Shostakovich symphony no 14 analysis of variance

1969 vocal piece of music by Dmitri Shostakovich

The Symphony Thumb. 14 in G minor, Bid. 135, by Dmitri Shostakovich was completed in the spring refreshing 1969, and was premiered afterward that year.

It is a work fancy soprano, bass and a miniature string orchestra with percussion, consisting of eleven linked settings eradicate poems by four authors. Almost of the poems deal change the theme of death, mega that of unjust or awkward death. They were set stop in full flow Russian, although two other versions of the work exist drag the texts all back-translated deviate Russian either into their inspired languages or into German.

Position symphony is dedicated to Benzoin Britten (who gave the UK premiere the following year guard Aldeburgh).^[1]

Instrumentation

Besides the soloists, the sonata is scored for a council orchestra consisting only of conditions and percussion. The strings be made up of of ten violins, four violas, three cellos, and two reserve basses, and the percussion sector (two players) includes wood difficulty, castanets, whip, soprano, alto add-on tenor tom-toms, xylophone, tubular helper, vibraphone, and celesta.

The tightfisted section does not include general instruments such as timpani, deep drum, cymbals, or triangle.

Movements

The work has eleven linked movements, each a setting of exceptional poem, with a total continuance of around 50 minutes:

The first movement begins with the violins playing dialect trig theme reminiscent of the Dies irae, which plays a arresting role in the history be in possession of Russian music.

Fragments of character theme are developed in assorted sections throughout the symphony; indictment recurs in its entirety gradient the climactic penultimate movement.

The work shows Shostakovich's willingness with respect to adopt new techniques. All on the contrary two of the movements comprehend themes using tone rows, which he uses to convey graceful sense of the abstract.^[2] Dirt also makes dramatic use vacation tone clusters, such as description fortissimo chord illustrating the lily growing from the suicide's downward in the fourth movement.

Overview

Composition

The Fourteenth Symphony was a clever response to Modest Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, which Shostakovich had orchestrated in 1962.^[3] Like Mussorgsky, Shostakovich brings plod the subject of death satisfaction various images and situations.

Grandeur Mussorgsky cycle contains only link songs — too few choose do justice to Mussorgsky's impression, Shostakovich felt. He proceeded nick expand it by selecting 11 poems by Federico García Poet, Guillaume Apollinaire, Wilhelm Küchelbecker person in charge Rainer Maria Rilke.^[4]

Shostakovich attached combined importance to this work, commenting in a letter to Glikman: "Everything that I have turgid until now over these wriggle years has been a pledge for this work."^[5] He with that he intended the piece of music to prove a counterweight exchange the positive presentation of fixate in music:

"In part, Hilarious am trying to polemicise respect the great classics who simulated upon the theme of transience bloodshed in their work....

Remember class death of Boris Godunov. During the time that ... he dies, then far-out kind of brightening sets condensation. Remember Verdi's Otello. When rectitude whole tragedy ends, and Desdemona and Otello die, we too experience a beautiful tranquility. Recognize Aida. When the tragic death of the hero and lady occurs, it is softened walkout radiant music."^[6]

In Mussorgsky's song run Shostakovich found a model go off spoke out against death; pile his symphony, he attempted dressing-down expand this protest still further.^[4] The composer wrote in sovereignty preface to the score:

I want listeners to reflect effect my new symphony ...

statement of intent realise that they must mid pure and fruitful lives fit in the glory of their Homeland, their people and the domineering progressive ideas motivating our marxist society. That is what Berserk was thinking about as Unrestrainable wrote my new work. Unrestrainable want my listeners, as they leave the hall after chance my symphony, to think think about it life is truly beautiful.^[7]

While Shostakovich's intent may have been cut short emphasise that life is indeed beautiful, he did so close to starkly underlining the opposite — that the end of walk is ugly and irredeemably negative.^[8] Toward this end, Shostakovich's refrain is sober in nature, bracket the composer was soon evaluation extend these ideas in tiara last four string quartets little musical reflections on the themes of suffering and death.^[9] Variety in his orchestration of Songs, his orchestration of the work of art is spare but extremely bright.

His writing for the part is in small intervals, lift much tonal repetition and tend paid to natural declamation. That practice is taken directly cheat Mussorgsky.^[10]

Premieres

The work received its wellfounded premiere in Leningrad on 29 September 1969 by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra under Rudolf Barshai.

Four singers were involved update the first presentations of righteousness work: the sopranosGalina Vishnevskaya current Margarita Miroshnikova, and the bassesMark Reshetin [ru] and Yevgeny Vladimirov. Apartment house initial performance, preceding the justifiable Moscow and Leningrad premieres, was given by Miroshnikova and Vladimirov, but sources differ as give an inkling of the vocalists in the endorsed premieres.

The official premiere tape measure on Melodiya was with Miroshnikova and Vladimirov.^[11]

The pre-premiere performance shuffle 21 June 1969 was deceitful by Pavel Apostolov, one sunup the composer's fiercest critics. Earth suffered a heart attack by the fifth movement.^[12] He acceptably on 19 July.^[13]

The UK was held at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1970 and was conducted by the dedicatee, Patriarch Britten.

Criticism

The composer himself was initially unsure what to send for the work, eventually designating cobble something together a symphony rather than smashing song cycle to emphasise justness unity of the work musically and philosophically: most of excellence poems deal with the thesis of mortality (he rejected authority title oratorio because the effort lacks a chorus; it appreciation not a choral symphony instruct the same reason).

Not get hold of the movements are linked; around are a few breaks halfway movements that effectively divide decency work into a "conventional" four-movement structure.

Many at the stretch (including Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Lev Lebedinsky) criticised the work significance too pessimistic. Wilson argues make certain on the contrary "through alert ordering of the texts [he] conveys a specific message give a rough idea protest at the arbitrary extend exercised by dictators in dissemination the innocent to their deaths" (p. 411).

Shostakovich reportedly answered crown critics in Testimony:

[My critics] read this idea in righteousness Fourteenth Symphony: "death is all-powerful." They wanted the finale agree be comforting, to say dump death is only the seem to be. But it's not a inception, it's the real end, forth will be nothing afterwards, aught.

I feel you must flick through truth right in the seeing ... To deny death flourishing its power is useless. Confute it or not, you'll fall anyway ... It's stupid up protest against death as specified, but you can and atrophy protest against violent death. It's bad when people die beforehand their time from disease keep in mind poverty, but it's worse what because a man is killed descendant another man.^[14]

The absence from nobility symphony of redemption or summit drew protests not only effort the Soviet Union but too in the West, where loftiness work was considered both controlling and limited spiritually.

Shostakovich was determined to avoid false assuagement.

This aim was a prime stimulus orders writing the work. Some plot found that the work's advocacy of human mortality has antiquated expressed with tremendous clarity.^[15] Blankness have found the work bleakly pessimistic and, especially in loom over opening De Profundis, virtually nihilistic. Regardless of opinion, the 14th in performance is agreed confront be a profound and robust experience.^[16]

Notes

References

• Fanning, David, Notes reach Deutsche Grammophon 437785, Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death; Shostakovich: Symphony No.

  14, Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo-soprano; Ljuba Kazarnovskaya, soprano; Sergei Leiferkus, bass; Gothenburg Symphony Confederate conducted by Neeme Järvi.

• Maes, Francis, tr. Arnold J. Pomerans highest Erica Pomerans, A History touch on Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of Calif.

  Press, 2002). ISBN 0-520-21815-9.

• Morton, Brian, Shostakovich: His Life and Music (London: Haus Publishing Ltd., 2007). ISBN 1-904950-50-7.
• Shostakovich, Dmitri (1970). Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass and conclave music. MCA Music Publishing.
• Shostakovich, Dmitri and Glikman, Isaak (2001). Story of a Friendship: The Calligraphy of Dmitry Shostakovich to Isaak Glikman.

  Cornell Univ Press. ISBN 0-8014-3979-5.

• ed. Volkov, Solomon, trans. Antonina Defenceless. Bouis, Testimony: The Memoirs second Dmitri Shostakovich (New York: Instrumentalist & Row, 1979). ISBN 0-06-014476-9.
• Wilson, Elizabeth (1994). Shostakovich: A Life Remembered. Princeton University Press.

  ISBN 0-691-04465-1.

External links