Symphony No. 8 (Shostakovich)

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The Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65, by Dmitri Shostakovich was written in the summer of 1943, and first performed on 4 November of that year by the USSR Symphony Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky, to whom the work is dedicated. It was briefly nicknamed the "Stalingrad Symphony" following the first performance outside the Soviet Union in 1944. [1] [2]

Contents

Music critics have ranked it among the composer's finest scores. [3] David Haas has argued that the work falls within the tradition of other C minor "tragedy to triumph" symphonies, such as Beethoven's Fifth, Brahms' First, Bruckner's Eighth, and Mahler's Second, [4] although there is considerable disagreement over the level of optimism present in the final pages. Shostakovich's friend Isaac Glikman called this symphony "his most tragic work". [5] The work, like many of his symphonies, breaks some of the standard conventions of symphonic form and structure. Shostakovich clearly references themes, rhythms and harmonies from his previous symphonies, most notably Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 7. [6]

Movements

The work consists of five movements:

  1. AdagioAllegro non troppo (C minor)
  2. Allegretto (D major)
  3. Allegro non troppo (E minor) –
  4. Largo (G minor) –
  5. Allegretto (C major)

The first movement, which runs roughly half an hour, is by far the longest. It opens with a dramatic motif played fortissimo in octaves, characterised by David Haas in his study as a "fate" motif: [7]

Symphony No. 8 (Shostakovich)

However, the motif is immediately replaced by the two subjects of this sonata form movement, both lyrical in character. In the development section, the second subject is transformed before march motifs come to dominate. The recapitulation sees a dissonant version of the fate motif displaced by a cor anglais solo which restates the second subject.

The composer described the short second movement allegretto as "a march with elements of a scherzo":

Symphony No. 8 (Shostakovich)

The third movement (conventionally described as a toccata) [8] is again short, driven onwards by motor rhythms:

Symphony No. 8 (Shostakovich)

This movement has been interpreted as a depiction of battle, or (by Kurt Sanderling) as "the crushing of the individual" by the Soviet system. It finally erupts into a "massive climax of self-destruction", [9] leading to the penultimate movement, a subdued passacaglia. This in turn, as in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, leads directly into the C major finale. However, in contrast to Beethoven's exuberant conclusion, Shostakovich provides a pastoral rondo in which solo woodwinds again dominate. The movement begins with a passage for solo bassoon, and ends quietly with both pizzicato and sustaining strings; for some additional color, a solo flute joins in for the last note of the motive, at the very bottom of its range. The pizzicato material is an inverted version of the symphony's opening fate motif, and is connected by Haas to a similar passage for soprano voice in the fifth movement of Mahler's Second. Here, however, there is no resurrection: "The hero who announced himself using the voices of cor anglais and bassoon has not clearly triumphed, merely survived". [10]

The weight of the first and final movements of the symphony is centered on simultaneous crescendos of the snare and bass drums, while trumpets call to the pinnacle which is overlaid by woodwind trills.

A second interval is used as a motif throughout the symphony: C–B–C in the opening motif of the first movement, D–C–D in the theme of the second movement, E–F–E in the third movement (here separated by an octave), and C–D–C in the last movement.

Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for a large orchestra which consists of the following:

Woodwinds
4 flutes (3rd and 4th doubling piccolos)
2 oboes
cor anglais
2 B clarinets
E clarinet
bass clarinet
3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon)
Brass
4 horns
3 trumpets
3 trombones
tuba
Percussion
timpani
bass drum
tambourine
2 pairs of crash cymbals
suspended cymbals
snare drum
triangle
xylophone
tam-tam

Strings

1st violins
2nd violins
violas
cellos
double basses

Reception

In a letter to Glikman, the composer wrote:

I am sure that it will give rise to valuable critical observations which will both inspire me to future creative work and provide insights enabling me to review that which I have created in the past. Rather than take a step backward I shall thus succeed in taking one forward. [11]

It was indeed not well received, although reviews were tepid rather than scathing. The bleak tone, and in particular the lack of an optimistic conclusion, made it unsuitable as propaganda at home or abroad. Shostakovich's friend Ivan Sollertinsky noted that, "the music is significantly tougher and more astringent than the Fifth or the Seventh and for that reason is unlikely to become popular". [12] The symphony was criticized by Sergei Prokofiev and others at a Composers' Plenum in March 1944, [13] and after the Zhdanov decree of 1948 it was effectively banned until eight years later. The symphony was rehabilitated in October 1956, in a performance by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Samuil Samosud. [14]

It was introduced to the western hemisphere during World War II by CBS correspondent Bill Downs, who returned from the Moscow bureau to the United States with the score. [15]

Notable recordings

OrchestraConductorRecord companyYear of recordingFormat
Boston Symphony Orchestra Serge Koussevitzky 1944 (first live recording)Private issue [16]
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Yevgeny Mravinsky Melodiya 1947 (first studio recording)LP
Leningrad Philharmonic OrchestraYevgeny Mravinsky BBC Worldwide 1960 (British premiere)CD (released 1998)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Constantin Silvestri ica Classics1961 (live performance)CD
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra Kirill Kondrashin Melodiya 1972LP
London Symphony Orchestra André Previn EMI Classics 1973LP/CD
Berlin Symphony Orchestra Kurt Sanderling Berlin Classics 1976LP/CD
Leningrad Philharmonic OrchestraYevgeny Mravinsky Philips 1982 (live recording)CD
Concertgebouw Orchestra Bernard Haitink Decca 1982LP/CD
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Ladislav Slovák Naxos 1988CD
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Leonard Slatkin RCA Red Seal Records 1988CD
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Georg Solti Decca Records 1989 (live recording)CD
Royal Scottish National Orchestra Neeme Järvi Chandos 1989CD
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Semyon Bychkov Philips 1990CD
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra James DePreist Ondine 1991CD
London Symphony Orchestra Maxim Shostakovich Collins Classics 1991CD
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Yoel Levi Telarc International Corporation 1991CD
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Vladimir Ashkenazy Decca Records 1991CD
National Symphony Orchestra Mstislav Rostropovich Teldec 1991CD
London Symphony Orchestra André Previn Deutsche Grammophon 1992CD
Kirov Orchestra Valery Gergiev Philips 1994CD
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne Rudolf Barshai Brilliant Classics 1994-1995CD
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Andrew Litton Delos 1996CD
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne Semyon Bychkov Avie Records 2001CD
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Mariss Jansons EMI Classics 2001 (live recording)CD
Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne Dmitri Kitayenko Capriccio Classics 2003CD
London Symphony Orchestra Mstislav Rostropovich LSO Live 2004CD
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Mark Wigglesworth BIS Records 2004CD
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi Oleg Caetani ARTS music 2004 (live recording)CD
Russian National Orchestra Paavo Berglund PentaTone Classics 2005CD
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Bernard Haitink BR-Klassik 2006 (live recording)CD
Prague Symphony Orchestra Maxim Shostakovich Supraphon 2006CD
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Vasily Petrenko Naxos 2009CD
Mariinsky Orchestra Valery Gergiev Mariinsky2011CD
Boston Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons Deutsche Grammophon 2016 (live recording)CD
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra Michael Sanderling Sony Music 2016CD
London Symphony Orchestra Gianandrea Noseda LSO Live 2018CD
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse Tugan Sokhiev Warner Classics 2019CD
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Kirill Petrenko Berlin Philharmonic Recordings2023CD

Notes

  1. Khentova, Sofia (1986). Шостакович. Жизнь и творчество, Т. 2[Shostakovich. Life and Work, vol. 2] (in Russian). Moscow: Советский композитор [Soviet Composer]. p. 193.
  2. Hulme, Derek C. (2010). Dmitri Shostakovich: The First Hundred Years and Beyond. Scarecrow Press. p. 261. ISBN   9780810872646. [The Eighth Symphony] was unofficially christened the 'Stalingrad Symphony' after the American premiere.
  3. Haas, David (2000). "Shostakovich's Eighth: C minor Symphony against the Grain". In Rosamund Bartlett (ed.). Shostakovich in Context. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816666-5. OCLC 42397957.
  4. Haas 2000.
  5. Wilson 1994, p. 174.
  6. Haas, David (2000). "Shostakovich's Eighth: C minor Symphony against the Grain". In Rosamund Bartlett (ed.). Shostakovich in Context. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816666-5. OCLC 42397957.
  7. Haas 2000, p. 128.
  8. Haas 2000, p. 125.
  9. Roseberry, Eric (1989) Liner notes to Shostakovich Symphony No. 8, Chandos CHAN8757
  10. Haas 2000, p. 134.
  11. Shostakovich & Glikman 2001, p. 22.
  12. Mikheyeva, I. I., Sollertinsky: zhizn' i naslediye [Sollertinsky: Life and Legacy], Leningrad, 1988[ full citation needed ]
  13. Fay 1999, p. 138.
  14. Fay 1999, p. 205.
  15. "Downs Points to Lucky U.S. Listeners". Billboard . 5 February 1944.
  16. Artner, Alan G. (24 September 2006). "A Shostakovich primer". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 6 August 2021.

Sources