SYMPHONY 5

The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich:

Communication Under Soviet Suppression

SYMPHONY NO. 5

The government’s denouncement of Shostakovich after the Lady Macbeth opera had a profound effect on him, as he was well aware of the fate in a gulag that could await him. In fact, Shostakovich stopped the premier of his 4th Symphony over this very fear. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The 5th symphony, informally known as “a Soviet artist’s response to just criticism,” received a standing ovation that lasted over 30 minutes. The government’s reception was also positive, re-establishing Shostakovich’s role as a leading Soviet composer.

Mikhail Chulaki (left), director of the Leningrad Symphony, with Shostakovich (Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery).

1st Movement

Opening theme from Symphony No. 5 (Courtesy of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yvegeny Mravinsky).

The 1st movement features a well-known Slavic melody, appealing to the Soviet government's ideal of "socialist realism," while also making the symphony personally relevant to audience members. The opening theme is bold and oppressive, characterizing the Soviet government.

3rd Movement

Trial for Stalin's Purges (Courtesy of The Gulag Museum of Perm, Russia and the National Park Service). 

Stalin's consistent purges at the time of the symphony's

premier had made the public atmosphere tense and somber.

The 3rd movement mirrors this atmosphere, communicating the

dire state of the Soviet Union with the movement's

mournful tone to which the audience was reported to have cried.

“Here [3rd movement] the personality submerges itself in the great epoch that surrounds it, and begins to resonate with the epoch.” 
~ Alexey Tolstoy, novelist and supporter of the Soviet Union

Mugshot of Vsevolod Meyerhold, a friend of Shostakovich, who was executed because of Stalin's purges (Courtesy of the Routledge Performance Archive).

4th Movement

The 4th movement starts slow and melancholic and then becomes triumphant, reflecting the commuist vision of the rising proletariat. However, the movement has an ironic undertone that conveys the Soviet Union's destitute conditions despite its outwardly glorious attitude.

Soviet propaganda showcasing the rise of the proletariat (Courtesy of The Times).

 Ironic excerpt from the movement (Courtesy of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yvegeny Mravinsky).

“..the ending does not sound like a resolution (still less like a triumph or victory), but rather like a punishment or vengeance on someone. A terrible emotional force, but a tragic force. It arouses painful feelings.” 
~ Alexander Fadeyev, head of the Writer's Union