Overture Magazine 2013-2014 May-June 2014 | Page 17

Program Notes }
This is a symphony that is built from
the transformations of one potent motto
theme, which we hear immediately at
the opening of the massive, sonataform first movement, “Revolutionary
Petrograd.” Shostakovich reported that
the mood of this music was inspired by
his own memories of Lenin’s arrival and
street fighting in Petrograd (the name of St.
Petersburg during that period) in October
1917 when he was a boy of eleven. Cellos
and basses sing in unison the motto theme:
a solemn, very Russian theme based on the
shape of Orthodox chant. The rest of the
strings enter and flesh out its harmonies.
This melody rises torturously upward until
it is cut off by an explosion of drums and
tam-tam announcing the start of the main
Allegro section, led off by bassoons snarling
a militant march theme. Shrill and savage,
the music describes the people of Petrograd
rising up against the weak government that
had replaced the Czar. Then it subsides
for the movement’s second major theme,
which is derived from the motto melody;
this more lyrical theme seems to express the
people’s yearning for a new order. This appealing melody is developed and gradually
builds to a triple-forte shout.

A hushed bridge passage
—each movement of this
Symphony is connected
without pause to the next—
leads to the Adagio
second movement, “Razliv.”
The development section, again led
off by bassoons, is a dramatic street
battle, culminating in a gigantic blast of
tam-tam. Then the second theme reprises
gently in the strings. After a splendid brass
chorale, the movement closes quietly to
the strains of the solemn motto theme.
A hushed bridge passage — each
movement of this Symphony is connected
without pause to the next — leads to the
Adagio second movement, “Razliv.”
Razliv was the name of Lenin’s country
home where he retreated periodically to

make his plans. Once again, unison cellos
and basses introduce a troubled theme:
a twisting version of the motto. Unison
horns then present a baleful new theme,
heavy with potential danger. In fact, the
horns will be very prominent throughout
this movement, periodically returning
with a chorale-like refrain. Also prominent
are woodwind soloists, particularly flute,
clarinet, and bassoon; they dominate most
of this melancholy music. A sense of expectation gradually builds over shuddering
strings. After the solo trombone sings the
baleful theme in its most sinister appearance, stealthy pizzicato low strings on the
movement’s opening theme bridge to the
next movement.
Movement three is subtitled “Aurora.”
The “Aurora” was the battleship on the
Neva River that fired the signal shot for
the storming of the Winter Palace on
October 26, 1917; it has been preserved
there as a memorial. In this scherzo-style
movement, the energy builds slowly with
pizzicato strings offering a new version of
the Adagio’s first theme and drums menacing. Ultimately, the big second theme
from movement one returns in trombones
and tuba; it propels a huge crescendo leading to the explosive irruption of drums
signaling the attack.
This music merges directly into the finale, “The Dawn of Humanity.” Horns
followed by violins proclaim a joyous new
version of the once-solemn motto melody.
When this opening section subsides, violins quietly introduce a dancing version of
the Adagio’s twisting theme. Indeed, this
finale is filled with reprises of the Symphony’s various themes now transformed
into a song of celebration. Eventually, the
lyrical theme of the people that dominated movement one also joins them in
the brass. To pounding drums, the whole
orchestra roars out a triumphant conclusion in D major.

DHMH RSA # R24924

Instrumentation: Three flutes, piccolo, three
oboes, three clarinets, three bassoons,
contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets,
three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion
and strings.

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Notes by Janet E. Bedell, Copyright ©2014

May– June 2014 |

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