Borisovsky, a 40-year veteran of the Beethoven Quartet, who passed away in 1972. How Borisovsky came into possession of the manuscript is uncertain: the three-page document (one title page with autograph: “dated 2 May 1931, Leningrad,” and one page each for the viola and piano parts) bared the dedication to “Alexander Mikhailovch,” (which scholars liken to the violist Alexander Ryvkin of the Glazunov Quartet) with the fond reminiscent: “in memory of our meeting.”
The stunning piece, which Shostakovich titled “Impromptu no. 33” is only one of two known compositions for viola to have been written by the composer. His 147th opus, a Sonata for Viola and piano, which he completed only weeks before his death in early August of 1975, would be his last work.
Listen below to the West coast premiere of Shostakovich’s Impromptu op. 33. Violist Paul Neubauer and pianist Wu Han perform (Lincoln Center, NY):
Footnotes:
- Rose.
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