7th Symphony (Shostakovich)

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The 7th Symphony in C major , op. 60 by Dmitri Dmitrijewitsch Schostakowitsch , usually called the Leningrad Symphony , is a symphony in four movements . The dedication concerned the resistance and the later military victory in the German Leningrad blockade in World War II over a period of 871 days from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. Many civilians died there of starvation and the other consequences of the siege.

"I dedicate my Seventh Symphony to our struggle against fascism, our inevitable victory over the enemy, and Leningrad, my hometown ..."

- Shostakovich on March 29, 1942 in Pravda .

The 7th symphony is considered to be one of Shostakovich's most famous works. Originally the symphony was supposed to consist of only one movement, then the composer decided on a classical structure with 4 movements. Shostakovich initially wanted to give each sentence a title: 1. War, 2. Memory, 3. The vastness of the homeland, 4. Victory. He refrained from doing this, however, and these programmatic headings are also not used in the partitions.

Emergence

Shostakovich wrote the subject of the first movement before the beginning of the German-Soviet War , around 1939 or 1940. These were variations in the form of a passacaglia , with a structure similar to that of Ravel's Boléro : a simple subject, initially harmless, which, against the background of the dry tapping of a snare drum grows powerfully and develops into a terrifying symbol of oppression. The composer showed this work to colleagues and students in 1940, but did not perform it publicly. In the summer of 1941, began to write as Shostakovich a new symphony was the Passacaglia for a large set of variations and took the place of execution in the first set, which was completed in August 1941st

On September 8, 1941, the Leningrad blockade began with the rapidly advancing German troops. In the already besieged Leningrad, Shostakovich wrote the second and third movements of the symphony during the month of September. On October 1, 1941, Shostakovich and his family were flown out of Leningrad and were able to complete the work in Kuibyshev (Samara) , where it was premiered on March 5, 1942 by the Moscow orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater , which was evacuated there, under the direction of Samuil Samossud . The Moscow premiere on March 29th also took place under life-threatening circumstances. But even an air alarm couldn't move the audience to go to the shelters in view of the captivating music.

Stalin was keen to make the symphony known outside of the Soviet Union. On June 22, she conducted Sir Henry Wood in London, and Arturo Toscanini directed the first performance of the symphony in the United States, which took place on July 19, 1942 in New York with the NBC Symphony Orchestra . Shostakovich's wish for a performance in Leningrad was fulfilled a short time later: A special aircraft was able to fly the full orchestral score to Leningrad. The first performance in Leningrad took place on August 9, 1942, during the blockade, with the few surviving members of the Leningrad Radio Orchestra and other musicians (conductor: Karl Eliasberg ).

The German premiere with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sergiu Celibidache took place in the State Opera Unter den Linden in Berlin in December 1946.

Work description

1st movement Allegretto

The first movement of the symphony corresponds to the basic pattern of a sonata movement . Shostakovich begins by developing a theme that is commonly viewed as a mirror of the pre-war idyll and the phase of peaceful construction of socialism in the Soviet Union. However, this first topic seems strangely disturbed and distorted. This topic is contrasted by a second one that looks much more idyllic. Instead of the implementation , the central theme now follows with eleven variations . This issue has been and is commonly referred to as the "Invasion Issue". It is supposed to symbolize the invasion of the fascist troops into the Soviet Union. From the composer's memoirs edited by Solomon Volkov , however, it emerges that Shostakovich once referred to this topic as the “Stalin theme”. According to a statement by Shostakovich himself, "(this theme) suddenly breaks into our peaceful life." The last variation is followed by a new, excited theme that ends in a somewhat slower, but still loud and chaotic section that alternates is led by brass and strings. This is followed by a slower, two-part section with a bassoon solo and a calming repetition of the opening theme in the strings. At the end of the movement, the “invasion theme” sounds one last time in a short coda in the solo trumpet, accompanied by the drums.

Stylistic means of the "invasion theme" are an extremely simple and monotonous melody, which goes through a constant increase in the eleven variations and finally combines the stupidity of the melody with a cruel brutality. Shostakovich used motifs from the melody Da I ​​go to Maxim from Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow , which was one of Hitler's favorite works. The use of motifs from this melody is in turn quoted by Béla Bartók in his Concerto for Orchestra (middle section of the 4th movement), which was also created under the impression of fascist rule in Europe. In his memoirs Shostakovich repeatedly speaks of the fact that his symphonies are requiems for the victims of tyranny. A clear indication of the actual character of the “invasion theme” can also be found in the musical analysis: it is reminiscent of the violence theme from Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth from Mtsensk .

The claim to the work by Stalinist propaganda eludes it through another peculiarity: At the height of the variations, on which a "counterforce" apparently sets in - this should symbolize the Red Army - nothing is musically new, but rather the material the "invasion theme" with its characteristic of the motive of violence continues to be used. This lack of "counterforce" was only discussed after the war, in the context of the new artistic dogmas and renewed denunciations, for example by Zhdanov , and brought Shostakovich a lot of criticism.

2nd movement Moderato (poco Allegretto)

The second movement is partly reminiscent of a scherzo, Shostakovich himself noted that there was “humor” here. Regarding humor in Shostakovich, reference is made to the second movement of his 13th symphony , in which above all the lack of humor in cruel government is thematized and terror and violence are contrasted. The second movement also contains motifs that are reminiscent of the violence theme from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk . This processing, in connection with Shostakovich's original sentence designation "memories", allows some conclusions: Again, the listener encounters the deceptive idyll of an apparently peaceful pre-war period, which, however, already carried the terror and violence of war within itself through the use of the motives for violence. Clarity only emerges with the entry of the trio, which is enclosed by the two main movements: a shrill waltz full of sounds reminiscent of military signals, embedded in a merciless motor skills.

3rd movement Adagio

A chorale structure appears in the third movement. The impression of a church organ is reinforced by the dominance of woodwinds. This can contain two indications: on the one hand, the resumption of the bell symbolism as an important part of the Russian musical tradition is a symbol of the people; on the other hand, echoes of Stravinsky's psalm symphony are unmistakable. The third movement in the psalm symphony can also be quite interesting for an interpretation of Shostakovich's Seventh, since Stravinsky also clearly contrasted the content of the music, the 150th Psalm, with the restrained composition. A stylistic device typical of Shostakovich can be found in the trio of the movement: a circus march. Circus marches, or grotesques from military marches, always served him as a symbol of an autocratic leadership. This becomes particularly clear, for example, in the fifth movement of the 9th Symphony .

4th movement Allegro non troppo

The last movement should represent the literal finale of a war symphony, that is, victory. In fact, it seems that Shostakovich is increasingly condensing the initially only topic. However, the heroic victory is replaced by another typical stylistic device for Shostakovich's compositions: a slow baroque form, here a sarabande. These baroque forms appear more frequently in the war compositions and are always a means of mourning. Shostakovich likes to contrast these funeral melodies with grotesque forms and thus represents a direct connection. In the war symphonies, especially in the eighth, these slow baroque forms are always juxtaposed with circus marches and the like. In this way the suffering of countless people is made clear, which, through the circus marches and military appeals, is placed in direct connection with the brutal violence that triggered the war.

Orchestral line-up

Piccolo flute, 2 large flutes (second also alto flute), 2 oboes, English horn, small clarinet (in Eb), 2 clarinets (in Bb and A), bass clarinet (in Bb), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 Trombones, bass tuba, timpani, large and small drum, triangle, cymbals, xylophone, tam-tam, tambourine, piano, 2 harps, I. and II. Violins , viola , cello , double bass , distant orchestra with 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones

Leningrad premiere and reception

The premiere of the 7th Symphony in besieged Leningrad took place on August 9, 1942. It was also broadcast by all Soviet radio stations and speakers in the city and could also be heard by the German troops. The performance of the Leningrad Radio Orchestra under the direction of Karl Eliasberg became a state-organized performance made possible by the Red Army , the drama of which could perhaps have sprung from a dream by Wagner , Skriabin , Avraamow or Stockhausen . The Soviet Commander-in-Chief of the Leningrad Front , General Govorov , ordered a previous bombing of German artillery positions in order to ensure an undisturbed reception of the symphony.

With a few corrections, this symphony became a true symbol of anti-fascism , not only in the Soviet Union, but also in the United States. The Boléro part was clearly interpreted as a parody of the German attackers. For it is already the melody of this part, then a dull, servile in the following variations, thoughtless and talentless, highly uncreative diligence embodies. On the other hand, one recognizes the grotesque grotesque typical of Shostakovich , which one can just as easily perceive as directed against Russian communists and Stalin personally.

literature

- chronological -

  • Heinz Alfred Brockhaus: The symphony of Dimitri Schostakowitsch . Berlin 1962, DNB 481869654 .
  • Karen Kopp: Form and content of the symphonies of Dmitrij Schostakowitsch . Publishing house for systematic music sciences, Bonn 1990, ISBN 3-922626-53-X .
  • Michael Koball: Pathos and the grotesque - The German tradition in the symphonic work of Dmitri Shostakovich. Kuhn, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-928864-50-5 .
  • Solomon Wolkow (ed.): The memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich . Propylaea, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-549-05989-2 .
  • Anne Shreffler: Monument against its will. The composer of the Leningrad Symphony. In: Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen , Laurenz Lütteken (eds.): Between confession and denial. Shostakovich and the Symphony in the 20th Century. (= Swiss contributions to music research , 3.) Bärenreiter-Verlag , Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-7618-1830-0 , pp. 98–121.
  • Matthias Stadelmann : From Leningrad to Babiy Yar. Dmitrij Šostakovič's symphonic confrontations with war and annihilation in the Soviet Union. In: Frank Grüner, Urs Heftrich, Heinz-Dietrich Löwe (eds.): Destroyer of Silence. Forms of artistic memory of the National Socialist race and extermination policy in Eastern Europe. Böhlau, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-412-36105-4 , pp. 419-440.
  • Solomon Volkov: Stalin and Shostakovich . List, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-548-60655-5 .

Fiction and cinematic reception

  • Sachar Agranenko (director): Leningrad Symphony. 1957, Soviet Union, Mosfilm, 95 min, feature film about the first performance of the 7th Symphony in besieged Leningrad
  • Sarah Quigley: The conductor. Structure, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-351-03502-0 . (Novel about the genesis of the 7th symphony)
  • Carsten Gutschmidt, Christian Frey (Director): Leningrad Symphony, a city is fighting for its life. 2017, Germany, 90 min, feature film with documentary scenes and interviews with contemporary witnesses, NDR, arte u. a .; Channel information from arte-tv, ( Memento from February 27, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Feb. 2018, trailer no longer available, production: Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quoted from his article on p. 3 of Pravda of March 29, 1942: [1] Dmitri Shostakovich: Seventh Symphony (as the announcement of the evening premiere in Moscow).
  2. ^ Krzysztof Meyer : Schostakowitsch. His life, his work, his time. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1995, ISBN 3-7857-0772-X , p. 279.
  3. ↑ L. Mikheeva: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7. In: belcanto.ru , (Russian).
  4. ↑ Michael Rofe: Dimensions of Energy in Shostakovich's Symphonies. Ashgate Publishing , Farnham 2012, ISBN 978-1-4094-0745-4 , p. 89.
  5. ↑ Boris Yoffe : In the river of the symphonic - A journey of discovery through the Soviet symphony. Wolke Verlag, Hofheim am Taunus 2014, ISBN 978-3-95593-059-2 , p. 101, table of contents and foreword. ( Memento from December 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive )