Symphony n° 7 of Chostakovitch

The Symphony n°7 in major C , COp 60, was composed by Dmitri Chostakovitch in 1941. Creation was ensured during the Second world war, on March 5th 1942 with Kouïbychev by the orchestra of the Théâtre Bolchoï of Moscow under the direction of Samouil Samossoud. The Symphonie is dedicated to the town of Leningrad.

Rare fact for a symphony of Chostakovitch, work quickly became popular in the Soviet world as in the west. This is explained by the object even symphony, which exalte resistance against the German invader. Less universal after the war, the symphony was more recently analyzed like a work antistalinienne. The intention of Chostakovitch remains however fuzzy, since it depends particularly on the start date of composition of the symphony, badly known.

The symphony, longest of the type-setter, is made up of four movements:

Allegretto
Moderato (poco allegretto)
Adagio
Allegro not troppo

Data sheet

Title: Symphony n° 7 in major C, COp 60

Subtitle: Leningrad

Composition: 1941
Creation: March 5th 1942 by the Orchestra of the Theater Bolchoï of Moscow under the direction of Samouil Samossoud
Lasted: 75 minutes

Orchestration

The symphony is made up for 3 Flûte S (of which two double with the manner of a Piccolo and a Alto flute), 2 Hautbois, a Cor anglais, 3 Clarinette S (of which a double with the manner of a Clarinette piccolo), a low Clarinette, 2 Basson S, a Contrebasson, 8 horn S, 6 Trompette S, 6 Trombone S, a tuba, percussions (Triangle, clear Caisse, Grosse case, Cymbale S, Wood-block S), Xylophone, 2 Toothing-stone S, Piano and cords (the partition prescribes a minimum of 16 first Violon S, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 Violoncelle S and 8 Contrebasse S.

History

Circumstances of composition

It is known that the symphony was finished the December 27th 1941. Uncertainties remain however over the time when Chostakovitch started to work on the partition, with Leningrad. Officially, the symphony would have been made up in reaction to the German invasion, but some (as Rostislav Dubinsky) think that the first movement would already have been finished one year earlier.

Most of the partition was in any case written during the Siège of Leningrad by the Wehrmacht. The September 17th 1941, Chostakovitch speaks on the waves about the radio about Leningrad:

I finished there is one hour the partition of two movements of a great symphonic composition. If I manage to complete it, if I manage to finish the third and the fourth movements, then perhaps I could call it my seventh symphony. Why do I say all that to you? So that the listeners who listen to me in this moment know that the life in our city continues normally.

The third movement was finished on September 29th before Chostakovitch and its family are not evacuated towards Moscow, on October 1st, 1941, with most extremely of the engagements. They were withdrawn then with Kouïbychev (today Samara) on October 22nd, where Chostakovitch completes the partition in two months.

Creation

The creation of work is ensured Kouïbychev, the March 5th 1942, by the orchestra of the Théâtre Bolchoï directed by Samouil Samossoud. The concert is retransmis in all the Soviet Union and, later, in Occident. Muscovite creation is held the March 29th 1942 in the room with the columns of the Palate of the Unions. For the occasion, the orchestra of Bolchoï is reinforced by the orchestra of the radio of the Union.

The partition is then transmitted on microfilms to the West, via Teheran. Arrived in April 1942, work is created in Europe, initially for the radio by Henry Wood and the Philharmonic orchestra of London, with London, the June 22nd 1942, then in concert at the time of the Proms, with the Royal Albert Hall. First American is carried out the June 19th 1942 with New York, by the Symphony orchestra of NBC, placed under the direction of Arturo Toscanini, at the time of a concert in studio diffused on the national waves.

The Philharmonic orchestra of Leningrad, taken refuge with Novossibirsk, carries out work there on July 9th, 1942 in the presence of Chostakovitch (also come to attend the repetitions), then again July 11th, 12th and 15th. With Leningrad, city to which the symphony is dedicated, creation is carried out the August 9th 1942, whereas the seat always lasts, by the Orchestre of the radio of Leningrad (only orchestra with being remained in the city during the hostilities), under the direction of Karl Eliasberg. For that, the partition is introduced of night at the beginning of July, then a team of copyists manufactures the material of orchestra before the repetitions cannot start. The members of the orchestra profit from additional food intakes, while additional musicians are recruited among the soldiers to mitigate the absence of the artists, evacuees or are died. During the concert, music of Chostakovitch, conceived as a psychological weapon, is retransmise by loudspeakers in all the city to be heard enemy population and troops. The German forces are even bombarded in the hours which precede to ensure their silence during the representation.

Some time later, the type-setter expresses his thanks for the interest shown with his symphony:

In our country, the symphony was played in many cities. In my birthplace of Leningrad, it is Karl Eliasberg which directed it. The Muscovites heard it several times under the direction of Samouil Samossoud. With Frounzé and Alma-ATA, the symphony was interpreted by the Symphony orchestra of State under the direction of Natan Rakhline. I am deeply grateful to the Soviet and international leaders for the love and the attention which they showed for my symphony. But its interpretation by the Philharmonic society of Leningrad directed by Evgueni Mravinski translated best the my ideas of author.

Public and critical reception

During the war, work remains very popular in the USSR as at the Western Allies, as a symbol of Russian resistance vis-a-vis the invader Nazi. She is played 62 times on the American continent during the season 1942-1943 (the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentine, Uruguay, Peru). Some critical seem however désarçonnés by the apparent brutality of the music. Virgil Thomson written thus that " that seems writes for slow spirits, not very musicians and little attentifs."

After the conflict, the vision of this symphony as a work of outrageous Soviet propaganda dominated in the West. It is only recently that the symphony Leningrad , as besides the remainder of the work of Chostakovitch, found a certain popularity, and was described like a judgment of the Totalitarisme, than it is Nazi or Communist.

Let us note that in the USSR, the symphony n°7 was one of rare apparently appreciated works of Chostakovitch of the capacity. The type-setter accepted a Prix Stalin for it, in 1942.

Analyzes

Allegretto

The symphony is especially known for the topic known as " invasion" , in the first movement, an off-hand walk of 18 measurements, accompanied by a rate/rhythm repeated with the clear Case, is repeated twelve times, more and more extremely, with an exploitation of the orchestra similar to that of Maurice Ravel in the Boléro . Walk lasts approximately eleven minutes, and is traditionally analyzed like a representation of the invader. More recently, certain researchers described walk like a symbol of the internal destruction of the the USSR, by noting that the topic is made of fragments of popular topics Russian. Volkov advances that the timid beginning of walk indicates an insidious change as much as the violence of the invasion Nazi. Flora Litvinova, friend of the type-setter, also stated to have intended it to say that its work did not carry " not only on Fascism, but also on our système". Walk is completed brutally, swept by an adagio of bassoon to funeral environment.

Moderato (poco allegretto)

The second movement is a scherzo with the mischievous or frightened character.

Adagio

The third movement is a painful adagio dominated by a low register and harmonies in quads and fifths, pushed with its paroxysm in cantilenas of cords.

Allegro not troppo

The finale, a triumphing movement stopped by sinister passages, offers a glance in charge of irony on supposed quarrelsome optimism to govern the part.

Anecdotes

Béla Bartók paid homage to the symphony Leningrad by quoting the topic of the walk of the first movement in its Concerto for orchestra . An interpreted wink in various ways, like a denunciation of the " bad goût" of Chostakovitch, like a comment of Bartók on excessive popularity in its eyes of the symphony, or like a questioning on the place of the artist in a totalitarian company.
the introduction of the first movement and the topic of the invasion are taken again both in an episode of the Anime Japanese the melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Selective discography

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