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shostakovich is amazing...
Tonight was SUCH a treat - o m g.
The evening was being recorded on tape and film for a series the Symphony produces for PBS called "Keeping Score." It's an outreach by the SFS to increase it's audience and working to make classical music more approachable. It's like being in a classroom with the conductor - as he "delves into the notes and symbols that make up some of the most celebrated symphonies in the world." It was really cool to be in the audience for the taping.
The evening at the symphony was entirely Dmitri Shostakovich. The first act - was a song set of nine russian folksongs with a tenor, alto and soprano. Jewish folk poetry had little place in an anti-Semitic, totalitarian regime. Shostakovich revealed these striking and profound songs only long after their composition - first performing them in the late 50s. They told the stories of jews under Stalin - so it wasn't neccesarily toe tapping fun - but it was lush, lyrical and astounding.
Then MTT (Michael Tilson Thomas, the SFS conductor) then gave a 30 minute "behind the scenes tour" 'Keeping Score' lecture on the history of Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. The symphony would play snippets - and use other composers pieces to make points and comparisons. It was all very - very cool.
It was interesting to hear him talk about how the piece literally may have saved Shostakovich's creative (and even literal) life. The composer had been slammed by Pravda as a "creative enemy of the people" and was very close to losign his creating freedom altogether when he premiered the 5th symphony.
Shostakovich apparently said of this symphony that `The idea behind my symphony is the making of a man. I saw him, with all his experience, at the centre of the work, which is lyrical from beginning to end. The Finale brings an optimistic solution to the tragic parts of the first movement.'
The first movement begins with slow alternating sections of restlessness and serenity. Shostakovich's refined compositional abilities are shown through the build up to the climactic sections, becoming increasingly intense through the tight development of reiterated musical motifs. The movement starts out with a battle between the high strings and the low strings, and is rather light until about halfway through, where low-pitched piano octaves (the only time the piano is featured in this movement) supported by brass, marks the transition point for it becoming more tense and dramatic, emphasising the heavy Mahlerian influences.
The second movement is a lively waltz whose melody is frequently ornamented with playful grace notes. The movement progresses from a light dance in the bassoon and low strings to a majestic triumph in the brass, with a violin solo and a flute solo shortly afterwards. The melody from the beginning between the bassoon and strings is then repeated with pizzicato violins supported by the bassoon. It ends with the brass playing.
The third movement is very long, slow and mostly quiet. While it has its tense moments in the beginning, it becomes very beautiful towards the end. This movement is one of the better examples of Shostakovich's most emotive writings. Its sedate themes, colors, and mood provide good contrast for the upcoming fourth and final movement.
The fourth movement starts out with loud beating timpani and a brass melody that is enhanced by the strings and flutes. The strings then come in with a fun and exciting melody with little snippets of the opening. This reaches a spectacular climax early on, beginning with an enormous tam-tam crash and timpani pounding on two drums at once. A tense conclusion leads into the quieter section of the piece. The solo horn passage seems to exhibit the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, before a straining string melody takes over. The autobiographical tenets can only be speculated. This section ends and the short snare drum and timpani solo introduces the beginning of the conclusion of the movement. The fullness of the orchestra is felt throughout the last few minutes of the piece, and ends in an ostensibly triumphant, majestic, and tense climactic ending (see "Reception," below). The last two measures are a percussion solo featuring the timpani and the bass drum.
I went with my neighbor Michael - who is a huge classical music fan. but his partner Michael (ze' drag performer) hates it - so Michael is often my classical music "date.". Tonight after the Symphony we headed to "Citizen Cake" for a shared plate of cookies, devine decaf and good chatter. We hopped in the Mini and came home and I'm just in from walking Miss Kate.
It really was a divine evening out.
The evening was being recorded on tape and film for a series the Symphony produces for PBS called "Keeping Score." It's an outreach by the SFS to increase it's audience and working to make classical music more approachable. It's like being in a classroom with the conductor - as he "delves into the notes and symbols that make up some of the most celebrated symphonies in the world." It was really cool to be in the audience for the taping.
The evening at the symphony was entirely Dmitri Shostakovich. The first act - was a song set of nine russian folksongs with a tenor, alto and soprano. Jewish folk poetry had little place in an anti-Semitic, totalitarian regime. Shostakovich revealed these striking and profound songs only long after their composition - first performing them in the late 50s. They told the stories of jews under Stalin - so it wasn't neccesarily toe tapping fun - but it was lush, lyrical and astounding.
Then MTT (Michael Tilson Thomas, the SFS conductor) then gave a 30 minute "behind the scenes tour" 'Keeping Score' lecture on the history of Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. The symphony would play snippets - and use other composers pieces to make points and comparisons. It was all very - very cool.
It was interesting to hear him talk about how the piece literally may have saved Shostakovich's creative (and even literal) life. The composer had been slammed by Pravda as a "creative enemy of the people" and was very close to losign his creating freedom altogether when he premiered the 5th symphony.
Shostakovich apparently said of this symphony that `The idea behind my symphony is the making of a man. I saw him, with all his experience, at the centre of the work, which is lyrical from beginning to end. The Finale brings an optimistic solution to the tragic parts of the first movement.'
The first movement begins with slow alternating sections of restlessness and serenity. Shostakovich's refined compositional abilities are shown through the build up to the climactic sections, becoming increasingly intense through the tight development of reiterated musical motifs. The movement starts out with a battle between the high strings and the low strings, and is rather light until about halfway through, where low-pitched piano octaves (the only time the piano is featured in this movement) supported by brass, marks the transition point for it becoming more tense and dramatic, emphasising the heavy Mahlerian influences.
The second movement is a lively waltz whose melody is frequently ornamented with playful grace notes. The movement progresses from a light dance in the bassoon and low strings to a majestic triumph in the brass, with a violin solo and a flute solo shortly afterwards. The melody from the beginning between the bassoon and strings is then repeated with pizzicato violins supported by the bassoon. It ends with the brass playing.
The third movement is very long, slow and mostly quiet. While it has its tense moments in the beginning, it becomes very beautiful towards the end. This movement is one of the better examples of Shostakovich's most emotive writings. Its sedate themes, colors, and mood provide good contrast for the upcoming fourth and final movement.
The fourth movement starts out with loud beating timpani and a brass melody that is enhanced by the strings and flutes. The strings then come in with a fun and exciting melody with little snippets of the opening. This reaches a spectacular climax early on, beginning with an enormous tam-tam crash and timpani pounding on two drums at once. A tense conclusion leads into the quieter section of the piece. The solo horn passage seems to exhibit the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, before a straining string melody takes over. The autobiographical tenets can only be speculated. This section ends and the short snare drum and timpani solo introduces the beginning of the conclusion of the movement. The fullness of the orchestra is felt throughout the last few minutes of the piece, and ends in an ostensibly triumphant, majestic, and tense climactic ending (see "Reception," below). The last two measures are a percussion solo featuring the timpani and the bass drum.
I went with my neighbor Michael - who is a huge classical music fan. but his partner Michael (ze' drag performer) hates it - so Michael is often my classical music "date.". Tonight after the Symphony we headed to "Citizen Cake" for a shared plate of cookies, devine decaf and good chatter. We hopped in the Mini and came home and I'm just in from walking Miss Kate.
It really was a divine evening out.
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The best recording I've heard is the London Symphony's 2004 Recording on RCA.
Here is the Itunes URL:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewCollaboration?ids=702496-9262480-239769-29893&s=143441
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Last year (maybe two?) I sang the bass solos in "Les Noces" (Stravinsky's Russian piece with French Title sung in English oddly enough). It was clearly the most difficult piece I had ever sung, challenging in pitch and rhythm.
Shostakovitch can be equally demanding. I often wonder if the listener can fully appreciate these works without being on both sides. It's my experience that Russian "modern" composers take scholarship. The nice thing is it sounds like this concert provided just that. For many listener's it's like developing a taste for finer wine, scotch, etc. It takes time.
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In all seriousness, I think what you described needs to happen more and more in our nation. We have a generation that doesn't even begin to remotely "get" this music, and what a wonderful way to open audiences up.
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Actually pretty much all the symphonies, even the maligned 2 and 3rd are interesting in various ways -- my personal favorites are the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 15th.