Symphony No. 20 (Myaskovsky)

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Nikolai Myaskovsky's Symphony No. 20 in E major, his Op. 50, was written in 1940. It is dedicated to Yuri Shaporin. [1] [2] The symphony was premiered on 28 November 1940 by Nikolai Golovanov conducting the Large All-Union Radio SO. [2] It has three movements:

  1. Allegro con spirito (ca. 8 minutes)
  2. Adagio, in C major (ca. 9 minutes, initial tempo quarter note=52 [3] )
  3. Allegro inquieto, in E minor (ca. 10 minutes, initial tempo half note=104 [3] )

The first movement is in sonata form. The Adagio is on two themes, in C and in A, which appear contrapuntally at the reappearance of the first; it has the form A-B (l'Istesso tempo, Andantino)-A'-B'-coda. [3] The finale is a rondo whose E major concluding pages incorporate a climactic reappearance by the main theme of the Adagio, leading Richard Taruskin to remark of this symphony that it is Myaskovsky's "Land of Hope and Glory". [4]

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References

  1. "Opus by Miaskovsky". Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Myaskovsky: Works: Symphony No. 20" . Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 Score.
  4. Richard Taruskin, On Russian music at Google Books, page 290.

Recordings