Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
Composed 1937; Duration: 46 minutes
First BPO Performance: March 3, 1942 (Franco Autori, conductor)
Last BPO Performance: April 15-16, 2016 (Michał Nesterowicz, conductor)
Shostakovich hit the scene in Soviet Russia in 1926, when as a student of only 19 years, his first symphony premiered with resounding success. The popular young composer relished in pushing the envelope with challenging music that put him shoulder-to-shoulder with any of the day’s modernists. His 1929 satirical opera The Nose pushed boundaries a bit too far for some officials, and yet he persevered, receiving wide acclaim for his new opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. That is, until the most important audience member attended in 1936—and left early.
Stalin’s disdain of the opera made its way into a damning article in Pravda, titled “Muddle Instead of Music.” The accusations of “formalism” asserted that the thrust of his innovation was theoretical, and did not contain material or content that appealed to the proletariat or the vision of the administration. This led to public denunciations from his colleagues, and while initially this had an impact on his ability to work, it soon became a matter of life and death.
The Great Terror began in 1936, in which the supposed enemies of the state were killed, imprisoned, or otherwise disappeared, with many of Shostakovich’s friends, family, and colleagues ranking amongst its victims. Constantly in fear of deadly reprisal for the wrong artistic decision, he withdrew the planned December premiere of his innovative fourth symphony. He instead refocused his energies on a new, fifth symphony that premiered in July 1937.
Shostakovich was faced with the most treacherous ultimatum imaginable: how could he, as a modern artist, advance the symphonic form in such a fraught environment? Could he mount a work that furthers his artistic vision while protecting his life? The result was the fifth symphony. Conservative in form, provocative in content, he successfully created a work that was enormously popular and officially accepted, while containing hidden protests and personal insights. The work serves as an enduring example of artistic expression in the face of oppression.
As with the fatalistic fifth symphonies of Mahler and Beethoven, a grand opening gesture is called for, but here, the motto theme echoes in a bleak canon. The rhythm then supports a stoic melody of long descending notes taken from his fourth symphony. A second theme features stretched, disjoint tones humming over a pulsating rhythm. The emotionally laborious exposition finally reaches an allegro in the development, in which the materials are economically explored to harrowing ends. The descent from climax to the uneasy conclusion features familiar melodic content and a solitary violin solo, which is mimicked by an eerie celeste.
Following the grim opening movement is the expected scherzo, here resembling the folksy Ländlers of Mahler, but no levity is to be found in the brooding, often martial movement. Not until the trio does a truly folksy scene arise, with a sliding fiddle and a bucolic flute, echoed by a foot-stomping orchestra. A return to the militant mood culminates in a shocking exclamation.
The third movement is a lamentation that is said to have brought the audience to tears at the premiere, as they would have understood the mournful music to be a reference to the Russian Orthodox requiem composed in memory of the dead. A muted string chorale opens the movement, stoically building layers of complexity. Shostakovich skillfully recycles melodies and varies the textures to explore emotional limits to an exhaustive extent, only to collapse into a haunting quiet.
The forceful finale opens on a bombastic theme in the brass that leads to winding melodies that crash and careen until the mood becomes serene. This tranquil development is upended by a funeral march that grows into a fraught climax. At the apex of tension, the orchestra breaks into D major as winds and strings play an incessant A, and brass exclaim a victorious melody. The work’s triumphant final moments garnered an uproar of both official and public enthusiasm, and Shostakovich proved victorious in navigating a fraught political climate with a sincere artistic statement.