Shostakovich's 5th Symphony

Shostakovich's 5th Symphony

1. Background information

   • Referred to as the voice of Soviet Russia
     • Lived under the oppression of communism (Joseph Stalin)
       • He managed to avoid confrontation with that regime
   • Artistic suppression
     • Anything seen critical of the regime would lead to imprisonment in a gulag or assassination
   • In 1931 he starts work on Lady Macbeth (opera) and this became under scrutiny from Stalin
     • In the PRAVDA newspaper an article appeared ordered by Stalin and the opera was banned
       • He then lived in fear but decided in 1937 to write Symphony 5, knowing his reputation and possibly his life depended on its reception
   • The premier took place on 21st November 1937
     • People cried during the 3rd movement which was illegal and also at the end it received a half an hour applause

2. Instrumentation

   • Woodwind
     • piccolo
     • 2 flutes
     • 2 oboes
     • 2 clarinets in A & Bb
     • clarinet in Eb
     • 2 bassoons
     • Contrabassoon
   • Brass
     • 4 horns
     • 3 trumpets
     • 2 trombones
     • bass trombone
     • tuba
   • Strings
     • 2 harps
     • violins
     • violas
     • cellos
     • double bass
   • Percussion
     • piano
     • celeste
     • timpani
     • snare drum
     • bass drum
     • cymbals
     • xylophone
     • glockenspiel
     • triangle

3. 1st Movement

   • 18 minutes long - twisted and tormented
     • Sonata form principle however the tonality is not standard
       • Exposition
         • 1st subject - D Minor
           • 2nd subject - Eb Minor
             • Eb minor creates a dark effect which hints at the phrygian mode
           • Developmental - main material is explored and developed
         • 4 main motifs introduced
       • Recapitulation
         • 1st subject - D Minor
           • 2nd subject - D Major
       • Development
         • Disproportionally long reflecting the turmoil and struggle
     • Sparse and angry themes - canonic and angular
   • Use of aeolian and phrygian mode

4. 2nd movement

   • Scherzo (A minor, phrygian modal character) & Trio (C major)
     • Links to Minuet & Trio - traditionally comical mood
   • Weighty sounds
     • Brighter sounds such as the celeste and piano are removed
   • Opens with a solitary but heavy bass line, repressing heavy-footed peasants
   • 5 woodwinds
     • Eb clarinet - shrill and loud
   • 'oom pah pah' waltz pattern (bars 45-64) and playful use of hemiola/cross-rhythm, staccato and dotted rhythms
   • Trio section sounds like a music-box
     • Cheeky and playful with upward leaps (3rd to a 10th) and glissandos - drunk folk fiddler
   • Alterations to the Scherzo repeat - not a standard da capo
   • Fanfare appears in distant key (F# minor) - bar 144 onwards
   • Use of a tritone - representing evil, Stalin's Soviet state

5. 3rd movement

   • Aura of grief in this slow movement
     • F# minor
     • Written in response to his friend being executed - Tukhachevsky
     • People cried during it
   • It has quotes of Russian Orthodox hymn harmonies
   • No brass as the sound is not appropriate
     • Instead the strings where divided into 8 sections
       • Creating a rich expressive texture
   • The winds are used as lonely solo voices
     • This represents the missing souls of loved ones
   • The percussion add touches of colour
     • This is through the celeste, xylophone and glockenspiel
   • Light harp, oscillating between two chords
   • Tension is created through a rising chromatic line (bars 45-61)
   • Ethereal wind solos supported by fragile tremolo
   • Intensity increases at bars 103-120
     • This is from dynamics, dissonance and accenting weaker beats
   • Harp harmonics and celeste give an ice like effect
     • Beautiful and pure, yet cold and desolate
   • Final string chord rests on a Tierce de Picardie
     • Rare moment of real repose in this symphony

6. 4th movement

   • Ambiguous meaning
     • Triumphant hymn
     • Defiant solidarity
     • Struggles of an artistic genius?
   • Film music structure
     • Tells a story with three main sections (sonata form)
   • Quotes from 'Rebirth'
   • Winds trill to create alarm feel
     • Then immediately into a march
   • Use of tritone
   • Repeated As
   • Huge use of percussion
   • Octatonic scale -figure 99
   • Driving rhythms