Symphony No. 4 (Shostakovich)
Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43, by Dmitri Shostakovich was first played by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra on 30 December 1961. Kirill Kondrashin was the conductor.[1]
Shostakovich wanted the symphony to be played in December 1936, but the concert never happened. In January 1936, Pravda, a Soviet newspaper, wrote bad things about Shostakovich's opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Shostakovich may have agreed not to play Symphony No. 4 to keep the orchestra leaders from getting in trouble with Joseph Stalin.[2]
Instruments
[change | change source]The symphony is written for more than 100 players. The instruments are:[3]
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Structure
[change | change source]The symphony has three parts, also called movements.
- Allegretto poco moderato – Presto
- Moderato con moto
- Largo – Allegro
It takes more than an hour to play the symphony.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Steinberg, Michael, The Symphony (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). ISBN 978-0-19-506177-2.
- ↑ Fay, Laurel (2000). Shostakovich: A Life. Oxford University Press. pp. 95. ISBN 0-19-513438-9.
- ↑ Shostakovich, Dmitri. Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 43. New York: Kalmus.
Other reading
[change | change source]- Freed, Richard, Notes for RCA/BMG 60887: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4; St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin.
- Glikman, Isaak D., tr. Anthony Phillips, Story of a Friendship (London: Faber & Faber, 2001). ISBN 978-0-571-20982-8.
- Schwarz, Boris, Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia: 1917–1981 (London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1972). ISBN 978-0-253-33956-0.
- Volkov, Solomon, tr. Antonina W. Bouis, Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004). ISBN 978-0-375-41082-6.