The Symphony No. 4 in C Minor (Opus 43) by Dmitri Shostakovich was begun in 1934. Shostakovich discarded this initial work, however, and in September 1935 he began work on the symphony anew, completing the symphony in May 1936. Dmitri Shostakovich in 1942 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich   (Russian: , Dmitrij Dmitrievič Å ostakovič) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906 – August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ...

History

Halfway through its composition the composer was denounced for formalism in the infamous Pravda editorial "Chaos Instead of Music". Nevertheless, Shostakovich continued work on the symphony, announcing to his critics that his Fourth Symphony would be his "composer's credo." Following that announcement, his best friend, the musicologist Ivan Sollertinsky, declared at a Composers' Union meeting that the Fourth Symphony would redeem the composer and that the symphony would prove to be Shostakovich's "Eroica." // Introduction The distinctive feature of Russian Formalism is the emphasis on the functional role of literary devices and the original conception of the evolution of literary history. ... For other uses, see Pravda (disambiguation). ... Ivan Ivanovich Sollertinsky (1902 - 1944) was a Russian polymath of the Soviet period. ... Eroica Symphony Title Page The Symphony No. ...

Despite the dangerous and difficult times, Shostakovich continued to plan for the symphony's premiere, which had been scheduled by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra for December 30, 1936, under the orchestra's then-music director, Fritz Stiedry. Shostakovich also secured Otto Klemperer to conduct the symphony's first performance outside the U.S.S.R. The St. ... is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fritz Stiedry (born [October 11th 1883 in Vienna, died August 8, 1968 in Zurich) was an Austrian conductor. ... Otto Klemperer (May 14, 1885 – July 6, 1973) was a German-born conductor and composer. ... Soviet redirects here. ...

What happened next remains unclear. At some point during rehearsals, Shostakovich decided to withdraw the symphony, claiming that he felt the finale needed some reworking. Through the coming years he gave varying explanations as to why he withdrew the Fourth Symphony. In an interview in the late 1950s, Shostakovich explained to his interviewer that he withdrew the symphony because although there were parts in the work he did like, he felt the symphony as a whole suffered from "grandiosomania." Still later, he would claim that he withdrew the symphony because Fritz Stiedry was making an appalling mess of the symphony during rehearsals. Recently, Shostakovich's friend Isaak Glikman stated in his book, Diary of a Friendship, that the real reason the symphony was withdrawn was because of pressure exerted from party bosses on the Leningrad Philharmonic's manager to drop the symphony from its rehearsals. He also defended Fritz Stiedry's musicianship against Shostakovich's allegations of incompetence.

During the early to mid-1940s, Shostakovich made a two-piano reduction of the work to show off the symphony to any interested parties. Shostakovich and his colleague Moishei Vainberg premiered the symphony in this form at a meeting of the Composers' Union in 1946. However, Shostakovich's campaign to have the orchestral version performed was in vain, and the orchestral score was shelved and eventually lost. When in the early 1960s, a librarian at the Leningrad Philharmonic found all the instrumental parts in the orchestra's archives, the orchestral score was quickly reconstructed, note-for-note, as it stood when Shostakovich withdrew it back in 1936. The Fourth Symphony was then entrusted to the conductor Kyril Kondrashin, and was belatedly premiered on December 30, 1961 by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. The Western premiere took place at the 1962 Edinburgh Festival. Kiril Petrovich Kondrashin (March 6, 1914 – March 7, 1981) was a conductor. ... is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. ... There is no one Edinburgh Festival but those using the term are usually referring to the collection of various festivals in August and early September of each year in Edinburgh, Scotland. ...

Orchestration

Shostakovich uses an immense orchestra in this work, numbering well over one hundred musicians. This, combined with the extreme technical and emotional demands placed on the performers, makes the Fourth Symphony among his least-performed scores, yet it ranks as one of his most important and personal works.

It is scored for the following instruments^[1]:

Woodwind

2 Piccolos

4 Flutes

4 Oboes (4th doubling on Cor anglais)

1 E-flat clarinet

4 Clarinets

1 Bass clarinet

3 Bassoons

1 Contrabassoon

Brass

8 Horns

4 Trumpets

3 Trombones

2 Tubas

Percussion

6 Timpani

Bass drum

Snare drum

Cymbals (two separate types, crash and suspended)

Triangle

Wood block

Castanets

Tam-tam

Xylophone

Glockenspiel

Keyboard

Celesta

Strings

2 Harps

16-20 1st Violins

14-18 2nd Violins

12-16 Violas

12-16 Violoncellos

10-14 Double basses.

A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... This article is about the instrument in the flute family. ... â™  This article is about the family of musical instruments. ... For other uses, see Oboe (disambiguation). ... The cor anglais, or English horn, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the woodwind family. ... Eâ™­ clarinet with Oehler system keywork. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. ... The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... The contrabassoon, also contrafagotto or double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. ... Image of a trumpet, foreground, a piccolo trumpet behind, and a flugelhorn in background. ... For other uses, see Horn. ... Trumpeter redirects here. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... For other uses, see Tuba (disambiguation). ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ... A timpanist in the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. ... A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. ... The snare drum or side drum is a tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings, and with a set of snares (cords) stretched across the bottom head. ... For the Japanese rock band, see Cymbals (band). ... An old-fashioned triangle, with wand (beater) Angelika Kauffmann: LAllegra, 1779 The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. ... Wood block Tubular wood block A wood block is essentially a small slit drum made from a single piece of wood and used as a percussion instrument. ... Renoirs 1909 painting Dancing girl with castanets Castanets The castanets are a percussion instrument (idiophone), much used in Moorish music, Roma music, Spanish music and Latin American music. ... A gong is one of a wide variety of metal percussion instruments. ... Kulintang a Kayo, a Philippine xylophone The xylophone (from the Greek meaning wooden sound) is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Indonesia. ... Most orchestral glockenspiels are mounted in a case. ... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... French type, four-octave Celesta The Celesta (IPA ) is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... For other uses, see Harp (disambiguation). ... For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ... For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ... The viola (French, alto; German Bratsche) is a bowed string instrument. ... Alternate meaning: Cello web browser A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and part of the violin family. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

Structure

The work is approximately one hour in length, and has three movements: In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ...

1. Allegretto, poco moderato - Presto - Tempo 1o
2. Moderato, con moto
3. Largo - Allegro

For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ...

Composition

This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The symphony is strongly influenced by those of Gustav Mahler^{[citation needed]}, whose Third Symphony served as a model for Shostakovich in the first movement^{[citation needed]}. What at first seems like an uncontrolled deluge of musical ideas is, on closer inspection, a carefully organized movement in sonata form but with a very unusual layout. Only three themes serve as the basis for the first movement. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Mahler redirects here. ... The Symphony No. ...

One of the first movement's most notable features is a furious presto fugato for the strings that eventually consumes the entire orchestra and climaxes in a blistering quintuple forte tutti. The second movement is a landler-like scherzo cast in a deceptively simple A-B-A-B-A form. This eerie scherzo, at times reminiscent of the scherzi from Mahler's Second and Seventh symphonies, ends with a percussion figure that Shostakovich would use again in the Second Cello Concerto and the Fifteenth Symphony. The third and final movement is, arguably, one of Shostakovich's most complex and bizarre symphonic creations. A Mahlerian funeral march starts off the movement. Soon, a violent toccata takes over which, in turn, leads into a grotesque Rossinian divertimento that features a prominent solo for the trombone of almost cartoonish hilarity. The divertimento gives way to a brutal chorale reminiscent of the coda to Gavriil Popov's First Symphony. Reaching an ear-shattering climax when the funeral march from the movement's beginning reemerges, the music finally gives way to the death haunted coda. With echoes of Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, the symphony finally throbs away morendo into darkness on a bleak C-minor pedal point. The Symphony No. ... The Symphony No. ... The Cello Concerto No. ... The Symphony No. ... Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov (Russian: ; 12 September 1904 Novocherkassk – 17 February 1972 Repino) was a Soviet era Russian composer. ... “Tchaikovsky” redirects here. ... Excerpt from the fourth movement of Tchaikovskys Pathetique Symphony. ... Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) is particularly interesting among Gustav Mahlers symphonic works. ...

Recordings

Recordings of the work include:

• Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra/Kyrill Kondrashin (Melodiya, Aulos)
• Staatskapelle Dresden/Kyrill Kondrashin (Profil)
• Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Kyrill Kondrashin (RCO Live)
• Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra/Gennady Rozhdestvensky (Russian Disc)
• U.S.S.R. Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra/Gennady Rozhdestvensky (Melodiya)
• Philharmonia Orchestra/Gennady Rozhdestvensky (BBC Classics; recording of the western premiere)
• Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy (Sony)
• WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne/Semyon Bychkov (Avie)
• City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle (EMI)
• Kirov Orchestra/Valery Gergiev (Philips)
• Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Mariss Jansons (EMI)
• Scottish National Orchestra/Neeme Jarvi (Chandos)
• Gurzenich Orchestra/Dmitri Kitaenko (Capriccio)
• Philadelphia Orchestra/Myung-Whun Chung (Deutsche Grammophon)
• BBC Phiharmonic/Vassily Sinaisky (CD from Aug. '02 issue of BBC Music Magazine Live recording at the BBC Proms, July 20th 2000)
• Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Andre Previn (EMI)
• London Philharmonic Orchestra/Bernard Haitink (Decca)
• St. Louis Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin (RCA/BMG)
• Prague Symphony Orchestra/Maxim Shostakovich (Supraphon)
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca)
• Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra/Herbert Kegel (Weitblick)
• Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Ladislav Slovák (Naxos Records)
• Colin Stone and Rustem Hayroudinoff, pianists (arrangement for two pianos) (Chandos)
• National Symphony Orchestra, Washington D.C./Mstislav Rostropovich (Teldec)
• WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne/Rudolf Barshai (Brilliant Classics, Regis)
• London Symphony Orchestra/Mstislav Rostropovich (Andante)
• Verdi Symphony Orchestra of Milan/Oleg Caetani (Arts)

The last two recordings also include performances of the surviving original drafts of the Fourth Symphony's first movement. The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. ... Kiril Petrovich Kondrashin (March 6, 1914 – March 7, 1981) was a conductor. ... The Dresden Staatskapelle is an orchestra based in Dresden. ... Kiril Petrovich Kondrashin (March 6, 1914 – March 7, 1981) was a conductor. ... Profil was a band that has represented France in Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the entry Hè Hé M´sieurs dames (11 st place, 45 pts). ... The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Dutch: Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, KCO) is the best-known and most respected symphonic orchestra in the Netherlands, and is generally considered to be among the worlds finest orchestras. ... Kiril Petrovich Kondrashin (March 6, 1914 – March 7, 1981) was a conductor. ... Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky (left) with Czech composer Lukáš MatouÅ¡ek at the closing concert of Prague Spring Festival 2007, Municipal Hall, Prague. ... Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky (left) with Czech composer Lukáš MatouÅ¡ek at the closing concert of Prague Spring Festival 2007, Municipal Hall, Prague. ... Melodiya (Russian: Μелодия) was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union. ... The Philharmonia is an orchestra based in London. ... Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky (left) with Czech composer Lukáš MatouÅ¡ek at the closing concert of Prague Spring Festival 2007, Municipal Hall, Prague. ... The Philadelphia Orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the Big Five symphony orchestras in the United States and usually considered among the finest in the world. ... Eugene Ormandy (November 18, 1899, Budapest, Hungary – March 12, 1985, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an eminent American orchestral conductor. ... Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational corporation and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue of $66. ... The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, also known as the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra or WDR Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra in Cologne, Germany. ... Semyon Bychkov (born November 30, 1952 in Leningrad (now St Petersburg)) is a Russian conductor. ... Avie is a male given name. ... The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is based in Birmingham, England. ... Simon Rattle recording Porgy and Bess with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road in 1988, aged 33. ... For other uses, see EMI (disambiguation). ... The Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra or the Kirov Orchestra is located in the Mariinsky Theatre in St. ... Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev, Russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев (born 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company director. ... Philips HQ in Amsterdam Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Philips Electronics N.V.), usually known as Philips, (Euronext: PHIA, NYSE: PHG) is one of the largest electronics companies in the world, founded and headquartered in the Netherlands. ... The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich was founded in 1949 by Eugen Jochum, he was also principal conductor until 1960. ... Mariss Jansons (born 1943) is a prominent Latvian conductor. ... For other uses, see EMI (disambiguation). ... The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is Scotlands national symphony orchestra. ... Neeme Järvi (born June 7, 1937) is a Estonian-born conductor. ... Chandos Records is an independent classical music label based in the UK. They have high standards of sound engineering quality. ... Russian conductor Dmitri Kitajenko was music director of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra for 14 years before taking up the same position with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (1990-1998) and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (1990-1996). ... A capriccio or caprice is a piece of music, usually fairly free in form and of a lively character. ... The Philadelphia Orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the Big Five symphony orchestras in the United States and usually considered among the finest in the world. ... Myung-Whun Chung (January 22, 1953, Seoul) is a Korean-American pianist and conductor. ... Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label. ... Vassily Sinaisky Vassily Serafimovich Sinaisky (Russian: Васи́лий Серафи́мович Сина́йский, born: April 20, 1947) is a Russian conductor and pianist. ... BBC music magazine is a classical music magazine published in the UK by the BBC. It claims first place in terms of worldwide sales. ... A Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall, 2004. ... The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, based in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading orchestras in the world. ... Andr Previn (born April 6, 1929) is a prominent pianist, orchestral conductor, and composer. ... For other uses, see EMI (disambiguation). ... The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. ... ... It has been suggested that Decca Music Group be merged into this article or section. ... The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) was founded in 1880, making it the second oldest symphony in the United States after the New York Philharmonic. ... Leonard Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor. ... RCA, formerly an acronym for the Radio Corporation of America, is now a trademark owned by Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson. ... BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group) is one of the six divisions of Bertelsmann. ... The Prague Symphony Orchestra (Prague, Czech Republic) was founded in 1934 by Rudolf Pekárek. ... Maxim Dmitrievich Shostakovich (born May 10, 1938) is a Russian conductor and pianist. ... Supraphon Music Publishing is the most significant Czech record label, and has a distinguished history. ... The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an English orchestra based in London. ... Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (Russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович А́шкенази, Vladimir Davidovič AÅ¡kenasi) (b. ... It has been suggested that Decca Music Group be merged into this article or section. ... Herbert Kegel (born 29 July 1920 in Dresden, died 20 November 1990 in Dresden) was a German conductor. ... Ladislav Slovák (1909, Veľké Leváre - 1999, Bratislava) was one of Slovakias best conductors. ... -1... Chandos Records is an independent classical music label based in the UK. They have high standards of sound engineering quality. ... The Hall of Nations in the Kennedy Center, with the banner of the NSO. The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in Washington DC is a major American symphony orchestra that performs at the Kennedy Center. ... Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich KBE (Russian: Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич, Mstislav Leopoldovič Rostropovič, IPA: ), (March 27, 1927 – April 27, 2007), known to close friends as “Slava”, was a Russian cellist and conductor. ... The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, also known as the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra or WDR Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra in Cologne, Germany. ... Rudolf Barshai born on September 28, 1924 in Stanitsa Lobinskaya, Russia. ... The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. ... Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich KBE (Russian: Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич, Mstislav Leopoldovič Rostropovič, IPA: ), (March 27, 1927 – April 27, 2007), known to close friends as “Slava”, was a Russian cellist and conductor. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... The Arts is a broad subdivision of culture, comprised of many expressive disciplines. ...

References

Bibliography

• Spencer, William (1985). The Fourth Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich: an analysis (M.M. thesis). Boston: Boston University. 

External links

• Program Note from the San Francisco Symphony