Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 (Shostakovich)

Last updated

The Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1 (commonly known as Jazz Suite No. 1) by Dmitri Shostakovich was composed in 1934. [1]

Contents

Structure

The suite has three movements:

  1. Waltz in G minor
  2. Polka in C major
  3. Foxtrot in F minor

It is scored for 3 saxophones (soprano, alto and tenor), 2 trumpets, trombone, wood block, snare drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, xylophone, banjo, Hawaiian guitar, piano, violin and double bass. [2] The premiere was on March 24, 1934. [2] A performance takes about 8 minutes. [1]

Shostakovich used the waltz in his 1935 ballet The Limpid Stream . [3]

Notable recordings

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra</span> Symphony orchestra of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw. Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Glazunov</span> Russian composer (1865–1936)

Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental in the reorganization of the institute into the Petrograd Conservatory, then the Leningrad Conservatory, following the Bolshevik Revolution. He continued as head of the Conservatory until 1930, though he had left the Soviet Union in 1928 and did not return. The best-known student under his tenure during the early Soviet years was Dmitri Shostakovich.

Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43, between September 1935 and May 1936, after abandoning some preliminary sketch material. In January 1936, halfway through this period, Pravda—under direct orders from Joseph Stalin—published an editorial "Muddle Instead of Music" that denounced the composer and targeted his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Despite this attack and the political climate of the time, Shostakovich completed the symphony and planned its premiere for December 1936 in Leningrad. After rehearsals began, the orchestra's management cancelled the performance, offering a statement that Shostakovich had withdrawn the work. He may have agreed to withdraw it to relieve orchestra officials of responsibility. The symphony was premiered on 30 December 1961 by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra led by Kirill Kondrashin.

Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112, subtitled The Year 1917, was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1961. He dedicated it to the memory of Vladimir Lenin. Although the performance on October 1, 1961, by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky was billed as the official premiere, the actual first performance took place two hours earlier that same day in Kuybyshev by the Kuybyshev State Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Abram Stasevich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 13 (Shostakovich)</span> 1962 solo vocal and choral symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 in B-flat minor, Op. 113 is an hour-long work for bass soloist, men's chorus, and large orchestra in five movements, each a setting of a Yevgeny Yevtushenko poem that describes aspects of Soviet history and life. The work has been variously described as a choral symphony, song cycle, and cantata. Although the symphony is commonly referred to by the nickname Babi Yar, no such subtitle is designated in Shostakovich’s manuscript score.

The Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107, was composed in 1959 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Shostakovich wrote the work for his friend Mstislav Rostropovich, who committed it to memory in four days. He premiered it on October 4, 1959, at the Large Hall of the Leningrad Conservatory with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky. The first recording was made in two days following the premiere by Rostropovich and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Aleksandr Gauk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riccardo Chailly</span> Italian conductor (born 1953)

Riccardo Chailly is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions at the Gewandhausorchester (2005–2016); the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (1988–2004); the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (1982–1988); and the Teatro Comunale of Bologna (1986–1993). He was also the first musical director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (1999–2005) and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1983–1986). Among the world's leading conductors, in a 2015 Bachtrack poll, he was ranked by music critics as the world's best living conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariss Jansons</span> Latvian conductor (1943–2019)

Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons was a Latvian conductor best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he was often cited as among the world's leading conductors; in a 2015 Bachtrack poll, he was ranked by music critics as the world's third best living conductor. Jansons was long associated with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as music director.

The Suite for Variety Orchestra is a suite in eight movements by Dmitri Shostakovich. The work consists of a collection of movements which derive from other works by the composer. It is also named Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra, for example in Derek Hulme's Shostakovich catalogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Geringas</span> Lithuanian cellist and conductor

David Geringas is a Lithuanian cellist and conductor who studied under Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1970 he won the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition. He also plays the baryton, a rare instrument associated with music of Joseph Haydn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Concerto No. 2 (Shostakovich)</span> 1957 piano concerto by Dmitri Shostakovich

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102, by Dmitri Shostakovich was composed in 1957 for the 19th birthday of his son Maxim, who premiered the piece during his graduation concert at the Moscow Conservatory. It contains many similar elements to Shostakovich's Concertino for Two Pianos: both works were written to be accessible for developing young pianists. It is an uncharacteristically cheerful piece, much more so than most of Shostakovich's works.

<i>Tahiti Trot</i> 1927 arrangement by Dmitri Shostakovich

Tahiti Trot, Op. 16, is an arrangement for symphony orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich of the song "Tea for Two" from the musical No, No, Nanette by Vincent Youmans. It was composed in 1927 and resulted from a bet between the composer and the score's dedicatee, Nicolai Malko.

The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953. It is most associated with longtime conductor Kiril Kondrashin under whom it premiered Shostakovich's Fourth and Thirteenth symphonies as well as other works. The Orchestra undertook a major tour of Japan with Kondrashin in April 1967 and CDs of the Japanese radio recordings have been made available on the Altus label.

Factory: machine-music, Op. 19, commonly referred to as the Iron Foundry, is the most well-known work by Soviet composer Alexander Mosolov and a prime example of Soviet futurist music. It was composed between 1926 and 1927 as the first movement of the ballet suite Stal ("Steel"). The remaining movements of Steel, "In Prison," "At the Ball," and "On the Square" have been lost, and Iron Foundry is performed today as a standalone orchestral episode.

Sergei Prokofiev composed and compiled his Waltz Suite, Op. 110, during the Soviet Union's post-Great Patriotic War period of 1946–1947.

Michail Vladimirovich Jurowski was a Russian conductor who worked internationally, based in Germany for most of his career. He was particularly interested in the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, in concerts and recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabala International Music Festival</span> Place in Azerbaijan

Gabala International Music Festival is an annual festival of classical music held every summer beginning in 2009 in Gabala, Azerbaijan. The festival is organised with the support of Heydar Aliyev Foundation at the initiative of the rector of the Baku Academy of Music Farhad Badalbeyli and conductor Dmitri Yablonski. At this festival, musicians perform in the open air. Participants have included musicians from Europe, the US and Israel, as well as musicians from republics of the former USSR. In 2009, a contest of young pianists was held at the same time with the musical festival. Jazz and mugham evenings were held along with classical music concerts. In 2010, the festival was held on August. General director of UNESCO Irina Bokova was in the opening ceremony of the festival. The festival began with the performance of overture from Uzeyir Hajibeyov's "Koroglu" opera as in 2009. Opening ceremony of the festival was charged to Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Such musicians as Dmitri Yablonski, Yuri Bashmet, Khloe Khanslip and other Azerbaijani and foreign musicians took part in the festival. In 2011, the festival lasted from July 15 to August 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmitry Yablonsky</span> Russian classical cellist and conductor (born 1962)

Dmitry Albertovich Yablonsky is a Russian classical cellist and conductor, who was educated at the Juilliard School of Music and Yale University.

Gara Garayev's Symphony No. 3 was composed in 1964. It was the last of the composer's three numbered symphonies and it marks a development from his two previous contributions to the genre, composed in the mid-1940s during his studies in the Leningrad Conservatory under Dmitri Shostakovich. It was one of the first serial symphonies composed in the Soviet Union, fusing the twelve-tone technique with Azerbaijani folk music influences in the ashug tradition in the frame of a classical structure, attempting to find to new ways of artistic expression, new principles of form and construction, and, most notably, new means of expressive musical language and wanting to prove that strictly following the twelve-tone technique it is possible to write nationalistic music, and not simply nationalistic, but specifically ashug according to the composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony in D minor (Bruckner)</span> Symphony by Anton Bruckner

The Symphony in D minor, WAB 100, was composed by Anton Bruckner in 1869 between Symphony No. 1 (1866) and Symphony No. 2 (1872). In 1895 Bruckner declared that this symphony "gilt nicht" and he did not assign a number to it. The work was published and premiered in 1924.

References

  1. 1 2 Dave Kopplin. "Jazz Suite No. 1". Hollywood Bowl. On the occasion of the work's first performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel in March 2011.
  2. 1 2 Alex Burns (22 January 2020). "Dmitri Shostakovich: Jazz Suite No. 1". classicalexburns.com.
  3. Richard Whitehouse (2004). Shostakovich: Ballet Suits Nos. 1–4 (PDF) (Liner notes). Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitry Yablonsky. Naxos. 8.557208.
  4. "Lightweight fare from Shostakovich done by a suitably characterful Russian band", Gramophone , August 2002