SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY NO . 8
A Second Perspective
by Jacob Jahiel
It is an overgeneralization to say that symphonies are defined by their last movements , but in a great many cases , the statement contains a degree of truth . For instance , while it is the opening bars of Beethoven ’ s Fifth — those infamous four knocks at the door — that most immediately spring to mind when thinking of that monumental work , it is really the joyous concluding Allegro that completes the symphony ’ s transformation from raw tumult into transcendent victory .
Beethoven ’ s is one of many symphonies to fall into this “ tragedy to triumph ” bucket : Brahms ’ First , Bruckner ’ s Eighth , and Mahler ’ s Second are widely regarded as following a similar scheme , each beginning in a gloomy C minor and ending in an exultant C major . But there are also plenty of counterexamples . Mahler ’ s Sixth Symphony in A minor earned its “ Tragic ” nickname from the final moments that offer only bitter defeat , despite herculean struggle .
Shostakovich ’ s Eighth presents a peculiar case . Written in 1943 as the second of three “ wartime symphonies ” commemorating the Soviet struggle against Nazi Germany , the work also begins in C minor and ends in C major . It , too , possesses an emotional gamut that spans from abject grief to serene hope . Importantly , however , its concluding Allegretto stops short of outward jubilance , resisting descriptors like “ triumphant ” or “ victorious .” This was , perhaps , one of many reasons that the symphony became the target of vitriol on behalf of Soviet authorities in 1948 , despite initially receiving a warm reception both at home and abroad . An account of this episode and additional important details surrounding the Eighth ’ s composition are astutely outlined in Catherine Case ’ s program note , and need not be repeated here .
In public , Shostakovich described the Eighth as an acknowledgment of lives lost during the war , offering the following narrative description : “ Life is beautiful . All that is dark and ignominious will disappear . All that is beautiful will triumph .” It is a certainly plausible explanation and one that , more importantly , would serve to soothe any perceived lack of patriotic fervor . Yet the statement hardly seems fitting for a composer rarely , if ever , accused of being an optimist . Is it possible , therefore , that these words contain more than a healthy dose of that razor-sharp , Shostakovich-ian irony ?
A far darker characterization of the Eighth , and one far more critical of the Soviet regime , is chronicled in Testimony , a series of memoirs attributed to Shostakovich and published by the Russian musicologist Solomon Volkov , but which have been the subject of a decades-old debate with regard to their accuracy and authenticity . Here , Shostakovich is alleged to have written :
“ I feel eternal pain for those who were killed by Hitler , but I feel no less pain for those killed on Stalin ’ s orders . I suffer for everyone who was tortured , shot , or starved to death . There were millions of them in our country before the war with Hitler began . The war brought much new sorrow and much new destruction , but I haven ’ t forgotten the terrible pre-war years . That is what my symphonies are about , including Number Eight …”
He continues : “ Before the war there probably wasn ’ t a single family who hadn ’ t lost someone , a father , a brother , or if not a relative , then a close friend . Everyone had someone to cry over , but you had to cry silently , under the blanket , so no one would see . Everyone feared everyone else , and the sorrow oppressed and suffocated us . It suffocated me too . I had to write about it . I had to write a Requiem for all those who died , who had suffered . I had to describe the horrible extermination machine and express protest against it . The Seventh and Eighth Symphonies are my Requiems .”
Do these words belong to Shostakovich or Volkov ? Are they the thoughts of an oppressed composer unable to show his true feelings at risk of imprisonment and death , or do they belong to an unscrupulous scholar who fabricated a close and intimate relationship for personal gain , grossly exaggerating Shostakovich ’ s anti- Soviet sentiments ? Does the generous , cloudless expanse that concludes Shostakovich ’ s Eighth extinguish or intensify the untold suffering contained in the movements prior ? Does it truly offer a celebration of beauty , or is it a secret Requiem mourning the untold suffering of a composer and his people ?
It ’ s hard to say . All that can be said is that those hoping to find concrete answers in the Eighth are likely to be disappointed . Anyone willing to revel in its uncertainties , however , will find rewards beyond measure .
34 OVERTURE / BSOmusic . org