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Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 9 in E-flat major, Op. 70

Volumes have been written about Dmitri Shostakovich and his ambivalent relationship with the Soviet regime. Much of this material is based on after-the-fact statements whose authenticity and veracity is often in question. What is clear is that the composer was a son of the Russian Revolution and, as teenager, a true believer. But in his late 20s he became caught up in the Stalinist nightmare and apparently only survived the purges because Stalin liked the music he wrote for propaganda films.

Shostakovich’s first – and worst – brush with Soviet authorities occurred in January 1936. An article appeared in Pravda severely criticizing his highly successful new opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtzensk District. Upon the order of the government, the opera – as well as the rest of the composer’s music – was withdrawn from the stage and the concert hall. For the first of many times Shostakovich was cast into Soviet limbo, his music unperformed, his livelihood taken away and his life in jeopardy. In later years he recalled that he was so certain of being arrested that he used to sleep with his suitcase packed near the front door so that if the secret police were to pick him up they would not disturb the rest of the family. He redeemed himself in the eyes of the authorities in 1937 with the Symphony No. 5, which gave him a conditional reprieve. The opera, however, was not performed again for 25 years.

World War II brought a breather and an upsurge of patriotism, with the horrors of the '30s temporarily forgotten. But in 1946 came a resurgence of purges, suppression and artists’ disappearances, orchestrated by the cultural commissar Andrey Zhdanov, whose decrees stipulated that only cheerful, uplifting and folksy art was to be allowed. 

However 1945, the year of the Ninth Symphony, was a year of victory and still a time of hope. The authorities decreed that artists should celebrate the victory with triumphal paeans and praises of Stalin. Shostakovich, however, saw things differently: tens of millions were dead, the world was in chaos, and the apparatchiks were still in control. Unsurprisingly, the authorities hated the Symphony for its thin unpretentious orchestration and lighthearted sarcasm. 

The Symphony is a wind player’s showcase with one magnificent solo after another – including a killer piccolo part that frequently shows up on orchestra auditions. Written in five movements, it creates a musical arch, beginning and ending with parodies of the victory celebration. The second and fourth movements are dirges, moving reminders of the horrendous toll in lives suffered by the Russian people. The scurrying central scherzo is a snide parody of the weighty statement that usually serves as the keystone of a musical arch.

The Symphony opens with a playful circus-like theme – and an even more mocking second theme for solo piccolo. The movement contains some wonderful solos for the orchestra’s first chair players.

The second movement opens with a mournful clarinet solo, each statement of the melody augmented and varied by the upper woodwinds in turn. The strings supply a creeping second theme.

The frantic, high-pitched Presto, opens with the clarinet and once more is followed by the other winds, building up to an intense climax as more and more instruments are added. The melee gradually subsides into the tragic Largo, announced by the low brass. A dirge for bassoon solo follows in dialogue with the brass. 

The Allegretto is a rondo based on the bassoon theme, matching the circus quality of the opening movement. Although the tone seems more positive at first, there follows a whiningly dissonant duet for oboe and clarinet. During the rondo refrain, the two return with their flute and piccolo "friends" for a bit of mocking laughter. The climax of the movement turns nasty, a brash, dissonant transformation of the main theme, obviating the joy of triumph as decreed by the commissars. The Symphony ends with a scurrying presto and a “left-handed” fanfare. 

By this time, however, Shostakovich was too significant an international personality for the state to take too drastic “corrective action.”

Program notes by:
Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn
www.wordprosmusic.com


Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 9 in E-flat major, Op. 70

Volumes have been written about Dmitri Shostakovich and his ambivalent relationship with the Soviet regime. Much of this material is based on after-the-fact statements whose authenticity and veracity is often in question. What is clear is that the composer was a son of the Russian Revolution and, as teenager, a true believer. But in his late 20s he became caught up in the Stalinist nightmare and apparently only survived the purges because Stalin liked the music he wrote for propaganda films.

Shostakovich’s first – and worst – brush with Soviet authorities occurred in January 1936. An article appeared in Pravda severely criticizing his highly successful new opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtzensk District. Upon the order of the government, the opera – as well as the rest of the composer’s music – was withdrawn from the stage and the concert hall. For the first of many times Shostakovich was cast into Soviet limbo, his music unperformed, his livelihood taken away and his life in jeopardy. In later years he recalled that he was so certain of being arrested that he used to sleep with his suitcase packed near the front door so that if the secret police were to pick him up they would not disturb the rest of the family. He redeemed himself in the eyes of the authorities in 1937 with the Symphony No. 5, which gave him a conditional reprieve. The opera, however, was not performed again for 25 years.

World War II brought a breather and an upsurge of patriotism, with the horrors of the '30s temporarily forgotten. But in 1946 came a resurgence of purges, suppression and artists’ disappearances, orchestrated by the cultural commissar Andrey Zhdanov, whose decrees stipulated that only cheerful, uplifting and folksy art was to be allowed. 

However 1945, the year of the Ninth Symphony, was a year of victory and still a time of hope. The authorities decreed that artists should celebrate the victory with triumphal paeans and praises of Stalin. Shostakovich, however, saw things differently: tens of millions were dead, the world was in chaos, and the apparatchiks were still in control. Unsurprisingly, the authorities hated the Symphony for its thin unpretentious orchestration and lighthearted sarcasm. 

The Symphony is a wind player’s showcase with one magnificent solo after another – including a killer piccolo part that frequently shows up on orchestra auditions. Written in five movements, it creates a musical arch, beginning and ending with parodies of the victory celebration. The second and fourth movements are dirges, moving reminders of the horrendous toll in lives suffered by the Russian people. The scurrying central scherzo is a snide parody of the weighty statement that usually serves as the keystone of a musical arch.

The Symphony opens with a playful circus-like theme – and an even more mocking second theme for solo piccolo. The movement contains some wonderful solos for the orchestra’s first chair players.

The second movement opens with a mournful clarinet solo, each statement of the melody augmented and varied by the upper woodwinds in turn. The strings supply a creeping second theme.

The frantic, high-pitched Presto, opens with the clarinet and once more is followed by the other winds, building up to an intense climax as more and more instruments are added. The melee gradually subsides into the tragic Largo, announced by the low brass. A dirge for bassoon solo follows in dialogue with the brass. 

The Allegretto is a rondo based on the bassoon theme, matching the circus quality of the opening movement. Although the tone seems more positive at first, there follows a whiningly dissonant duet for oboe and clarinet. During the rondo refrain, the two return with their flute and piccolo "friends" for a bit of mocking laughter. The climax of the movement turns nasty, a brash, dissonant transformation of the main theme, obviating the joy of triumph as decreed by the commissars. The Symphony ends with a scurrying presto and a “left-handed” fanfare. 

By this time, however, Shostakovich was too significant an international personality for the state to take too drastic “corrective action.”

Program notes by:
Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn
www.wordprosmusic.com