Symphony No. 7 in C Major "Leningrad", Op. 60 was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1941. The work was first performed by Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra under Samuil Samosud in Kuibyshev on 5 March 1942, in the middle of the World War II. The symphony is dedicated to the city of Leningrad. Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград) may mean: St. ... Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich (Russian: , Dmitrij Dmitrievič Šostakovič) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906–August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ... Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre is a theatre and opera company in Moscow, Russia, which gives performances of ballet, opera, and plays. ... Samuil Samosud (born Tblisi, Georgia, 18 May, 1884, died Moscow, 6 November, 1964) was a Russian conductor. ... Samara (Russian: ), from 1935 to 1991—Kuybyshev (), is a major city situated on the Volga River in the southeastern part of European Russia, Volga Federal District, the administrative center of Samara Oblast. ... March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... Combatants Allies: Soviet Union United Kingdom United States and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Franklin Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000...

It was extremely popular in both Russia and the west, being adopted as a symbol of resistance to the German invasion. After the war its reputation declined, as it was viewed as mere propaganda. In more recent years, some have suggested that the work, particularly its famous first movement "invasion" theme, can also be interpreted as an anti-Stalinist piece. The interpretation of the work is complicated by uncertainty as to when the composer started to write the symphony.

Composition

A sign on Nevsky Prospekt from the Siege of Leningrad, now a memorial. The sign reads in Russian: "Citizens! During artillery fire, this side of the street is more dangerous."

Shostakovich completed the symphony on 27 December 1941. There are conflicting accounts as to when he began work on the piece in Leningrad: officially he was said to have composed it in response to the German invasion, but others (e.g. Rostislav Dubinsky) say that he had already completed the first movement a year earlier. Download high resolution version (486x720, 64 KB) source: http://www. ... Download high resolution version (486x720, 64 KB) source: http://www. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (362nd in leap years). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград) may mean: St. ... // Stalinist development Planning At the fourteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in December 1927, Stalin attacked the left by expelling Trotsky and his supporters from the party and then moving against the right by abandoning Lenins New Economic Policy which had been championed by Nikolai...

It is known that he continued writing during the Siege of Leningrad, as the German forces tried to starve the city into submission. On 17 September 1941, he spoke on the Leningrad Radio: Combatants Axis Powers, Spanish Blue Division Soviet Union Commanders Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Georg von Kuechler Kliment Voroshilov Georgy Zhukov Strength 725,000 930,000 Casualties Unknown 300,000 military, 16,470 civilians from bombings and estimated 1 million civilians from starvation The Siege of Leningrad (Russian: блокада Ленинграда) was the German...

An hour ago I finished the score of two movements of a large symphonic composition. If I succeed in carrying it off, if I manage to complete the third and fourth movements, then perhaps I'll be able to call it my Seventh Symphony. Why am I telling you this? So that the radio listeners who are listening to me now will know that life in our city is proceeding normally.

The third movement was completed on 29 September in the city before Shostakovich and his family were evacuated to Moscow on 1 October 1941. They moved to Kuibyshev (now Samara) on 22 October, where the symphony was finally completed. Samara (Russian: ), from 1935 to 1991—Kuybyshev (), is a major city situated on the Volga River in the southeastern part of European Russia, Volga Federal District, the administrative center of Samara Oblast. ...

Premières

The world première was held in Kuibyshev on 5 March 1942. The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Samuil Samosud, gave a rousing performance that was broadcast across the Soviet Union and later in the West as well. The Moscow première took place on 29 March 1942 in the Columned Hall of the House of Unions, by a joined orchestra of the Bolshoi Orchestra and the All-Union Radio Orchestra. Samara (Russian: ), from 1935 to 1991—Kuybyshev (), is a major city situated on the Volga River in the southeastern part of European Russia, Volga Federal District, the administrative center of Samara Oblast. ... March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre is a theatre and opera company in Moscow, Russia, which gives performances of ballet, opera, and plays. ... Samuil Samosud (born Tblisi, Georgia, 18 May, 1884, died Moscow, 6 November, 1964) was a Russian conductor. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap years). ... This article is about the year. ...

The microfilmed score was flown to Teheran and travelled to the West in April 1942. The symphony received its broadcast première in Europe by Henry Wood and the London Philharmonic Orchestra on 22 June 1942 in London, and concert première at a Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The première in Western Hemisphere took place in New York on 19 July 1942, by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini in a studio concert broadcast nationwide. Tehran (also spelled Teheran) (تهران in Persian), population 8,000,000 (metropolitan: 10,000,000), is the capital of Iran and one of the major world cities. ... Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 1869 - 19 August 1944) was a British orchestral conductor, the founder of the famous Promenade Concerts. ... The London Philharmonic Orchestra (frequently abbreviated to LPO), based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... A Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall, 2004. ... Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences is an arts venue dedicated to Queen Victorias husband and consort, Prince Albert. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ... July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... The NBC Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra established as a commercial venture in 1937 by General David Sarnoff of NBC in order to coax the recently retired conductor Arturo Toscanini to come to America. ... Arturo Toscanini (March 25, 1867, Parma, Emilia-Romagna – January 16, 1957, New York City) was an Italian musician. ...

The Leningrad première, where the symphony is dedicated to, was given on 9 August 1942 by the Leningrad Radio Orchestra (the only symphony orchestra remaining in Leningrad) under Karl Eliasberg. The city was still blockaded in that time. The score was flown by night in early July for rehearsal, and a team of copyists worked all days long to prepare the parts despite shortages of materials. Members of the orchestra were given special rations to help them through the concert and extra players were drafted in to replace those fighting, evacuated or dead. At the concert, loudspeakers broadcast the performance throughout the city and ,in psychological warfare, to the besieging German forces. They had been artillery bombarded in advance to ensure their silence during the performance of the symphony. August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ...

Reception

During the war, the work was very popular both in the West and in the USSR as the embodiment of the fighting Russian spirit. It was played 62 times in the United States in the 1942-43 season. Some critics, however, were dismayed by its apparent crudity; Virgil Thomson wrote that, "It seems to have been written for the slow-witted, the not very musical and the distracted".^[1] After the war this view of the work as overly bombastic Soviet propaganda came to prevail. In recent years it has again become more popular, along with the rest of Shostakovich's work, and the piece has been viewed as a condemnation of both Nazi and Soviet totalitarianism. Virgil Thomson, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1947 Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 - September 30, 1989) was an American composer from Missouri, whose rural background gave a sense of place in his compositions. ... U.S. propaganda poster from WWII depicting a Nazi stabbing a Bible. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Totalitarianism is a typology employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ...

Shostakovich had been awarded a Stalin Prize for the symphony. The USSR State Prize (Russian:Госуда́рственная пре́мия СССР) was the Soviet Unions highest civilian honour. ...

Music

The work has four movements in all:

1. Allegretto
2. Moderato (poco allegretto)
3. Adagio
4. Allegro non troppo

The symphony is Shostakovich's longest (approximately one hour and fifteen minutes in length). It is best known for the so-called invasion theme in the first movement, in which a jaunty 18-bar march, accompanied by a repeated rhythm on the snare drum, is repeated twelve times, louder each time, somewhat in the manner of Maurice Ravel's Boléro. The march lasts for eleven minutes and was traditionally viewed as a clear representation of the fascist invaders. In modern times scholars have argued the march actually shows Russia's destruction emanating from within, noting that the theme is formed from fragments of Russian tunes. Volkov has argued that the march's low-key beginning indicates an insidious takeover rather than the Nazis' frontal invasion. The composer's friend, Flora Litvinova, recalled him saying the work was "not just about fascism, but also about our system".^[2] This article is about tempo in music. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... This article is about tempo in music. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ... 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. ... Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 – December 28, 1937) was a French composer and pianist, known especially for the subtlety, richness, and poignancy of his music and generally considered to be one of the major composers of the 20th century. ... The Boléro is Maurice Ravels (1875-1937) most famous musical composition. ...

The second and third movements are a skittish scherzo and searching adagio respectively, and are followed by a grimly triumphant finale. A scherzo (plural scherzi) is a name given to a piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony. ... In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time) is the speed or pace of a given piece. ...

Scoring

The symphony is scored for 3 flutes (one doubling as a piccolo, another doubling as an alto flute), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 3 clarinets (one doubling as a piccolo clarinet), bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 8 horns, 6 trumpets, 6 trombones, tuba, percussion (triangle, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, wood blocks), xylophone, 2 harps, piano and strings (the score prescribes a minimum of 16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos and 8 double basses). This article pertains to the musical instrument. ... A Yamaha piccolo. ... This article pertains to the musical instrument. ... Modern Oboe The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... A cor anglais The cor anglais, or English horn, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bâ™­ soprano clarinet. ... The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. ... A Fox Instruments bassoon. ... Drawing of a Contrabassoon The contrabassoon or double bassoon is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. ... The horn is a brass instrument that consists of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ... Trumpeter redirects to here. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... The tuba is the largest of the low-brass instruments and is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the ophicleide. ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ... A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three vertices and three sides which are straight line segments. ... 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. ... A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. ... It is also possible that you want to know about the Cymbalum instrument. ... Xylophone in Bali 1937 The xylophone (from the Greek meaning wooden sound) is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Indonesia (Nettl 1956, p. ... The harp is a stringed instrument which has its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... A baby grand piano, with the lid up. ... See also string (disambiguation) Strings (as a sound (voice) in electronic musical instruments and synthesizers) is an imitation of classical string ensembles sound. ... A violin The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... A viola The viola (in French, alto; in German bratsche) is a stringed musical instrument played with a bow which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the higher violin (soprano register) and the lower lines played by the deeper cello (bass... A cello The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello (the c is pronounced as the ch in cheese), is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

Trivia

• Béla Bartók quoted the march theme of the first movement in his Concerto for Orchestra; this has been variously interpreted as an accusation of tastelessness, a commentary on the symphony's over-popularity in Bartók's eyes, or as an acknowledgment of the position of the artist in a totalitarian society.
• Both the opening of the first movement and the "invasion theme" appear prominently in an episode of the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Béla Bartók in 1927 For other uses, see Bartok (disambiguation). ... The Concerto for Orchestra Sz. ... The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ) is the name of the first volume in the Suzumiya Haruhi series written by Japanese author Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Japanese artist Noizi Ito; currently, there are eight individual volumes. ...

Notes

1. ^ Virgil Thomson in New York Herald Tribune 18 October 1942.
2. ^ Wilson p. 159

The New York Herald Tribune was a newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ...

References

• Dubinsky, Rostislav (1989). Stormy Applause. Hill & Wang 1989. ISBN 0-8090-8895-9.
• London Shostakovich Orchestra
• Fay, Laurel (1999). Shostakovich: A Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513438-9.
• Volkov, Solomon (2004). Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41082-1.
• Wilson, Elizabeth (1994). Shostakovich: A Life Remembered. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04465-1.