Josef Stalin died in March 1953; Shostakovich′s 10th Symphony was first performed in December of that year. The composer had been labouring under official (i.e. Stalin’s) censure for his ‘insanely sombre and neurotic’ music since 1948 … The audio file below deals with the final three movements of the work (remember to adjust the volume, […]
Tag Archives: Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich’s musical signature (above and you can hear it (twice) in its sound file) dominates the latter half of his 10th Symphony and is a major component in several of his later works. But first things first: this week’s about concentrating on the musical architecture of the symphony’s big first movement, from which the […]
It was Haydn who started it all. You can quibble about Boccherinis or Albrechtsbergers, Dittersdorfs or Vanhals, but in the end, when it comes to the crunch, you’ll be forced to admit that it was Haydn who was fons et origo of the strings quartet. And after? Mozart and Beethoven: Mozart dedicated six glorious quartets […]
