Symphony No.7 in C major "Leningrad" - Dmitri Shostakovich
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มิ.ย. 2024
- Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko.
I - Allegretto (𝅘𝅥 = 116) - Pco più mosso (𝅘𝅥 = 126) - A tempo (𝅘𝅥 = 116) - Moderato (𝅘𝅥. = 87) - Poco più mosso (𝅘𝅥 = 108) - Adagio (𝅘𝅥 = 92) - Meno mosso (𝅘𝅥 = 69) - Poco più mosso (𝅘𝅥 = 92) - Allegretto (𝅘𝅥 = 120): 0:00
II - Moderato (poco allegretto / 𝅘𝅥 = 96): 28:25
III - Adagio (𝅘𝅥 = 112) - Largo (𝅘𝅥 = 92) - Adagio (𝅘𝅥 = 112) - (𝅘𝅥 = 120) - Largo (𝅘𝅥 = 92) - Moderato risoluto (𝅘𝅥 = 120) - Largo (𝅘𝅥 = 92) - (𝅘𝅥 = 120) - (𝅘𝅥 = 112) - Largo (𝅘𝅥 = 92) - Adagio (𝅘𝅥 = 112) - Largo (𝅘𝅥 = 92) - Adagio (𝅘𝅥 = 112) - (attacca): 41:19
IV - Allegro non troppo (𝅗𝅥 = 132) - Moderato (𝅘𝅥 = 100): 59:56
Shostakovich's Symphony No.7 was composed between September 1941 and February 1942, mostly written in the besieged city of Leningrad, he completed the work in Kuybyshev (now Samara), where he and his family had been evacuated. It was premiered on March 5 of 1942, performed by the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra conducted by Samuil Samosud. The piece was a triumphal success across the Soviet Union and abroad in the Allied countries. The Leningrad performance on August 9 was a unique event in the whole war; after a soviet artillery barrage, loudspeakers broadcasted the performance throughout the city as well as to the German forces in a move of psychological warfare.
The Germans invaded the Soviet Union on June 22 of 1941, and, by the end of July, the city of Leningrad was completely surrounded. The siege would last until January 1944, during which roughly a million of the city’s residents died, much of the city itself was reduced to rubble, and living conditions for those who didn’t die were ghastly. Shostakovich attempted to enlist and refused to leave the city, working on the symphony and reflecting in it all the tragedy, heroism, violence and emotions unleashed by the war. Despite everything, Russian arts were flourishing even in the face of an imminent defeat. Censorship was significantly reduced, and patriotic music flowed without a need to impose socialist realism as in the previous years.
The first movement is structured in a large-scale sonata form. It begins with a solemn and resolute main theme on strings and timpani, contrasted by a lyrical and peaceful second theme on strings and woodwinds. The development consist of an extensive bolero opened by the rhythm of the snare drum, a march theme (derived from the opening theme) is presented by strings pizzicati. It is then constantly repeated as it grows more loud, dissonant and violent; first on flute, then in a duo with the piccolo, then a second duo between clarinet and bassoon, next on muted trumpets and trombones with piano, then in canon on oboes and clarinets, and then on full strings, then on horns supported by strings and xylophone, next on whole brass over menacing string figures, then on strings supported by percussion, wood and brass, and finally on brass and strings in its final peroration.
A violent climax is reached with a variation of the march theme blasted from the brass, supported by incisive percussion. Another anguished and hysterical climax ensues as the pace quickens and music becomes louder. A painful recapitulation of the themes begins with a tragic and dissonant interpretation of the main theme, followed by a melancholic interpretation of the second by the bassoon. The main theme then expressively reappears in its original shape on strings, leading us to a coda in which the snare drum rhythm and the march theme on muted trumpet reminds us that the struggles are not over.
The second movement is an intermezzo in rondo form (A-B-A'-C-A''-B'-A'''). It opens with a dance-like main theme on second violins, like a hesitant but elegant waltz. It is unfolded in a series of contrapuntal variations, answered by a lyrical second theme on the oboe over the rhythm of a polonaise. The main theme is recapitulated by string pizzicati. The central section opens with a grotesque third theme on the wood, reaching a vulgar climax in form of a march. After the music calms down, the main theme is recapitulated once again by strings, followed by the second theme on bass clarinet supported by three flutes. The music becomes more hopeful as the main theme is recapitulated once more on strings, leading us to a serene coda.
[Musical analysis continued in the comments section].
Picture: Photograph of the monumental ensemble "The Motherland Calls" (1967) by the Russian sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich.
Musical analysis partially written by myself. Source: tinyurl.com/28gfpsko
To check the score: tinyurl.com/25emmxmj - เพลง
The third movement is also structured as a rondo (A-B-A'-C-A''-B'-A'''). It begins with a grim chorale on woodwinds as the main theme, expressively taken and unfolded by strings. After a briefly antiphonal exchange between woodwinds and strings, a deeply lyrical and nostalgic second theme is introduced by the flute, soon in a duo and then on violin over pizzicati. The main theme is then recapitulated in a more hopeful tone. A violent central section unleashes with a turbulent third theme on strings and winds, lashing out with great bitterness and fury. After a dissonant climax and the music calms down, the main theme expressively reappears on strings, followed by the second theme on violas. The main theme is recapitulated once again. Three tam-tam blows lead us directly into the final part.
The fourth movement is written in ternary form. It opens with a contemplative theme on strings, surging from the depths and soon transformed into a heroic and wilful main theme. It grows more and more powerful and imposing until reaching a massive and bellicose climax. After the music gradually winds down, a broad chorale-like second theme is introduced by strings, unravelled as a tragic lament. Cellos gradually lead us to a long and constant crescendo that is the rest of the movement. The main theme, little by little, reappears with great force, growing more and more triumphal. Then the opening theme of the work, that noble theme of Russian spirit, reappears in the beginning of the massive final coda. The whole work ends with a resolute blaze in C major.
As we have seen in Shostakovich's fifth symphony, the piece's meaning is complex and diffuse, not helped by the composer's declarations. When checking different booklets about recordings of the piece, one can see that almost every one paints a different narrative or focuses on completely different aspects. For that reason, I will present a multi-layered view on each series of narratives surrounding the work. Despite the simplicity of the symphony's core elements, the symbolic meanings are abundant, perhaps even more than in Shostakovich's fifth symphony.
The first layer is also the most superficial narrative, mostly pushed by soviet authorities as a propaganda tool. In it, the seventh was a war symphony that reflected the siege of Leningrad and the whole war in an almost programmatic way. This narrative is supported by the fact that each movement had subtitles before they were dropped; "War", "Memories", "Home Expanses" and "Victory". The first movement showed a happy life (exposition of main themes) before the German army invaded the country (march theme of the bolero), answered by the Russian army (climax of the development). The second movement represented the bittersweet memories before the war, the third was both a portrayal of the motherland and a lament for the fallen, and the fourth represented the final victory of the Soviet army against the German beast.
The second layer is that the piece is purely abstract, and the war and Leningrad siege were merely an inspiration to portray musically a universal struggle. In this case, for example, the invasion wouldn't refer to the German, but to evil more broadly. This narrative is supported by Shostakovich's removal of the subtitles and the declaration that the piece did not directly portray the conflict. This view of the piece is greatly neglected, as so many people focus on the socio-political context surrounding the piece rather than the piece itself; its formal structure, its thematic material, its orchestration, etc.
The third layer presents Shostakovich as a dissident using the war and the siege as a smokescreen. This narrative is supported by subtle hints by Shostakovich himself, the testimonies of close friends, and the content of the book "Testimony" by Solomon Volkov. According to it, the piece was largely finished on the composer's mind before the invasion began. Its all an illusion that refers to Stalin as the real enemy, as said in the next paragraph: "Actually I have nothing against calling the Seventh the Leningrad, but it's not about Leningrad under siege. It's about the Leningrad that Stalin destroyed and that Hitler merely finished off." The violence and tragedy thus present within the work does not merely refer to the horrors of war and nazism, but also to the horrors of stalinism.
Regardless of what narrative you think its more approximate, the reality is that the work's ambiguity can not be fully resolved in favour of one, even the three could be correct at the same time, as Shostakovich's double-faced language allows for it. Again I want to remind the reader that these are just my interpretations, and that the music itself should be, at the end, the primary focus.
You do a good job laying out the situation surrounding the work..I have learned much and experience music never before heard by my ears but have thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from laying in this hospital bed 🛌 with my body broken as a result of getting a direct hit on my electric scooter collision 💥 with car turning directly into me...horrible experience but am eager to listen to the wonderful music of shostakovich..thank you..
Thank you for your comment Tom, I hope you recover and get to walk soon enough!
Great upload of this epic, evocative symphony - also a kind of cycle of movements! I've heard the work played live several times (including streamed live from Saint Petersburg itself). Thank you!
Toda este ciclo sinfónico de Shostakovich con Petrenko está resultando espléndido. Muchas gracias.
Monumental ending - TY
I live in iran and while i’m writing this my country is attacking isreal
From the deepest level of my heart i can feel what shostakovich wrote
And don’t be scared we are not terrorists
Shostakovich both composed the beauty of winnig the war , singing the anthem of your country , hail to the blood etc. but he also mentioned the brutal truth about war
And this is the beauty of it
I hope we all see the peace our lives
Bless you! Hope you're alright
This is the one that always gets me right to my marrow.