Shostakovich - Concerto For Piano, Trumpet, And Strings In C Minor, Opus 35

Shostakovich was the soloist at the premiere of this 1st Piano Concerto, also known as Concerto For Piano And Trumpet because of the prominent part for the trumpet.  At the premiere, Shostakovich had the trumpet player sit next to the piano instead of with the rest of the orchestra, which is usually done in modern performances as well. The concerto was premiered in 1933, before Shostakovich's first official government censure.  The concerto is in 4 movements:

I. Allegretto - The piano and orchestra toss out the themes in this movement while the trumpet comments on them. The mood of the movement changes quickly. This is some of Shostakovich's most sarcastic, witty and pithy music and it is reminiscent of  the spontaneity of the first symphony. The movement ends with a dialogue with piano and trumpet.

II. Lento - This movement opens with a slow waltz-like melody. The piano enters,  and expands the waltz into a passionate outburst from the piano and orchestra.  After the climax fades, the strings re-enter gently, with the trumpet playing the waltz theme (with none of the sarcasm of the first movement) over the accompaniment of the orchestra.  The piano and orchestra combine for a heart-felt, gentle close to the movement.

III. Moderato - This movement is less than 2 minutes long, and is generally thought to act as an introduction to the final movement. It is played with weight and depth of tone by the strings, but the piano shines through the quasi-seriousness and the music segues into the finale...

IV. Allegro con brio - The tempo increases, the piano chatters away. In this movement the trumpet becomes more prominent, almost on a par with the piano. The music becomes manic in tempo and intensity. Shostakovich was fond of quoting motifs from his and other composers music. This movement makes reference to Haydn, Mahler, a Jewish folk song, and others. The cadenza for solo piano is derived from Beethoven's Rage Over A Lost  Penny for piano solo.  The music gets more and more animated, until the trumpet plays a repeated figure while the piano and orchestra pound out chords.  The entire ensemble joins together to bring the music to a rousing finish.

Shostakovich was in his late 20's when he wrote this concerto.  His music was everywhere, his fame and popularity assured. In this period of relative freedom to do what he pleased, he composed a concerto that wavers from giddy to serious, music that toys with the listener. After the fiasco instigated by his opera of 1936 Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Shostakovich's life would change, along with his music, to a certain degree. But all that was to come. For the moment, Shostakovich wrote a concerto that thumbed its nose at tradition.

Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 8 In C Minor Opus 110

The String Quartet No. 8, Opus 110 was the only major work that Shostakovich composed outside of Russia.  He was in the East German town of Görlitz. It was shortly after he was forced to join the Communist Party in 1960, and he was there to ostensibly work on music for a film to be made jointly by East German film makers about the bombing of Dresden in World War II. Shostakovich was not inspired to write any film music, but he did write this quartet in three days. Shostakovich wrote a letter to a friend about the quartet:

"While there I was provided with ideal working conditions...The good working conditions were fruitful; while there I composed my Eighth Quartet. There was really no point in racking my brains trying to write film music. At the time I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I wrote this quartet which is ideologically suspect and of no use to anyone. I figured that no one would think of composing a work honoring me after I'm dead, so I'd better do it myself. The title page might read "Dedicated to  the composer himself'". 

The quartet is written in 5 movements without pause: 

I. Largo -  Shostakovich went on in the letter to describe the opening theme of the movement:

"The quartet's main theme is taken from my initials - D, S [E-flat in German notation], C, H [B-flat in German notation].

The movement begins with the solo cello, and in turn all the instruments play the theme, giving it a canonic treatment. The instruments continue to play slowly, and in the next few bars all twelve tones in the chromatic scale are played. The harmonic ambiguity is brought to a stop when the home key of C minor finally arrives, and a quote from his first symphony is played. This entire quartet is full of quotations of his own music, something Shostakovich did often in his later works. The movement suddenly shifts to the next:

II. Allegro molto - The start of this movement is in G-sharp minor, a key that sounds odd in relation to the first movement's delvings in C minor. G major, the dominant of C minor would be the classical progression, but Shostakovich opts for an increase in tension and insecurity. 

The 4-note theme makes its appearance in altered form as the music skids, skitters, and screeches, sometimes quite violently. The movement comes to seamless screeching halt as the music shifts tempo and key, and leads to:

III. Allegretto - This movement is in G minor and repurposes the initial 4-note theme into a grotesque dance. Tension is somewhat relieved, but it's still not music of calmness. The music winds down with a violin solo that leads to:

IV. Largo - One instrument plays a drone as the others play 3 sharply articulated notes in rapid succession. The music then enters into the key of C-sharp minor, with the drone and three notes repeated. The music settles into an uneasy calmness as the volume level is brought down, and the momentum slows to a drag. The feeling is of resigned calmness, a marked contrast to the previous three movements. The drone and 3 note motif reappears, and leads seamlessly to the final movement:

V. Largo - Shostakovich has peppered this quartet with many self-quotations, but there are none in this movement save for the 4-note theme that is now given a contrapuntal treatment as the music remains slow, mournful, and quietly ends in C minor. 

Surprisingly, this quartet is one of Shostakovich's most popular. It has been said that all 5 movements are in different shades of darkness and ambiguity. It was a very emotional work for the composer, as he went on in the letter quoted earlier:

The pseudo-tragedy of this quartet is such that, while I was composing it, the tears just kept streaming down like urine after a half-dozen beers. When I got back home, I tried playing it once or twice on the piano,  and each time I started weeping all over again. But this time, not so much from my pseudo-tragedy, but in amazement of its splendid formal structure. Of course, the self satisfaction implicit in that will no doubt soon be followed by my intoxication on feelings of self-criticism. 

Shostakovich

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 9

When politics is mixed with art, the artist needs to beware.  Shostakovich is a case in point. During the Second World War, the Soviet Union used the music of Shostakovich as a rallying cry for the defeat of Nazi aggression. Shostakovich wrote parts of his 7th Symphony, nicknamed 'Leningrad' during the 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad. That symphony in particular was not only used by the Soviet Union as a propaganda tool, but the symphony was internationally popular during the war  as a representation of opposition to Nazi totalitarianism and militarism. How ironic that the citizen of a totalitarian nation created art that was used against another totalitarian nation! But so it goes in the world of international politics where finger pointing many times is used as a diversionary tactic so no one will notice what you are doing.

Shostakovich was treated as a national hero, at least on the surface. He still remembered the official condemnations (Stalin's decree filtered through the voice of a music critic in the official part newspaper Pravda)  he suffered through in the 1930's.  Shostakovich's next symphony,  Number Eight, written in 1943,  was a long, brooding work that kept up the theme (at least on the surface) of Soviet suffering during the war. Shostakovich had learned to write music on different levels of meaning since his official censure, so this symphony, like the seventh, had more to do with Shostakovich's feelings about the Russian people's suffering (and his own) than any official theme. But he stayed in the good graces of the powers that be (translate that to Stalin) with the Eighth Symphony.

Fast forward to 1945 and the end of the war. Shostakovich already was thinking about his Ninth Symphony in 1944, a work the composer said himself would be a celebratory work over the defeat of Nazi Germany, complete with soloists and chorus.  After the past two huge symphonies,  the expectation was a work of huge dimensions in keeping with the ninth symphonies of Beethoven, Dvorak, Bruckner and Mahler.  The composer said he already had part of the massive first movement written in early 1945. He set aside the composition for three months and completed it later in 1945.

Whatever happened during that three moth hiatus is not known, but the Ninth Symphony  turned out to be nothing like the composer had promised. It is a short work, more like a Haydn symphony in form and mood, far from the triumphant victory symphony that was expected. Shostakovich himself said of the work, "Musicians will like to play it, and critics will delight in blasting it."  The initial reception was favorable, but less than a year after the premiere, the work was officially banned and the composer denounced. The composer was in the official dog house once again.

The symphony is in five movements, the last three played without pause:

I Allegro - A Haydenesque movement in classical sonata form.  The trombone and piccolo have prominent roles as the orchestra plays in a jovial mood.

II.Moderato -  Music that is in a controlled, restrained, melancholy mood.

III. Presto - A nose-thumbing scherzo that prances along until...

IV. Largo - The brass introduces the bassoon as soloist in sad, mournful music, and then...

V. Allegretto - Allegro - The bassoon changes its 'tune' into a tongue in cheek melody that snickers in the low register of the instrument, which leads into a edgy, folk dance-like music that zips along until the orchestra scurries to an end.

Shostakovich's musical personality can be very complex. From bombast to beautiful, from official kow-towing to nose-thumbing independence. He spent the majority of his life in conflict between his artistic nature and what was officially demanded of him. He managed to resolve this conflict somewhat by basically composing two kinds of works; works that came from his artistic heart and works to try and satisfy the powers that be.  Sometimes the music is obvious which kind it is, sometimes Shostakovich manages to blur the two, as with his Fifth Symphony. But with the Ninth Symphony there is no blur. It is a short, witty and joyous work that occasionally grows serious. In other words, it is full of changing moods and emotions, but seldom gets too serious.  He knew it was not the work expected of him. He knew he would mostly likely get in trouble once again.  He probably didn't breathe any easier after the premiere and the initial favorable response. He knew the 'system' well enough to be wary. And he was right. But he wrote the symphony as his talent dictated, had it performed and took the consequences.  It may not have been as much an act of artistic courage but of artistic necessity. Whatever the reason or the cause, the Ninth Symphony is one of Shostakovich's most accessible and well-written compositions.

Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No. 2 In F Major, Opus 102

By the time Dmitri Shostakovich began writing his 2nd Piano Concerto in 1957 he had lived an artistic life full of official censure and criticism. In the age of Stalin's ruthless paranoia, to be officially censured was often times a literal death sentence. Shostakovich managed to stay alive, but it had taken a toll on his already melancholy nature and the mood of much of his music.

But the 2nd Piano concerto is an exception. It was written for Shostakovich's son Maxim as a present for his 19th birthday.  Shostakovich himself said the work had "no redeeming artistic merit," but he may have been getting a head start in averting the inevitable negative criticism some would have.  The concerto is in three movements:

I. Allegro - The bassoon enters with the first theme with the piano close behind. The second theme quickens the paced and is played in single notes one octave apart in the piano. Some listeners have detected a similarity between this second theme and the sea shanty What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor. A third theme is played by the piano in single notes two octaves apart. After the third theme is played, the piano plays loud octaves while the orchestra plays a variant of the drunken sailor theme which is developed. The music comes to a tremendous climax and then halts. The piano takes off on its own with a fugal rendition of the first theme until the orchestra returns with the first theme. The drunken sailor theme returns and the movement comes to a close.

Dmitri and Maxim Shostakovich

II. Andante - The second movement is expressive music that touches on Shostakovich's melancholy nature, but in a romantic, tender fashion. The piano gently rises in register as the muted strings are suspended. Cross rhythms give a slight feeling of tension to the broad melody.  At a time when modern music was making extreme demands on players and listeners, Shostakovich's music wrote a short, thoroughly romantic movement that still pleases audiences. The music slowly unwinds and quietly comes to rest. The last movement begins without pause.

III. Allegro - The first theme is a lively dance with a few chuckles thrown in from the piano, which is followed by the second theme in 7/8 time. The third theme is the celebrated tongue in cheek quotation in Hanon piano exercise style, a joke written into the concerto for Maxim. The three themes are repeated, interlaced and developed. The 7/8 theme returns after which a coda finishes the concerto with a thunderous flourish.

There was a time early in Shostakovich's career when he was divided between being a composer or a concert pianist. Although he chose composer (and maintained later in life that he should have been both) he was no slouch as a pianist. Despite his comments about the lack of artistic merit, Shostakovich was fond of the 2nd concerto and played it in concert a few times. He made recordings of both concertos as soloist and they show him to be more than up to the task. His recording of the 2nd piano concerto shows him in fine form as he plays the music at break-neck speed and with a spiky touch in the first movement that fits the character of the movement very well. It is rare that a composer himself leaves a definitive performance of his own work, but Shostakovich did that with both concertos. 

Shostakovich - Piano Trio No. 2 In E Minor Opus 67

Dmitri Shostakovich was refining his technique and losing some of his more radical avant garde style before the official denouncement of 1936, but  the denouncement forced him to try and write works that would curry public and more importantly Stalin's favor.  It was a life or death situation for the composer, and he knew it.

The 5th Symphony was written and titled An artist's creative response to just criticism. The work was a great success officially and with the public and Shostakovich had at least temporarily dodged the literal bullet, even though he put some subtle hints in the work that suggest it wasn't as heartfelt a rehabilitation as it appeared on the surface.  But Shostakovich had learned his lesson well. Stalin and his cronies were not men to be crossed, so Shostakovich wrote music to please Stalin, (all the while inserting subtle nose-thumbing) along with music that he wrote to please himself. He called these "works for the drawer", compositions that he could experiment with out of the public view. Many of these compositions remained in his desk drawer until the death of Stalin.

Shostakovich and Sollertinsky

Shostakovich was one of the great composers of string quartets of the 20th century, as he wrote 15 of them. They stand far and away as the form that he wrote most of his chamber music in.  He wrote the 2nd Piano Trio in 1944 during World War Two when he was 38 years old.  Shostakovich had come to international attention with the writing of his 7th Symphony earlier in the war, and as the 7th Symphony has been called a requiem for the 25 million Russians who perished in the war,  the 2nd Piano Trio can also be thought of as a requiem; this time for his good friend Ivan Sollertinsky, a critic and musicologist that suddenly died of a heart attack.

  The trio is in 4 movements:

I. Andante -  The work begins with the solo cello playing a theme in high, eerie harmonics. The violin enters, and the piano enters as all three instruments participate in a fugue that acts as an introduction to the rest of the movement.  Part of the fugue theme is incorporated into the first theme of the movement proper. Other themes are presented and the tempo varies as Shostakovich develops them all in the spirit of a folk tune, but with an edge. The movement ends quietly.

II. Allegro con brio -  The scherzo has Shostakovich sarcastically thumbing his nose as notes are repeated and tossed back and forth between the three instruments. The music never settles into anything more than a frenzied dance, and soon ends.

III. Largo -  The piano begins the movement with heavy chords. The violin enters with a sad theme as the piano chords continue to plod underneath. The cello enters and sings the lament as the violin plays a counter melody. This music is in the form of a chaconne, a set of variations over a ground bass played by the piano. The music remains slow and mournful throughout the movement, and ends with a quiet whimper from the strings.

IV. Allegretto -  The last movement begins with a Shostakovian dance tune, a theme that has the feeling of Jewish folk music,  first heard in the pizzicati violin, and then in the piano while both strings play pizzicato. The material of the march is developed at length. The theme from the first movement introduction returns, the dance music interrupts at length until the chords from the third movement chaconne appear out of nowhere. The Jewish dance tune briefly returns, slowly played in the strings, and the movement quietly ends in E major with the strings playing pizzicato over a piano chord.

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 1 In F Minor Opus 10

Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his first symphony to complete his studies in composition with Maximilian Steinberg at  the Petrograd Conservatory Of Music (now known as St. Petersburg Conservatory Of Music). The work was written in 1925 and premiered in 1926 by the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra. Shostakovich had been quite precocious at the conservatory, and was moved ahead of some classes due to his musical gifts. He was but 19 when the symphony premiered, and his mentor Alexander Glazunov, who was the director of the conservatory, used his influence to get the symphony performed.

The symphony was a rousing success from the first hearing, and the word spread to other countries and conductors, with Bruno Walter performing it in Europe and Leopold Stokowski in the U.S. By the time Shostakovich was 21, he was internationally known through this first symphony and was already being compared to Prokofiev and Stravinsky.

The first years after the October Revolution of 1917 saw the arts grow into an extension of the Communist State. Experiment was encouraged and rewarded, and Shostakovich was as much a product of this as any. He was born in 1906, so the Revolution was in his memory, with all the excitement and hardships that were to follow. Shostakovich was feted after the performance of the 1st Symphony, and it wasn't until a few years later that he came to lose his favored composer status to what critics (instructed by Stalin no doubt) labeled 'formalism'. What that term actually meant, no one seemed to know, but if you were involved with the arts and were labeled as a Formalist, there could be dire consequences.

I. Allegretto - Allegro non troppo -  The first movement is full of turns of melody and economy of orchestration that keeps the listener's ear interested. So interesting are the sounds and uses of the orchestra that it can be difficult to realize that this movement is in traditional sonata form, but Shostakovich showed his mastery of the form as all good composers who have used it; namely that it is so well written that the form isn't obvious.  Shostakovich's 1st Symphony is scored for the usual large orchestra, with the addition of many percussion instruments and the piano. The symphony opens with an introduction with trumpet and bassoon. Other instruments play off against each other with the strings leading into a theme is that derived from the opening music. It is a march that twists and turns in colorful orchestration, then leads to a gentle waltz-like second theme in the flute that is accompanied by strings pizzicato. The scoring is light, like chamber music. The opening theme reappears in a solo violin retelling. The orchestra gradually comes into full force in the development section. The first theme begins the recapitulation, followed by the waltz theme of the flute. A coda consists of restating the opening theme, and the movement ends very quietly.

II. Allegro - Meno mosso -  The movement begins with the cellos and contra basses playing the same notes, but the cellos play a few different note values in addition to the eighth notes in the contra basses. This leads to the cellos finishing the motive ahead of the contra basses. The main theme that follows is played by clarinet over a pizzicato accompaniment. The strings take up the theme with the piano. The second theme is more tranquil, but with added background of occasional snare drum. The first theme reappears in the bassoon before the piano enters with a long run and its version of the theme. The second theme returns in a more boisterous version that ends with heavy chords from the piano, and the music slowly dies away, with a final comment from the snare drum.

III. Lento - Largo - Lento - The third movement does away with the grotesque humor of the scherzo with a solo oboe set against a string accompaniment. This theme is taken up by cello, and the brass have a crescendo that leads to a calm section that plods along in an increasing sense of gloom. The strings give a sense repose, but the snare drum quietly enters into the mood and makes a crescendo that connects the third movement to the fourth.

IV.  Allegro molto -  The music continues in gloomy tones until the clarinet and piano bring back more boisterousness. The movement bounces back and forth from fast to slow, serious to playful. The music is somewhat episodic, but colorful as the shifting moods lead to a tremendous crescendo in the full orchestra. This crescendo ends suddenly with the entrance of the solo timpani playing in triple fortissimo a rhythmic motive from the third movement. This is played three times, each time with a lower dynamic, until elements from the third movement return. The orchestra mulls these motives over until a trumpet signals the orchestra to begin a loud coda with fanfares and the final chords.

Shostakovich - Spanish Songs

The Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 was fought between two major groups, the Republicans who were to the left politically, and the Nationals who were to the right politically. The Nationals were led by the fascist Francisco Franco who was aided by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy while the Republicans were aided by communist Russia.  The conflict was a very complex political and military situation but in essence it was a battle of ideologies, Fascist versus Communist.  In the end, the Nationals and Franco were victorious, and with that came an exodus of orphans of dead Republican fighters. Among the countries that took in these orphans was communist Russia.

These expatriated Spanish children brought with them the traditional songs and music of their native country, and through one of Shostakovich's friends (who was also a singer) he became acquainted with this music after the friend had recorded a Spanish singer and guitarist as he played the songs on a street corner. The text set to the tunes Shostakovich heard were taken from a volume of Spanish poems translated into Russian. Shostakovich wrote simple and quite conventional arrangements for these tunes to ensure that the tunes themselves would be the main focus.

Farewell To Granada
Farewell Granada, my Granada,
I have to leave you forever!
Farewell, dear place, so pleasing to my eye,
farewell forever! Ah!
The memories of you will be my only consolation,
my dear place, my home place!
I am forever pierced with sorrow,
all I care for is lost,
my love is gone into the darkness of the grave,
and my life is gone too...Ah!
I am annoyed with what's around me, I can't live as before
in the place where my youth was so bright!

Little Stars
Under the old cypresses
the water near the shore is gleaming.
I am coming to my sweetheart with my guitar
to teach her songs.
But my teaching will not be free:
I charge her as kiss for each note.
Strangely, in the morning she learns everything
except the notes!
Pity, it's too late to start again...
Pity, it's getting daylight already...
Pity, the stars over the bay
do not tremble in the daylight.

The limitless sky is covered with little stars,
they are abundant in the starry night.
I tell my sweetheart
the names of all these numberless stars.
I value my knowledge
and charge her a kiss for every name.
Strange, the lesson seems easy to her,
everything but the stars!
Pity, it's too late to start again...
pity, it's getting daylight already...
Pity, the stars over the bay
do not tremble in the daylight.

The First Time I Met You
Once you gave me some water near the stream,
it was fresh and cold like snow in the blue mountains' canyons.
your eyes are darker than night,
and your braids have the aroma of wild mint petals.

See the round-dance spinning again,
hear the tambourine rattling, jingling and singing.
Each dancer is leading his girlfriend,
people are looking at them in admiration.
Beat, tambourine, beat, rattle like thunder!
I am dancing with my sweetheart,
her ribbon is as blue as the sky!
Beat, tambourine, beat! Beat, tambourine! Beat tambourine!

I'll never forget the first time I met you,
tender words, and swarthy hand, and shining black eyes...
It was then that I understood
that I loved you and would love you forever!

See the round-dance spinning again,
hear the tambourine rattling, jingling and singing.
Each dancer is leading his girlfriend,
people are looking at them in admiration.
Beat, tambourine, rattle like thunder!
I am dancing with my sweetheart,
her ribbon is as blue as the sky!
Beat, tambourine, beat! Beat, tambourine! Beat tambourine!

Ronda
The noisy round dance is at our door,
now is the time for merriment.
Come quickly – dance with me!
My scarlet carnation-flower!
In moonlit silence the noise of the stream is heard.
Give me your hand, my little girl,
my scarlet carnation flower.
The street is a bright garden,
jokes ring out, eyes are shining.
Ronda turns and sings,
silver shines the starry sky,
merry couples whirl.
It is the joyful holiday of first flowers.
It is the holiday of our love.
In the window the shadows of almond trees
play in the moon's rays.
When will you come out to me
My tender spring flower?
Pluck a sprig of almond from the branch.
Give it to me in token of your love,
my tender spring flower.

Black-Eyed Girl
Your mother gave you eyes like stars
and the soft color of your cheek
my darling!
With pain in my heart, late at night
without you I wander
my darling!
Ah! Why does fate punish me so?
Ah! Why did I ever meet you?
I will die of hopeless love
if you will not love me
my darling!

Your mother gave you a tall figure
and the black shine of unruly curls.
My darling I curse my harsh fate,
the pain and tortures of my heart
my darling!
Oh why did your mother give
you such beauty to spite me!
I will die of hopeless love
if you will not love me
my darling!

Dream
I don't know what it means...
I dreamed in a magical sleep
I was in a fishing boat.
I cruised on the stormy wave.
My boat has no oars – I threw them away...
The waves foam angrily – try to sink my vessel.
But, bravely I speed on through the
dark through the enormous waves,
because in this fishing boat
on the sea's unruly depths
speed you also, my proud one.
Speed together with me
and it seems as if you love me.
O my dove! Look now
how towards you in his fragile little boat,
poor fellow that loves you so strongly!

Shostakovich - From Jewish Folk Poetry, Opus 79a

After the successful premiere of his First Symphony in 1926, Dmitri Shostakovich was the darling of the Communist Government in Russia. But with the rise in power of Stalin the political climate changed. In 1936 Shostakovich was no longer the pride of the Soviet government. This was the year of the beginning of the Great Purge of anyone that the paranoid Stalin considered a rival or a danger to his authority. This purge affected the leadership of the Red Army, members of government,  all areas of Soviet life including the arts. Shostakovich lost many friends and colleagues in the years 1936-1938 and he feared for his own life as well.

Shostakovich managed to weather the storm of 1936 and by the time of the outbreak of World War Two his reputation had improved considerably, so much so that Stalin used his music as propaganda in the Russian war effort. But Shostakovich was not one to stay out of trouble for long. In 1948 he was denounced again. He lost his position at the Conservatory along with a considerable part of his income and once again he expeected to be hauled off in the middle of the night, never to return. He wrote film scores and other works to try and rehabilitate his official image again, but by this time Shostakovich also was writing works that were not meant for performance. He wrote these works purely out of an inner need to do so.  One of these private works was the song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry.

Antisemitism in Russia ran so deep that it was considered a tradition. Shostakovich was not raised in this tradition by his liberal-minded parents, and as a result he was sensitive to the plight of Jewish people all his life. This deepened late in 1944 as news about the Nazi death camps was being brought to light. Stalin was also carrying out a campaign against the Jews in Russia beginning in 1948, when they were removed from public life with many being executed.

Shostakovich took his text from a collection of Jewish Folk Poetry that was published in 1947. He set eight songs and after a private performance he wrote three additional songs to lyrics he thought would be more acceptable to the authorities. But by that time antisemitism was running rampant with the government and the song cycle didn't have its premiere until 1955 after Stalin's death. The original version of the song cycle is for soprano, mezzo-soprano and tenor with piano accompaniment. Shostakovich orchestrated the songs later for chamber orchestra and it is this version heard at the link.

1) Lament For A Dead Child
Sun and rain, shine and mist, the fog has descended,
the moon has grown dim.
Whom did she give birth to?
To a boy, to a boy.
And how did they name him?
Moyshele, Moyshele.
And in what did they rock Moyshele?
In a cradle.
And what did they feed him with?
With bread and onions.
And where did they bury him?
In a grave. Oy, little boy in the grave,
 in the grave, Moyshele in the grave.

Shostakovich was influenced not only by Jewish poetry but by Jewish klezmer  music. This influence can be heard in many of his compositions and especially in this song cycle.
2) The Thoughtful Mother And Aunt
Bye, bye, bye, to the village, Daddy go!
Bring us an apple, so our eyes won’t hurt! Bye…
Bye, bye, bye, to the village, Daddy, go!
Bring us a chicken, so our teeth won’t hurt! Bye…
Bye, bye, bye, to the village, Daddy, go!
Bring us a duck, so our chest won’t hurt! Bye…
Bye, bye, bye, to the village, Daddy, go!
Bring us a goose, so our stomach won’t hurt! Bye…
Bye, bye, bye, to the village, Daddy, go!
Bring us some seeds, so our crown won’t hurt! Bye…
Bye, bye, bye, to the village, Daddy, go!
Bring us a rabbit, so our fingers won't hurt! Bye…

3) Lullaby
My son who is the most beautiful in the world,
sleep, but I’m not sleeping.
Your father is in chains in Siberia,
The Tsar holds him in prison,
Sleep, lu-lu-lu, lu-lu.
Rocking your cradle, your mother sheds tears.
Later you will understand yourself what grieves her heart.
Your father is in far Siberia, and I suffer in misery.
Sleep while you’re still carefree, and lu-lu-lu, lu-lu-lu.
My grief is darker than the night, sleep, but I’m not sleeping.
Sleep, my beautiful, sleep, my son, sleep, lu-lu-lu, lu-lu-lu.

4) Before A Long Parting
Soprano: Oy, Abram, how will I live without you?
Me without you, you without me,
how will we live apart?

Tenor: Do you remember when we were under the porch,
what you told me in secret?
Oy, oy, Rivochka, let me kiss your lips, my darling!

Soprano: Oy, Abram, how will we live now?
Me without you, you without me,
oy, such a door without latch.

Tenor: Do you remember when we were walking hand in hand,
what you told me on the boulevard?
Oy, oy, Rivochka, let me kiss your lips, my darling!

Soprano: Oy, Abram, how will we live now?
Me without you, you without me,
How will we live without happiness?
Tenor: Oy, Rivochka, how will I live without you?
Me without you, you without me,
How will we live without happiness?

Soprano: Do you remember when I was wearing a red skirt?
Oy, as I was beautiful then! Oy, Abram ,! Oy, Abram!
Tenor: Oy, oy, Rivochka, let me kiss your lips, my darling!

5) A Warning
Listen, Khasya, You must not go out,
Do not adventure out,
Don’t date anyone,
Take care, take care!

If you go out, and if you
walk until morning, oy,
Then you will weep bitterly,
Khasya! Hear! Khasya!

6) The Abandoned Father
Mezzo-soprano: Heleh the old man put on his coat.
His daughter ran off with a policeman.

Tenor: Tsirélé, girl! Come back to your father,
I will give you a beautiful dress for your wedding.
Tsirélé, girl! I will buy you earrings and rings for your fingers.
Tsirélé, girl! And a fine young man,
a young man I will give you also.
Tsirélé, girl!

Mezzo-soprano: I do not need clothes, I do not need rings.
I will marry my policeman. Mr. Policeman Please, hurry, hurry up and drive
This old Jew away!
Tenor: Tsirélé, girl! Come back to me!
Tsirélé, girl! Come back to me!
Oy, come back to me, come back to me.
Tsirélé, girl!

7) The Song of Misery
The roof sleeps sweetly in the attic under the straw.
In the cradle sleeps a child without swaddling, all naked.

Hop, hop, higher, higher!
A goat eats straw from the roof!
Hop, hop, higher, higher!
A goat eats straw from the roof, oy!

The cradle is in the attic,
In it a spider weaves misfortune.
It sucks away my happiness,
Leaving me only misery.

Hop, hop, higher, higher!
A goat eats straw from the roof!
Hop, hop, higher, higher!
A goat eats straw from the roof, oy!

A rooster is in the attic,
With a bright red comb.
Oy, wife, borrow for the children
A piece of stale bread.

Hop, hop, higher, higher!
A goat eats straw from the roof!
Hop, hop, higher, higher!
A goat eats straw from the roof, oy!

8) Winter
My Sheyndl is lying on the bed,
with a sick child.
There is not a branch to warm the cottage,
and the wind howls around the walls.
Ah ... 

The cold and the wind have returned,
There is no strength to suffer in silence.
Cry and weep, my children,
winter has returned.
Ah ...

9) A Good Life
Of wide fields, dear friends,
I did not sing songs long ago.
Not for me did the fields bloom,
Not for me did dew-drops flow down.

In a narrow cellar, in humid darkness,
Lived I once, worn out by misery.
And a sad song ascended from the cellar,
Of grief, of my unparalleled suffering.

Kolkhoz river, flow joyfully,
Quickly give my regards to my friends.
Tell them that my home is now in the kolkhoz.
A blossoming tree stands under my window.

Now the fields bloom for me,
They feed me with milk and honey.
I’m happy, and you tell my brothers:
I’ll write songs to the kolkhoz fields.

10) The Young Girl's Song
In a meadow near the forest, from dawn to dusk,
we keep the kolkhoz herd.
And I'm sitting there on a hill, with my little flute,
and I can’t stop to watch enough the beauty of my country.
Trees covered in bright foliage stand so gracefully and so delicately,
in the fields wheat ripens full of goodness and delight.
Oy, oy, Lyou-Lyou!

Now a branch smiles at me, and then a wink,
and a feeling of great joy lights a spark in my heart.
Then sings my little flute! Together we sing quietly!
Mountains and valleys listen to our song full of joy.
But do not cry, my flute! Forget the sorrows of the past,
and let your tunes flow gracefully into the country.
Oy, oy, Lyou-Lyou!

The kolkhoz makes me happy, do you hear? My life is so full!
More cheerfully, more cheerfully, my flute, you must sing!

11) Happiness
I boldly took my husband’s arm,
So what if I’m old and my date is old, too!
I took him with me to the theatre,
And we bought two tickets to the pit.

Sitting there with my husband late into the night,
Everyone succumbed to the happy thoughts
About what wealth surrounds
The Jewish shoemaker’s wife.

Oy, oy, oy, oy, what wealth surrounds
The Jewish shoemaker’s wife. Oy!

And to the whole country will I tell
About my happy and bright lot!
Doctors, doctors, have become our sons – 
A star shines above our heads!

Oy, oy, oy, oy, a star shines,
A star shines,
A star shines above our heads!
Doctors, doctors,
Have become our sons! A star shines
Above our heads. Oy!

Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 1 In C Major

When Dmitri Shostakovich's first symphony was performed when he was nineteen, he was heralded as a prime example of Soviet artistry. Famed conductors Bruno Walter and Leopold Stokowski showed interest in the work amnd performed it. Shostakovich's career as a composer was launched.

But before too many years, Shostakovich was officially denounced in "Muddle Instead Of Music", an article that appeared in the official soviet newspaper Pravda in 1936. The article focused on the composer's opera Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District (written in 1932) and accused the work of being 'formalist, coarse and vulgar'. This was a shock to Shostakovich as the opera had previously been lauded as:

 "the result of the general success of Socialist construction, of the correct policy of the Party...could have been written only by a Soviet composer brought up in the best tradition of Soviet culture."

Times became desperate for Shostakovich as commissions and performances of his works stopped, and his income dropped to less than half of what it had been.Shostakovich was forced to withdraw his 4th Symphony from rehearsal as well. With the writing of his 5th Symphony, subtitled 'An artist's creative response to just criticism', Shostakovich got back into the graces of the powers that were (Stalin), but only for a time. Further denunciations and trials awaited the composer for the rest of his life.

Shostakovich changed as a composer after the first denunciation, at least with his overtly public compositions. He was in his early thirties when he began his first attempt at a string quartet, shortly after he finished his 5th Symphony.  Shostakovich said:

I began to write it without special ideas and feeling, I thought that nothing would come of it. After all, the quartet is one of the most difficult musical genres. I wrote the first page as a sort of original exercise in the quartet form, not thinking about subsequently completing and releasing it. As a rule, I fairly often write things I don’t publish. They are my type of composer’s studies. But then work on the quartet captivated me and I finished it rather quickly. Don’t expect to find special depth in this, my first quartet opus. In mood it is joyful, merry, lyrical. I would call it 'spring-like'.

Indeed the first quartet is of a different style and mood of the 5th symphony and much of Shostakovich's previous works of his early years.  It is neoclassical in style, lyrical, uncomplicated and gives little indication of the mood and style of his later quartets.

Shostakovich continued to write string quartets for the remaining 35 years  of his life, and his 15th quartet was completed only months before his death. Shostakovich used the string quartet form as a haven for his more personal and private compositions. String Quartet No. 1 is in 4 movements:

I. Moderato - A simple melody opens the work, played by the first violin and supported by the other instruments. The second theme is another simple melody accompanied by a sliding figure in the cello. The development section is short and wandering. The return of the first theme in the recapitulation emerges from the wanderings of the development. The second theme returns and the movement winds down and ends quietly.

II. Moderato - The viola presents a folk-influenced theme that goes through seven variations and ends with the theme being played as in the beginning of the movement.

III. Allegro molto - This scherzo cavorts about, the middle trio sings a short song before the scherzo returns for another cavort until the end.

IV. Allegro - In a shortened sonata form this movement is more complex than the others. It has two themes that are rapidly exploited before a short coda ends the work in C major.

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 15

Dmitri Shostakovich has been called one of the most influential composers, especially of symphonies, of the 20th century.  His 15 symphonies were composed from 1924 when he was seventeen, to 1971 when he was 65, covering most of his career and life as a composer.  His last symphony was written a few years before his death, and since its premiere there has been much written about it, good and bad.  The symphony is in 4 movements:

I. Allegretto -  This movement was originally labeled by Shostakovich as 'The Toyshop'. It begins with the tinkling of the glockenspiel, and the music unrolls in the type of nervous humor that Shostakovich was known for.  Shostakovich was also known for his quoting of other composers music (and in this symphony even his own) and the most obvious quote in this movement is the familiar one from The William Tell Overture by Rossini, which Shostakovich uses four times in the movement. The music twists and turns into more than 'toyshop' music as the nervous humor changes to something tinged with sinister sounds. With punctuation provided by castanets, and two sections of quite complex polyrhythms (one for strings, one for woodwinds) the movement stumbles its way to the end.

II.Adagio - Largo - Adagio - Allegretto - In contrast to the goings-on of the previous movement, the second movement begins with the solemn playing of the brass section. A solo cello plays a mournful theme that utilizes a very large part of the range of the instrument. The brass section enters once again, the solo cello continues where it left off with its lament, but is twice interrupted by a harsh, dissonant chord by the woodwinds (these chords will appear again later in the symphony). Flutes play a new theme, a solo trombone plays its version of the lament. After more from the flutes, solo trombone and solo violin, the dissonant woodwind chords lead to a tremendous outburst from the entire orchestra. After the outburst, combinations of instruments play quiet snippets of themes heard before, with a wood block clopping in the background. A solo vibraphone plays with a solo double bass. The opening music for brass reappears and the movement quietly draws to a close with the timpani and strings.

III. Allegretto - The third movement begins without pause with music of nervous humor like the opening of the first movement. Trombone glissandos are added as the music gads about and around a solo violin. It ends abruptly with the clacking of percussion.

IV. Adagio - Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto -  The movement begins with another quote, this time from Wagner's Fate leitmotif from Der Ring des Nibelungen. This theme is heard sporadically in the first section of the movement. The music drifts to a theme that sounds similar to the theme from the first movement of his Seventh Symphony 'Leningrad'.  There is a tremendous crescendo, and the seventh symphony theme is heard again. The music winds down with a dissonant chord in the orchestra. Violins play another Wagner quote, the grief  leitmotif from Tristan And Isolde.  The dissonant woodwind chords of the second movement reappear, after which Shostakovich has the strings play a long pedal point chord while the celesta, glockenspiel, side drum, and castanets take turns clacking out soft rhythms reminiscent of the end of the third movement while the timpani plays the seventh symphony theme. This final section is similar to the ending of his 4th Symphony (which was withdrawn by the composer from the premiere in 1936, just after Shostakovich was denounced the first time, and not premiered until 1961) The dialog of the percussion instruments (and the symphony) ends with the glockenspiel and celesta together sounding a note over the evaporating pedal point of the strings.

The 15th Symphony is a work of complexity, both musical and emotional. Outside of the percussion section, the orchestra is large but not as large as some of Shostakovich's other symphonies.  Instruments are used frequently in smaller groupings that are seasoned with the salt-and-pepper of the percussion section. The symphony has an almost chamber music sound to it.  A friend of the composer, Isaak Glikman, quoted what the composer told him about the many quotes from other composers in the work:

"I don't myself quite know why the quotations are there, but I could not, could not, not include them."

Dmitri Shostakovich has been dead for almost 40 years, and in death as in life his music is still creating controversy.  He was a complex man, capable of writing deep, soulful music and also capable of writing loud, boisterous clap-trap, sometimes within the same composition. In essence, his music will always carry a sense of mystery, of literal or perceived extra-musical meaning, which can be said of many composers.

Call Shostakovich's music what you will, like it or hate it, it's hard to ignore either way. While he most certainly can be morose in the extreme,  his best compositions are written from the heart. He is a composer that I admit I have to be in a certain mood to hear. It just doesn't sit well in my ear sometimes, which says as much about me as his music. But at other times, Shostakovich's music is what I need to hear.

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 6

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975) was a Russian composer best known for his symphonies. He wrote his first symphony as a student when he was 19 in 1926.  Famous conductors Bruno Walter and Leopold Stokowski both thought the first symphony a work of genius and they conducted it in Berlin and the United States respectively.

Shostakovich had many influences early on, most notably Prokofiev and Stravinsky.  He went through a phase of experimental music which made his 2nd and 3rd symphonies not as popular as his first symphony. He eventually was denounced in 1936 in the soviet newspaper Pravda and after Stalin attended a performance of Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth Of The Mtsensk District (which had premiered in 1934 and was a great success) another newspaper article appeared that condemned the opera for being formalist, coarse, primitive and vulgar.  It was thought that Stalin ordered the article be written, and after it was, Shostakovich's commissions fell along with his income. Critics and officials that had previously praised the opera had to openly change their opinion, for Shostakovich was now a marked man at a time when that meant 'liquidation'.

The story of how Shostakovich managed to live through this denunciation and another later on is not really clear.  But he did change his style and with his 5th symphony he was returned to minimal favor, although things remained shaky for him the rest of his life.

The 6th Symphony was written two years after the 5th,  in 1939 and was first performed the same year.  Shostakovich had originally told officials that his sixth was going to be a huge symphony that was in tribute to Lenin. whether Shostakovich told them that to keep them off his back, or he changed his mind, we don't know for the reality of the symphony was quite different. The symphony has three movements and breaks with tradition because the first movement is a long, slow movement instead of the usual quickly paced first movements of symphonies. The first movement lasts longer than the other two combined, with hardly a break from the melancholy, brooding mood of the movement.  The 2nd movement is lighter in mood, and with the 3rd comes what amounts to a musical carnival compared to the first movement. The 3rd movement begins with the violins playing the 'Shostakovich rhythm', two short notes and a long note that Shostakovich used many times in his works.

The music of Shostakovich is by its very nature somewhat of a political statement. Whether within it is hidden his true feelings for the oppression he felt under Stalin, or whether he honestly praised communism in some of them is still being discussed by musicians. Suffice to say, Shostakovich's music can be very powerful,  well-constructed, and sometimes too repetitious, too loud and too long. His method of composition did not entail a lot of rewriting. He worked on something until it was finished and then went on with the next composition. But there is much in his music to admire. Like all humans, he had his weak points. The music he wrote was full of his humanness, and that makes it more than worthwhile to listen to and study.