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Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major
Composed: 1945
Premiered: 1945, Leningrad
Duration: 27 minutes

Shostakovich wrote the majority of his Ninth Symphony over the period of four weeks between July and August 1945, though he told some of his students that he had started work on it as early as January of that year. Originally, his plan for the symphony was for it to be a big and grand celebration of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. Over the course of completing it, however, the Ninth Symphony took on an entirely different tone, shifting into a more lighthearted and emotional classical work, not unlike Prokofiev's First Symphony.

The symphony was well-received at its premiere in Leningrad in November 1945, with the audience even demanding an encore of the last three movements. The first movement is a spirited Allegro that closely follows the sonata form from the 18th century, while the second movement is a darker, melancholic Moderato that begins with a haunting clarinet solo. The final three movements, played continuously, dance between cheerful joy and slow lyricism before finishing with a sense of joviality.

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major
Composed: 1945
Premiered: 1945, Leningrad
Duration: 27 minutes

Shostakovich wrote the majority of his Ninth Symphony over the period of four weeks between July and August 1945, though he told some of his students that he had started work on it as early as January of that year. Originally, his plan for the symphony was for it to be a big and grand celebration of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. Over the course of completing it, however, the Ninth Symphony took on an entirely different tone, shifting into a more lighthearted and emotional classical work, not unlike Prokofiev's First Symphony.

The symphony was well-received at its premiere in Leningrad in November 1945, with the audience even demanding an encore of the last three movements. The first movement is a spirited Allegro that closely follows the sonata form from the 18th century, while the second movement is a darker, melancholic Moderato that begins with a haunting clarinet solo. The final three movements, played continuously, dance between cheerful joy and slow lyricism before finishing with a sense of joviality.