2nd symphony (Shostakovich)

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The . Symphony No. 2 in B major , Op. 14 "On October" is a symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich for choir and orchestra .

Emergence

Shostakovich composed the 2nd symphony as a commission from the state-owned Soviet music publisher on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution in the summer of 1927. The composer Nikolai Roslawetz was the head of the Agitotdjel publishing department for agitational and educational music . Shostakovich presented the work to the publisher on October 10, and the score went to press that same month. The symphony was premiered on November 5, 1927 by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Academy Capella Choir under Nikolai Malko together with the cantata October by Roslavetz and repeated a day later. For this symphony Shostakovich received a 1st prize in a competition that awarded prizes to the best pieces related to the anniversary of the October Revolution. In Moscow, the play was performed for the first time on December 4th in the pillared hall of the House of Trade Unions, under the direction of Konstantin Saradschew .

analysis

overview

The 2nd symphony is a short, experimental work (under 20 minutes) in one movement , which consists of two sections:

  1. largo
  2. Choral finale My schli, my prossili raboty i chleba (We came, we demanded work and bread)

The poem "To October" by Alexander Besymenski set to music in the second section (choir finals) glorifies the October Revolution and depicts Lenin as the liberator who redeems the Russian people from the torments that had prevailed before.

1st section / Largo

Shostakovich begins this symphony with circling string figures, initially with double bass and violoncello, from measure 5 also with the viola, from number 2 with the second violin and from number 5 with full string scoring. The dynamic ranges from ppp to pp and the tempo is extremely slow. With each new instrument that is added, smaller music works are played and the pitch space is expanded upwards. This is accompanied by a permanent roll of the big drum. According to the musicologist Krzysztof Meyer , “the impression of a general noise” arises from the coincidental sounds of the layering of rhythmic-metric levels, which have a constantly increasing number of keys . In number 6 a trumpet motif appears above this noise . The trumpet solo shows a clear contrast to the other voices, it shows a clear melody with characteristic second intervals at the head of the topic and has a signal-like effect. In bars 23 and 24 - appropriate to the occasion - the first line of the birthday song Happy Birthday is incorporated. This is mentioned for the first time by Michael Koball in “Pathos und Groteske”, Berlin 1997, p. 70. Nevertheless, the entire first section up to the choir is to be regarded as an atonal structure and does not belong to any key longer than a few bars or chords.

After the trumpet solo was followed by more winds, the music calms down with a short tuba solo , a meditative continuation that Shostakovich described as the “death of a child”, and leads into a new section, with the meter changing to an allegro . In this scherzando-like part, Shostakovich works with many different themes, such as sudden rising and falling chromatic rows of the flutes (number 14). Other interesting elements of the second part are a dotted wind instrument motif (number 16) and a thundering, dissonant trumpet duet (number 20), which is accompanied by a triplet movement in the violins and a counterpoint in the flutes. This scherzando ends with a ff chord in G major (number 24).

A short two-part section, entitled Poco meno mosso , follows from number 29 . The familiar second motif now appears in the lower strings and is replaced by another tuba solo that calms the music down. Ascending scale figures lead into a short Allegro molto , which reverses the scales and brings a variant of the low string motif. The following thirteen-part “ Fugato ” now appears at a slightly slower tempo. By gradually compressing the texture , Shostakovich creates the vibrating sound impression of a moving cluster . However, one cannot speak of a strict fugato, since imitations usually only refer to individual distinctive intervals or scale runs of the previous bars. In terms of motif, both the second motif from number 6 and the scale noise at the beginning are recorded. The first part of the fugato is a trio with solo violin, clarinet and bassoon ; other instruments are not added until 35 bars later. The section builds up to the entry of the brass section (number 48), who play dissonant interjections over the now frenzied string and woodwind figures. After a drum roll (before number 53) the climax of this passage is reached, which contrasts the previous strongly dissonant section with a sudden major in large note values, the character here becomes almost pathetic through a large horn gesture.

The following section from point 56 to the choir entry is of a calm character, the tempo has been reduced, repetition figures in horns and strings provide the accompaniment to short thematic sections that cite earlier parts of the symphony. A clarinet solo brings another variant of the second motif, flute and violin end this “moriendo” 'dying' section.

2nd section / choir finals

In this section Shostakovich uses a very striking tonal language with which he underlines the content of the poem and develops it in the form of program music. Shostakovich opens the choral finale, which is largely composed in a tonal manner and thus clearly contrasts in the first part, in fortissimo with a factory siren as a symbol of the workers and with a drum roll (number 69). The moderate pace of the transition part is maintained. First, only the choir sings bass a Locrian melody that is taken over by the woodwinds from paragraph 70, the sad effect of the text which "The hearts were crushed by grief hervordrängende" unfolds.

Before number 73, the other choir parts join in canonically altered the theme, while the lower strings play a permanent triplet and eighth note accompaniment. A distinctive feature of the entire choir finale is a constant change of meter, which softens the meter and pursues the linguistic emphasis. Shostakovich closes the verse “Terrible was the name of our shadows” with an accentuating gesture of the horn in front of number 74. The following linguistic climax “Silence, suffering, oppression” occurs first as a C major chord, then as an E minor fourth chord , with the upper part falling one octave, and closes as a F sharp bass note. These harmonies create a clouding of mood that traces the text's message.

The E minor section, which reports on the words of torment , closes in A minor in the bar before number 78 , while the exclamation “O, Lenin!” In the following bar as D flat major, B minor and C. - Major - sixth chords are sung, creating the greatest possible contrast between the two words on the harmonic level. “We understood, Lenin, our fate bears the name: Kampf, Kampf” is sung by sopranos and tenors (number 80), whereby “Kampf” is first rhythmically dotted and then sung by the whole choir as an exclamation on the B pitch. Shostakovich glorifies the exclamation “October” (number 87 with prelude ) with an F sharp major chord over more than two bars.

The last verse “This is the banner, this is the name of the living generation: October, Commune, Lenin!” (From number 94) is composed as a chant , accompanied by drums . With this technique Shostakovich emphasizes the message of the last verse. A final climax of the orchestra is composed in C major , but then swings to B major (number 96), in this key the work ends in fortissimo.

interpretation

The choir has no connection whatsoever with the previous parts and, according to Meyer, shows "an almost primitive tonal language, which means that the symphony can be seen as a propaganda work due to its program." The composer himself seemed to have been dissatisfied with the work; he wrote that he was tired of writing it and considered Besymenski's text "hideous". Nonetheless, the work is considered an important representation of Soviet music of the 1920s. In particular, the idea of ​​“industrial” symphonies was intended to inspire the proletariat , which is why the choral part of the work is opened in the score by a factory siren, which is usually replaced in performances by a signal from horns, trumpets and trombones. An original siren is used in the CD recording by Mariss Jansons with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra .

The work was originally written as a cantata ; the composer later identified it as his second symphony.

literature

swell

  1. ^ Letter to Boleslaw Jaworski
  2. ^ Letter to Tatiana Gliwenko, May 28, 1927.