5th Symphony (Shostakovich)

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The 5th Symphony in D minor Op. 47 by Dmitri Shostakovich is a symphony in four movements for orchestra .

Work history

Shostakovich's 5th Symphony was written at the time of the Great Stalinist Terror that ruled the Soviet Union in 1936 / 37–1938. Shostakovich had to withdraw his 4th Symphony in C minor due to a critical Pravda article (1936) and let it disappear in a drawer until after Stalin's death. On April 18, 1937, he began work on the 5th Symphony in the Crimea . He stayed in Gaspra , a place that reminded him of the happy years of his childhood and his childhood friend Tatyana Gliwenko . As he later said, he wrote the third sentence in three days. When he left the Crimea on June 2, he had already completed three sentences.

Back in Leningrad , Shostakovich learned that his sister's husband had been arrested and that she had been deported to Siberia . Shostakovich completed the work on July 20, 1937. The Leningrad Composers Union had decided that Shostakovich should present his work to them so that they could determine whether it could be “expected of the public”. The young conductor Yevgeny Mrawinsky , 34 years old, was to lead the premiere. The rehearsals lasted five days. The premiere took place on November 21, 1937 in the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic. During the never-ending applause, Mravinsky held the score over his head for more than half an hour, waving it back and forth to indicate that the applause was for Shostakovich alone.

After this performance, the work was officially recognized as the return of the prodigal son under the wing of the line-loyal cultural policy. The symphony was a great public success. The march finale was seen as a glorification of the regime.

In contrast, Shostakovich's memoirs, which are controversial in their authenticity, claim that the triumphal march is in reality a death march :

“What is going on in the fifth should, in my opinion, be clear to everyone. The cheering is forced under threats. […] As if we were hit with a club and asked: You should cheer! You should cheer! And the beaten person gets up, can hardly stand on his feet. Go, march, mumble to yourself: We should cheer, we should cheer. You have to be a complete sucker not to hear that. "

sentences

  1. Moderato
  2. Allegretto
  3. largo
  4. Allegro non troppo

Orchestral line-up

Piccolo . 2 flutes . 2 oboes . Eb clarinet. 2 clarinets (Bb, A). 2 bassoons . Contrabassoon . 4 horns . 3 trumpets . 3 trumpets . Tuba . Timpani . Triangle . snare drum . Basin . Big drum . Hoopla . Carillon . Xylophone . Celesta . 2 harps . Piano . I. and II. Violins . Viola . Violoncello . Double bass .

Duration: approx. 45 min.

Work analysis

The 5th Symphony is Shostakovich's first major work to be committed to “ Socialist Realism ”. The pattern that primarily offered itself here was the principle per aspera ad astra (“through hardship to the stars”). The musical model of the Fifth Beethoven , Tchaikovsky and Mahler becomes recognizable in this approach . Sentence types, topic structure and processing are clearly committed to the expressive aesthetics of the 19th century. The composer:

“Without a certain content of ideas, music cannot be valuable, lively and beautiful. The composer of a symphony [...] does not have to announce its program, but he must have it in mind as the ideal basis of his work ... For me and many other composers of instrumental music, the program idea always goes to the creation of one Work ahead. Works with a specific theme that can be expressed through words and inspired by vivid images of our time are possible and necessary. However, we should also have works whose ideas have a general philosophical character and which at the same time originate from Soviet life. "

The description of the symphony (not by Shostakovich himself) as the “creative response of a Soviet artist to just criticism” shows what humiliations the composer had to accept in order to survive. In his 5th symphony, Shostakovich tells a conflicted, dramatic story. The topics are very expressive and have graphic gestures. Compared to the 4th symphony, the instrumental effort is reduced here. It is assumed that, due to the reprimand of January 28, 1936, Shostakovich avoided anything that could have offended, such as the accusation of megalomania and formalism. Particular attention is paid to the use of the piano as an orchestral instrument. The sound of the piano stands out from the other orchestral instruments, which is why it is a "foreign body" in the orchestra. Shostakovich uses the piano to sharpen the sound z. B. in staccato passages (1st movement, bar 120 ff., 4th movement, m.284 to the end) for profiling and hardening the attacks, or in the 3rd movement (from bar 120) to increase the aggressiveness of one String tremolos.

1st movement: Moderato

The first movement is based on a sonata form . The exposition begins with a motto in a double- dotted rhythm . It is a gesture of standing up, defending oneself, represented in sixth jumps up and down (as a canon in the octave and at a distance of a quarter). The chromatic sixths merge with resignation into an accompanying type over which the expressive main theme unfolds. It is repeated several times in combination with a " motive for complaint " and varied greatly with new delimitations and penetrations. Variation and connection of all elements are rich, so that the impression of a single continuous process arises. The side movement (T. 50–120) offers the greatest possible contrast to the main movement. The tempo is a little more fluid and the long notes of the secondary theme are connected by wide intervals: octaves, fourths, septa instead of the predominant seconds in the main clause. The extensive lyrical melody is accompanied by chords in a continuous, slightly lively rhythm. There is simplicity instead of complexity. An accompanying figure takes the lead at the start of the implementation , which enables a development of unimagined power. Only now is the Allegro reached. The entire material of the exposition is augmented and diminished in a contrapuntal conflict with itself. The thematic material is transformed into a grotesquely distorted speed march in a wide development with military drums and trumpets. After several attempts, from m. 157 of the subordinate theme intervenes in the action. The recapitulation is greatly reduced and hardly brings any new material. The inner drama of the first movement can be described by an interplay of lamentation and mourning in contrast to the “departure for struggle”, which reaches its climax with the beginning of the reprise. In the end, a decision is still pending. The immanent threat has not yet been averted.

2nd movement: Allegretto

The second movement is based on a three-part minuet , although it must be said that the character is neither a minuet nor a scherzo . It should be some kind of landlord . The main part and the recapitulation consist of a rather relaxed and varied sequence of melody types in the country tone. There is a bass motif picked up by the horns and then the clarinets, later the oboes, and lastly the strings. At the end of this development there is a grotesque, bloated landlord. The trio has a peculiar harmony. The first and seventh levels alternate in the basic position, so that parallel fifths constantly arise that do not sound like popular music, but rather like "shabby" music. The movement closes in A minor with four canonically enriched fortissimo bars. Certainly the composer has not composed a harmlessly “funny” sentence here; If you listen more closely you can be certain that peace cannot be trusted, which is achieved through the numerous unusual modulations and the occasional discord.

Kurt Sanderling clarified the role of the “bloated countryman” in a 1996 TV production with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra: “There were always state concerts where the heads of the party and the heads of the government came; these could never be longer than an hour. A gypsy ensemble must have performed at this hour, a male choir, the Don Cossacks and then a little girl, and Shostakovich is now satirizing that: 'Dear Stalin, dear Stalin, we are the children of the entire Soviet Union, and all the children are grateful to you 'For the happy life we ​​have and wish you health' ”.

3rd movement: Largo

The largo of the 3rd movement is a culmination of resignation, grief and lamentation, which in the center of the movement increases to a passionate accusation with clarinet, xylophone and piano. Otherwise the movement is more chamber music and carried by the string orchestra. The tonality is floating and often not definable, there is a free floating and independent linearity of the individual voices. After the conflicts that characterize the first two sentences, gentle peace is being established here - or just its pretense?

4th movement: Allegro non troppo

The finale begins with a "curtain". A D minor sound of all wind instruments (from D to D '' '), heightened in its inner impatience by trills of the high woodwinds , drum rolls and a crescendo from simple to triple forte , causes a backlog of energy, which is first in a hammering ostinat eighth movement of the timpani, whereupon the main theme begins, played in unison by 3 trumpets and 3 trombones, which is a modification of the march-like main theme of the 1st movement of the 4th symphony. The contrast to the 3rd movement could not be more shocking and gave rise to discussions at the premiere. The main theme is seamlessly followed by other thematic shapes, which are spun freely and associatively, whereby motif repetition, separation and sequencing are shaping. This swirling first part is followed by a rather resigned gesture of standstill by the strings, which is reminiscent of the mood of the third movement. From the depths the main theme rises in several waves and always in enlargement into the clear consciousness: Above a string ostinato supported by the hammering piano it unfolds as a trumpet hymn. The D major gives the sound of a final “solution”. According to a common interpretation, however, in view of the thematic composition in the brass section as well as in the terrifying statics of the string figure, in the end there is no joyous triumph, but a grotesque distortion of reality. The absurd “too much” can be understood as a vivid and profound criticism of the composer.

However, this point is the subject of controversial discussions which its origin u. a. have " Quarter = 188 " in the tempo indication for the last 35 bars, which can be found in various print editions. Many western conductors, e.g. B. Leonard Bernstein , followed this instruction, which gives the conclusion a positive and triumphant character. [In a 1959 recording by Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic, the 4th movement only lasts 8:55 minutes; immediately before this, this interpretation was performed on a tour in Russia in the presence of Shostakovich. An extreme contrast to this is a recording by the young conductor Vasili Petrenko in 2008 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at 13:00 min.]

However, this tempo is probably a transmission error in the original designation " eighth = 184". Many Soviet and Russian conductors used this half as fast pace, including Mrawinski, who after the premiere of this symphony became a close confidante and primary interpreter of Shostakovich and can therefore most likely claim authenticity, with the above. grotesquely oppressive effect. This corresponds to the statements of the composer regarding the death march character and the forcibly enforced cheers.

On this subject, the revision commentaries of the new Shostakovich complete edition provide the following information: “The most significant difference in the lifetime editions is the metronome mark in the concluding episode of the symphony's finale (number 131). In the first edition of the score (1939), metronome mark 1/4 = 188 is indicated; in the second edition (1947), this indication was corrected to 1/8 = 184; the same tempo is retained in the 1956 edition; but in the 1961 edition it is changed back to 1/4 = 188. In the recordings of the symphony conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky, Mstislav Rostropovich, Maxim Shostakovich, and several others, this episode is performed in the 1/8 = 184 tempo. This tempo is also used in this edition. The text of Collected Works (1980), which is based on the first edition (1939) and the 1961 edition and, as a rule, does not take into account the 1947 edition and totally ignores the 1956 edition, which is not even mentioned in the Collected Works, recommends the 1/4 = 188 version. "

On the question of the interpretation of the finale, however, there is also an "objective" hint. Because Shostakovich includes a self-quotation in the slow middle section of the finale (at number 120; bars 229 to 249). [In the video of the final movement with Yevgeny Maravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra linked below , it is the section from 6:16 to 6:54.] The violins, and then the two harps, quote a theme from his romances based on poems by Alexander Pushkin , Op. 46. ​​This work, composed on the 100th anniversary of the poet's death and initially for the “drawer”, was completed in January 1937 by Shostakovich. (It was only performed from 1940 onwards.) Specifically, it is about the poem Rebirth from 1819. Here it is about the painting of a genius being painted over (blackened) by an art barbarian (1st stanza). But over time the strange colors peel off and the image of genius reappears in its old beauty (2nd stanza). The music quotation starts when the bass sings in the 3rd and last verse: So that error must also disappear / That has long tormented my soul / Until visions are found again / Which the first day contains. (Translation: Eric Boerner.) In the finale of the fifth, this passage ends on the note A hammered by the timpani (supported by the snare drum), and immediately afterwards the woodwinds (from bar 250) take up the main theme of the finale again and it the mighty coda follows. It is not difficult to imagine that the composer, disciplined and humiliated by politics, describes his true feelings here instead of the semi-official subtitle “a Soviet artist's creative response to just criticism” and goes with them “grudgingly” into the “positive” coda.

Concerning the question of the tempo at the beginning of the final movement (quarter = 88 Ed. Sikorski 2227, page 106), Kurt Sanderling referred to Shostakovich himself in an interview, who told him that in this final movement he should initially use the metronome number 132 for the quarter because that must sound very bad; the metronome indication of only 88 beats for the quarter should, however, remain in the score - that keeps the censorship quiet.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. Edited by Solomon Volkov. Propylaea, Berlin et al. 2000, ISBN 3-549-05989-2 , p. 283
  2. ↑ quoted from Karl Laux: Schostakowitsch, Dmitri Dmitrijewitsch . In: Music in the past and present . Volume 12, p. 48.Bärenreiter, Kassel 1986
  3. ↑ Jakob Knaus: A "Happy Birthday" for the Russian Revolution. The hidden musical quote was a secret weapon for Dmitri Shostakovich. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . October 14, 2017, page 47
  4. ^ Peter Gutmann: Dmitri Shostakovich, Fifth Symphony. classicalnotes.net 2002, accessed June 8, 2013
  5. ^ Beethoven Orchestra Bonn (Kofman) - 'Shostakovich: Symphony No.5, Symphony No.9'. A DVD-Audio review by Mark Jordan , accessed June 8, 2013
  6. ↑ Symphony No. 5 . In: Dmitri Shostakovich New Collected Works . 5th volume. DSCH publishers, 2004, p. 173
  7. ↑ Alexander Pushkin. A moment, a beautiful one. Poems. Edited and translated by Eric Boerner. Edition Charlottenburg. E-book. Berlin, May 2011.