A flute echoes the material, and there’s something of a fanfare, but almost not even any music here… As is stated on Wiki: Meant to portray the primordial chaos from which order emerged, instrumental voices merge in this 13-voice polyphonic beginning, like impulses released from the void. The classicism is most apparent in the first movement, which follows 18th-century sonata form right down to repeating the exposition (the only Shostakovich Symphony that does). Solomon Volkov, of the second symphony’s finale. In fact, I’d already made that note before I’d gone back to read the end of the Wikipedia article, which cites the quote that opens this article. Shostakovich may well have been a supporter of the philosophies that led to the October Revolution in the first place, but his inability to write any musical notes at all for the final lines, instead simply asking for the words to be declaimed without pitch, seems an indication of how he perceived the soulless climate of the time. 14, ‘To October’ performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under Neeme Järvi, or as below with the WDR Radio Chorus and WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne under Rudolf Barshai 14 no. Bolshevik (1920), by Boris Kustodiev.. Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. Stalin had asked for light and boisterous finales. Even removing the choral finale, which sounds wholly uninspired, we’re still left with a piece that lacks much motivation. The sound is not unlike the beginning of The Firebird in its low string ominousness; it just lacks shape. The finale reaches a clear climax, cymbal crash and all, but a snare drum made of pure tragedy doesn’t let the piece end. It’s turning out pretty gloomy.’ The second half of the piece is certainly much more tragic in vein. 2 (Shostakovich) Last updated February 10, 2020. Symphony No. 2 in B major, Op. Shostakovich was to use this form with great power in a number of other situations, including the Trio No. In the 1960s, however, he was happy for them to be performed, yet towards the end of his life he begged his son not to conduct them! Voting game from the old Amazon forum: Shostakovich symphonies: 1 - Symphony #10 in E minor, Op. Still, for me it stands as a fascinating glimpse of the composer who might have been but for the Lady Macbeth debacle, etc. ( Log Out /  Here, Shostakovich brings his emotions back under control and turns to mockery. All this darkness suffocates me. But for Shostakovich, it need not have been a question of one or the other. These early, enigmatic works point to a lifetime of ambiguity and double-speak. Symphony No. Wikipedia explains it thusly, citing Ian MacDonald’s The New Shostakovich: Shostakovich composed his Second in a gestural, geometric “music without emotional structure” manner, with the intent of reflecting speech patterns and physical movements in a neo-realistic style. Change ), Shostakovich Symphony no. But the style was about to change. Did the masterpieces that followed need the conflict, tension, and suffering of his time before they could flower from the composer’s pen? 2 in B, op. 2. After this climax, there’s a return to the chamber-like atmosphere, closing with our violin solo, and I really think if we just finished here and chucked the finale in the bin, we’d have an almost interesting piece of music. The première, on 12th May 1926, was an enormous success, and it was not long before the work gained worldwide recognition. But ten years on from the Revolution, ‘October’ had come to mean much more than the specific events of 1917. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The directors of the conservatory were excited by the genius they felt they had nurtured and arranged for the symphony to be performed by Nikolai Malko and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. 2 in B major, Op. It is unremittingly tragic, and not so much about 1905 or 1956, perhaps, as about the persistently tragic pattern in human events.   Whatever the answers to those questions are, it is hard to misunderstand the composer’s feelings at the end of the piece. This symphony, when I first heard it, perplexed me, to say the least. 14 and subtitled To October, for the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution.It was first performed by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy Capella Choir under Nikolai Malko, on 5 November 1927. Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Shostakovich: … His recent opera The Nose had not been well received, and despite his previous success, he certainly would not have felt immune to the vulnerability of his time. Wikipedia tells us that it is “meditative” and that Shostakovich described it as “the “death of a child” (letter to Boleslav Yavorsky) killed on the Nevsky Prospekt.”. 8 in Cm, op. 5 in A, K. 219, ‘Turkish’. This is followed by the most forced of perorations maybe ever written in music history. Or learn more… Or learn more… Recordings: Bernard Haitink: Royal … 103 'The year 1905' WDR Sinfonieorchester Koln, Semyon Bychkov The performance from the WDR Symphony Orchestra is compelling at both ends of the dynamic spectrum, from the heart-rending funereal … Of course, the very specific demands of the symphony’s “programme” meant that he couldn’t keep that level of innovation up…and then there’s the glaring blemish that is that choral finale (although it’s interesting that, even amidst the supposed jubilation, DSCH can’t resist bringing back echoes of the opening…twice, in fact!). Shostakovich Symphony no. 9 in E, op. 14 ‘To October’ In 1927 Shostakovich was commissioned by the State Publishing House to honour the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. 2; Prokofiev: Cantata - Mark Elder, BBC Symphony Orchestra on AllMusic - 1996 7 "Leningrad" Kurt Masur & New York Philharmonic Shostakovich: Piano Concertos No. Symphony No. Dmitri Shostakovich, Soundtrack: Children of Men. The piece is in one unbroken movement made up of four sections, with the last containing a part for chorus. It received its premiere on November 5, 1927 with the Leningrad Philharmonic under Nikolai Malko. But we have to end on a choral finale which “sets a text by Alexander Bezymensky praising Lenin and the revolution.” You can read the text of the finale here. It’s a reminder that this work was commissioned, or as the case may be, demanded, from the composer by Shuglin, and the interesting circumstances he was in, wanting to compose something new, and being saddled with this patriotic idea.   It is daylight, and false. 3 in E flat major, Op. Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. The memoirist Ilya Ehrenburg has written of ‘a generation without tears, callous, a stranger to tender passion and to art’. 9 thoughts on “ Seeking Shostakovich: Listening to the Tenth Symphony (Part 2 of 2) ” T. March 31, 2014 at 3:19 AM It is so refreshing and lovely to read about you wanting joy for Shostakovich, because of your experience with his music. Program Notes: Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. Alban Berg was even moved to write a flattering letter of appreciation. Initially described by the composer as a symphonic poem, the piece was eventually entitled ‘Symphonic Dedication – To October’. 2, Op. In 1937 Russia, at the height of Stalin’s purges, the Communist Party strongly denounced Dmitri Shostakovich’s most recent works. The unexpected death of his father in 1922 only made matters worse. How ironic if Stalin’s lifelong attempts to fetter his composer prodigy might actually have been the stimulus behind Shostakovich becoming the exceptional musical voice for the realities of the Soviet Union in the twentieth century. The symphony opens with a virtuosic brilliance heavily influenced by Stravinsky’s Petrushka. Shostakovich had started to experience some of that ‘struggle’ first-hand. 2 & 3 - Amazon.com Music I agree with you utterly about the merits of no.3 (although I hope I’m not pre-empting what you yourself were going to say about it) – if ever there was a case of giving the authorities exactly what they wanted, in the form of a here-today-gone-tomorrow Socialist Realist musical slogan (albeit giving it voluntarily, which is savagely ironic given how they damn near broke him over the course of later life for daring to write anything other)! Walter, Toscanini, and Klemperer all performed it. It is challenging, undoubtedly harsh, perhaps even puzzling, but I am among those who has become spellbound by it. Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Shostakovich: Symphony No. 2, Op. Peaceful development is a most intense struggle.’ And the Mahlerian string sonorities and Tchaikovsky-like descriptions of fate and death are more old-fashioned influences than contemporary ones. 11 in G minor, Op. 1, Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 2 in B, op. I have multiple times now put on this work while I’m doing other things, and promptly forgot anything was playing and suddenly started hearing strings. As an added bonus, Maestro Litton is the piano soloist for the Piano Concerto No. Shostakovich said at the time that he ‘always wanted to create music that reflects our era, and the thoughts and the feelings of the Soviet person’, but it is unclear whether he intended this symphony’s opening thematic chaos and abstractly expressionistic textures to represent the hardship of before the Revolution or the emotional blandness that followed. Wiki mentions “the notion of “industrial” symphonies intended to inspire the proletariat.” Thank goodness that phase is over. So he’s got plenty to enjoy. In time, this much repeated role would become as much a burden to him as it was a saving grace. That’s okay, though: there’s the first, symphonies 5-8, the less gargantuan ninth, followed then by the incredible tenth and eleventh… and four more. Initially proud of these works, Shostakovich proclaimed them to be failures in the 1950s. But unlike its predecessor, this was not a commissioned piece and, as such, it raises interesting questions about the composer’s freely made decision to celebrate the international labour movement’s May Day celebrations. It’s chamber-like for a long stretch, but the chaos increases as the rest of the ensemble joins. They seem crude or illogical, that reflects the brutality and ideologically confused spirit of the ensemble.! And offended so few I First heard it, referring to the rousing choral finale a... They seem crude or illogical, that reflects the brutality and ideologically confused spirit of the piece was eventually ‘. 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