shostakovich's fifth symphony. a soviet artist's reply
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7/25/2019 Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. a Soviet Artist's Reply
1/7
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Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony: A Soviet Artist's Reply...?Author(s): J. Daniel Huband
Source: Tempo, New Series, No. 173, Soviet Issue (Jun., 1990), pp. 11-16Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/946394Accessed: 10-11-2015 14:39 UTC
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7/25/2019 Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. a Soviet Artist's Reply
2/7
J. Daniel
Huband
Shostakovich's Fifth
Symphony:
A
Soviet
Artist's
Reply...?
The
attempt
to relate a
nonmusical
event to
a
musical
phenomenon
creates
problems
for the
musicologist.
Compelled
to
search
beyond
the
mere notes on the
printed page,
one
may
try
to
gain
more
penetrating
insights
into a
particular
work
by scrutinizing
historical circumstances
concurrent with the
genesis
of
the
music.
In
the
case ofDmitri
Shostakovich's Fifth
Symphony,
the
social
and
political
background
to this
piece
has
been
greatly
emphasized.1
Yet
could
the
efforts
to relate the
composer's
compositional
style
to his
troubles with
the Soviet
regime
obscure musical issues? The Fifth
Symphony,
frequently
viewed
by many
music
historians
as
an
apologetic
musical
response
to the
Pravda
attack
on
the
opera Lady
Macbeth
of
the
Mtsensk
District,
does
not
present
as
drastic a
change
in
musical
style
as
is
commonly
believed.
An
analysis
of
the four earlier
symphonies
reveals
that
they
function
importantly
in the
composer's
evolution
as
a
symphonist;
Shostakovich
refines
several
compositional techniques
employed
in
these
works
and
incorporates
them
in
the Fifth
Symphony,
his
first
fully
mature
piece.
The
most salient features
of the
composer's early
works
that most
clearly
relate
to his
develop-
ment as a
symphonist
shall be
discussed in
this
essay.
This
process
aims to
reassess the
hypo-
thesis
which
suggests
Shostakovich
suddenly
mended
his
ways
in
light
of
official criticism.2
Shostakovich
began
to
compose
his First
Symphony
in
the fall
of
1924
as
a
graduation
piece
while a
student
at
the
Petrograd
Conservatory.
A
four-movement architecture
which
employs
traditional
forms can
hardly
be
considered as
innovative,
yet
the work of
a
fine
crafstman
is
evident.
Sonata
principles
guide
1
A
representative
view of
the
Fifth
Symphony
may
be found
in
Tim
Souster's
'Shostakovich
At The
Crossroads'
Tempo
8,
Autumn
1966,
pp.2-9)
which concludes
that 'there
can be no
doubt,
in this
particular
case,
as to the
fruitfulnessof
a
political
intervention in
the arts'.
2
The views
expressed
in
Testimony:
The Memoirs
of
Dmitri
Shostakovich,
as
related to
and edited
by
Solomon
Volkov
(New
York:
Harper
and
Row,
I979),
are not
included in this
essay
because
its
authenticity
in full
or
part
has
not been
established.
See LaurelE.
Fay's
'Shostakovich Versus
Volkov:
Whose
Testimony?'
Russian
Review
39
(October
1980):
484-93.
the
outer
movements,
while
ternary designs
shape
the
innerones.
The
Symphony's
primary
themes evolve
from the
opening
measures
of
the
piece,
thus
engaging
motives as
unifying
agents throughout
the
work.
Certainly,
for
1925,
the
harmonic idiom seems
conservative,
with tonal
principles
governing
the
processes.
The
orchestration
remains
imaginative
and
colorful;
yet
the
composer
conspicuously
avoids
any
hint
of
heavy
orchestration.
'Chamber-
music-like'
sonorities
characterize
much of
the
composition
since
thick textures are
avoided.3
These
stylistic
tendencies,
however,
were
destined
almost
immediately
to
undergo
drama-
tic
modification.
When the
young
Dmitri
left the
conservatory,
he found
himself
confronted with
a
continuing
struggle
between
the
proponents
of
Western-
oriented modernism
and
those who
believed
in
'Proletarian'music.
The adherents
of Western-
oriented
modernism
establishedthe
Association
for
Contemporary
Music
(ACM)
in
'1923,
and
in the
same
year,
those
who
believed
music
should
be
immediately
comprehensible
to
the
simple
workman
or
peasant
established
the
Association
of Proletarian
Musicians
(RAPM).4
Shostakovich
found
stimulus
in
both
these
movements,
for
his works
which
immediately
follow the First
Symphony
exemplify
an
acute
reaction
to
its
ethos.
Shostakovich
inaugurated
his
most
sudden,
severe
change
of
style
with
the
Octet for
Strings,
op.i
I;
the
Piano
Sonata, op.I2
('October
Sonata');
and
the
Aphorisms,
p.
13.
A
defiance
of
traditional
ormal
principles
akes
hold,
linear
textures
often
dominate,
and
incisive,
dissonant
passages
(occasionally
approaching
cacophony)
frequentlycharacterizeheharmony. Maximilian
Steinberg,
the
teacherwho
guided
Shostakovich
on the
First
Symphony,
expressed
dismay
over
Dmitri's
new
found
style:
3
Boris
Schwarz,
Music
andMusical
Life
in
Soviet Russia
917-
1981,
enlarged
ed.
(Bloomington:
Indiana
University
Press,
I983),
p.
72.
4
A
third
group, primarily
ound in
academic
circles,
consisted
of
Russian
traditionalists;
this
group
was
not
formally
organized.
Schwarz,
op.cit.,
p.
149.
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7/25/2019 Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. a Soviet Artist's Reply
3/7
12
Shostakovich's
ifth
Symphony:
A
Soviet
Artist's
Reply...?
On
leaving
the
Conservatoire,
Shostakovich
ame
under the influence of
people
who
professed
he
musical
principles
f the 'extremist'West. This was
in
1925
...
One
of
Shostakovich's
first
compositions
was his
sonata,
written
in
contemporary
idiom and
called
by
him
October
ymphony.
Already
n this
therewas an
unhealthy endency
o
'adapt'
ormalistic
language
for
the
expression
of
revolutionary
deas.
The most extreme tatement
f
Shostakovich's
new'
tendency
was the
Aphorisms.
hen
[sic]
he
brought
them to
me,
I
told
him
that
I
understood
othing
n
them that
they
were
quite
foreign
-
afterwhich he
ceased
coming
to me.5
Shostakovich's
Second
Symphony
of
1927
has been described as
'an
ASM orchestral
piece
with an RAPM finale'by Gerald Abrahamwho
notes that 'the work was at first
actually accept-
ed
-
with reservations
-
by
both
parties'.6
In
this
piece,
entitled To
October:
A
Symphonic
Dedication,
cored for orchestraand chorus
with a
contemporary
revolutionary
text
by
Alexander
Bezymensky,
Shostakovich
creates the anti-
thesis to
Symphony
No.I,
including
the
utilization
of
a
single-movement
form.
Though
five internal divisions
may
be
discernible,
these
sections bear little
relation to the traditional
movements of a sonata cycle. Furthermore,the
composer
abandons
sonata form
principles
and
thematic
development.
Except
for some
repetition
of a
revolutionary song
motive and
the
recurrence
of first-section
material
in
the
finale,
Shostakovich
makes
no
attempt
to
unify
the sections.
The harmonic idiom
also differs
greatly
from that of the
First
Symphony,
for a
lack
of
tonality
often
predominates.
This
nontonal
style permeates
the first section
(measures 1-43)
where much
of
the dense
string
part
writing
utilizes
pitches
which insure the
highest
level
of dissonance
upon
realization.
This
heavy,
dissonant
type
of
texture
completely
negates
the
principles
inherent
in
the earlier
symphony.7
Other orchestral
effects, too,
seem
most
removed
from the earlier
work,
particular-
ly
the
angular
tuba solos.8
The
part
for
factory
hooter in
F-sharp
(with
alternate
parts
for
brass)
not
only
announces
the chorus
in the final
section,
but
symbolizes
Shostakovich's
turn
away
from
pure,
'abstract'
music,
and
may
be
5
Gerald
Abraham,
Eight
Soviet
Composers
London:
Oxford
University
Press,
1943),
p.
16.
6
Gcrald
Abrahan,
'Music in the Soviet Union'
in TheModem
Agy
189o-1960,
New Oxford
History
of
Music,
Vol.X
(Lonldon:
Oxford
University
Press,
1974),
p.655.
7
For
exanmple,
series
of brass entries
in measure
23
produces
a
succession
of
nlinor
ninth
intervals,
and
when combined
with
the
strings,
this
juxtaposition
creates
a tone cluster-like
effect.
8
See
measures
41-43
and
90-94.
viewed
in
part
as
a
reflection of the
changing
social and
political
conditions of the
period.
Yet,
aesthetically speaking,
could
the
composer's
forthcoming symphonies continue in the vein
of
Symphony
No.2?
Apparently
he felt
not,
because the ones which follow the rebellious
Second
begin
a trend back towards the
in-
corporation
of more conventional
symphonic
procedures.
Nevertheless,
similarities exist between the
Second and Third
Symphonies.
The Third
(I929),
subtitled The First
of May,
also
requires
a
chorus
in
its final
section,
incorporating
a
contemporary
text
by Semyon
Kirsanov.
Though it also has a single-movement form, its
internal
divisions
more
closely
resemble
the
movements
of a
traditional
sonata
cycle
(I.
Fast
2.
Slow
3.
Scherzo
4.
Introduction-Finale),
but
the
components
of sonata
form
do not
appear
n
any
of the Third
Symphony's
sections.9
Shostakovich
clearly
avoids thematic
manipula-
tions,
since
he
prefers
to
present
his material
in
an
episodic style,
one new idea after the
next.
However,
the
primarily
diatonic
idiom and
clearer extures contrast
greatly
with
Symphony
No.2, and more closely anticipate qualities
found in the Fifth.
Occasionally,
very large
melodic intervals
appear
in
Symphony
No.3
which seem
quite
novel and
appear
to have no
relationship
to
the
work's overall structure.
These
passages
foreshadow the second theme
in
the first movement
of
Shostakovich's
Fifth:
in
the
Third,
the
large
melodic
intervals have
no
underlying purpose,
but
in
movement
I
of the
Fifth,
Shostakovich
uses them
to function
in
contrast with
the smaller melodic intervals
of
the first theme. Though this type of balanceof
form and content
is not
present
in
the
Third,
it
most
clearly presents
the
prototype
of this
important
melodic
style.10
Another
technique
occurs
when the orchestra
boldly
states thematic
material
in octaves
(making
an 'orchestral
unison').
Though
in
the
Third,
this
technique
comes about
suddenly, seemingly
with
no
structural
ntentions,
it makes
for
an
important
precedent.
Shostakovich
ater
ntegrates
his
early
compositional
device
into
the Fifth
Symphony's
opening movement where it provides a sudden
contrast
o the double canon
in
the
development
section,
creating
one
of the most momentous
passages
in the
symphonic repertoire.
1
9
These sections
begin
at
measures
I,
346, 446, 654,
and 806.
'0
For
example,
see
measures
375-400
n the
Third
Symphony.
The second
thematic area in
the first movement of
the Fifth
Synlphony begins
at measure
50.
These
passages
are found
between measure
666-708
in
the
Third
Symphony,
and
measures
43-252
n
the Fifth
Symphony.
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7/25/2019 Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. a Soviet Artist's Reply
4/7
Shostakovich's
ifthSymphony:
A
Soviet Artist's
Reply...?
13
On
22
January
1934
the
premiere
of
Shostakovich's opera LadyMacbethoftheMtsensk
District
earned the
composer many
praises,
and
it was
quickly regarded
as a
grand
achievement
of
Soviet culture.
Shortly
after this
time,
the
composer
created the
Cello
Sonata
(1934),
op.40,
one of
the most
conservative works of
his
early period. Though
completed
about
one
year
prior
to the
composer's
initial work
upon
the
Fourth
Symphony,
it
anticipates
the
Fifth
Symphony
in
many ways.
Both utilize
a
four-
movement
structure;
both
are
in D
minor;
both
of the first movements strongly rely on sonata
form;
and each
contains a
movement with a
lucid
ternary
design.
The
opening
movement
ofthe.Cello Sonata
clearly provides
an
important
precedent
for
the
texture of the
second thematic
area in
the Fifth
Symphony's
opening
move-
ment.12
Moreover,
the
second
movement of
the Cello
Sonata
includes
rhythmic
patterns
much related to
those
present
in
the Fifth
Symphony's
second
movement,
and some of
the
melodic contours
similarly
foreshadow the
latter piece.13
One
should
bear
in
mind that the
Cello Sonata
was
completed
prior
to
Shostakovich's first
crisis
period,
which
began
when
his
opera Lady
12
Note
the
rhythmic
attern
a
quarter-note
ollowed
by
two
eighth-notes)
which
accompanies
he
lyrical
cello line in
measures
I35-146.
13
Almost
uncannily,
n
measures
5-57,
the
cello
melody
incorporates
glissando
which
trongly
uggests
measures
8-
9I
in
the
secondmovement f
the Fifth
Symphony.
Macbeth
of
the Mtsensk
District
was
severely
criticized by Pravda. The Pravda attack on
Shostakovich's
opera
occurred
on
28
January
1936,
about
midway through
the
composition
of
the Fourth
Symphony.
In the article
entitled
'Chaos
Instead
of
Music',
Shostakovich's
opera
was
criticized
vehemently:
Fromthe
first
moment,
the
listener
s
shocked
by
a
deliberately
issonant,
confused streamof
sound.
Fragments
f
melody, embryonic
phrases
appear
only
to
disappear
gain
n
the
din,
the
grinding,
and
the
screaming...
his music is
built on the
basis of
rejecting pera...whichcarriesntothetheatrend he
music the
most
negative
eatures
f'Meyerholdism'
infinitely
multiplied.
Here
we have
leftist'
onfusion
instead f
natural,
umanmusic...
The
danger
f
this
trendto
Soviet music
is
clear.
Leftistdistortion
n
painting, poetry,
teaching,
and
science.
Petty-
bourgeois
nnovations ead to a
breakwith
real
art,
real
science,
and real
iterature...All
this is
coarse,
primitive,
nd
vulgar.
The music
quacks,
grunts
and
growls,
and
suffocates
tself,
in
order o
express
he
amatory
ceneall over
the
opera
n the
most
vulgar
manner.
The merchant's
double bed
occupies
the
centralpositiononthestage.On itall'problems' re
solved...14
This
violent
review
may
well
have been
a
key
factor which
compelled
the
composer
to
with-
draw
the Fourth
Symphony
(1936)
from
performance
during
this
time. Boris
Schwarz
14
Pravda,
quoted
in
Schwarz,
Musicand
Musical
Lie,
p.
123.
Another
rticle ollowed
a
week
ater
on
6
February)
hich
criticized
hostakovich's
allet,
The
Limpid
tream.
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7/25/2019 Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. a Soviet Artist's Reply
5/7
14
Shostakovich's
ifth
Symphony:
A
Soviet Artist's
Reply...?
points
out that
Shostakovich could
have revised
it
in an
attempt
to insure its
acceptability
during
this
hostile
period,
or
he could
have
destroyed
it. Yet
the
composer
must
have
felt the Fourth
to
be of
some value as
originally
conceived,
for
he withheld
it
from
the
public
until its
premiere
on
30
December
I96.15s
The most
intriguing
formal structures
in
all
of
Shostakovich's
symphonies
exist
in
Symphony
No.4.
In
spite
of
Robert
Dearling's
statement that 'the Fourth
Symphony
does not
gain
from
too critical an
analysis any
more than
does a
ballet
score',16
much has
been written
about the
design
of this
work,
and
consequently
many interpretationshave been made regarding
its form. For
example, Hugh Ottaway
asserts:
The
successes,
ear-successesnd
ailuresn
theFourth
providemany pointers
o
the
work's
significance
or
Shostakovich's
evelopment.
While here s
in
it much
that s
indebted
o
the constructivist
iewpoint
and
to
the anti-Romanticmovement
n
general
there
s
also
a
deeply
human,
Mahler-like
xpression
hat
only
partially
ucceeds
n
formulating
tself.17
Despite
insinuations from
many
critics
that
the
form is
weak,
definite means are
employed
to
give structure to the Fourth Symphony. The
composer
returns to
multi-movement architec-
ture,
but
continues
to
experiment
with
his
organizational plans.
Indeed,
the
opening
movement seems to
represent
a
compromise
between
the
very
conservative Cello Sonata and
the formal
experiments
of
the earlier Second
and
Third
Symphonies.
This
hybrid
form makes
for a most
unusual
first
movement
design.
Shostakovich
freely
initially exposes
material,
develops
and
recapitulates
it,
yet
his
idiosyn-
cratic approach creates a structure far too
removed from convention to be
considered
'sonata
form'.
Therefore,
the term 'sectional'
most
aptly
describes
it. Even
so,
this
design
more
closely
approaches
a
traditional
symphonic
movement than do
any
of the sections in the
previous
two
symphonies.
The
gigantic
outer
movements
are
balanced
in
the central one
by
a
simple
ABAB-coda structure which
presents
another
major
turn
toward
a more conservative
symphonic
approach.
Yet the
final movement's
sectional nature has qualities remarkably in-
dependent
from
customary
designs,
though
it
does make reference
thematically
to the first
15
Schwarz,
MusicandMusical
Life,
pp.
170-72.
16
Robert
Dearling,
'The First Twelve
Symphonies:
Portrait
of
the
Artist as
Citizen-Composer',
in
Shostakovich:
he Man
aind His
Music,
ed.
Christopher
Norris
(Boston:
Marion
Boyars,
1982),
p.56.
17
Hugh
Ottaway,
'Looking Again
At
Shostakovich
4'
Tempo
115
(l)Deceber 1975):
24.
movement.18
This
attempt
to
unify
the overall
structure lacks
strength,
however,
because
it
alone does not
provide
the
necessary
reinforce-
ment needed to unite such a mammoth
symphony.
A
more traditional
treatment
of
thematic
material
appears
in
the Fourth
Symphony,
marking
another turn toward a more
conserva-
tive
style.
Thematic transformations nd motive
manipulations
feature
strongly
in this
work,
departing
from
the
thematic treatment of
Symphonies
2
and
3,
and
foreshadowing
the
intricate motivic
relationships
in
the
Fifth.
Yet
passages
not treated
n
a
developmental
manner
suggest that the composer was reluctanttotally
to
abandon the
through-composed
method of
the
Second and Third
Symphonies.
Ostinati
play
varying
roles in
Shostakovich's
first five
symphonies,
but
it
is
in
No.4
that
the
powerful
potential
of
the ostinato at
climactic
points
is first
fully
realized.
During
the first
culminating point
in the
third
movement,
the
repeated
semiquaver
figures
in
the
upper
woodwinds,
strings
and
xylophone
create a
rhythmic urgency,
making
the material
in
the
remaining parts of the orchestra all the more
intense.19 This
structural
employment
of the
ostinato
becomes even more
important
in the
Fifth
Symphony,
where in
the first movement
(measures
188-204)
the
beginning
of the ostinato
passage
releases
tension,
but as
the
passage
continues
it builds momentum.
Furthermore,
this
device
has an
expanded
role
in
the latter
work,
functioning
as a
unifying agent.
The
opening
of
the
development
section
(in
the first
movement)
presents
an
excellent
case
in
point.
This area begins with the piano stating an
ostinato
(derived
from the
closing
theme
of the
exposition)
which
serves to
conjoin
these
sections. When the horns enter in the
develop-
ment over the
continuing
pattern,
Shostakovich
integrates
the texture
and thematic content to
a
degree
unprecedented
n his
earlier
symphonies.20
Mahler's nfluence
predominates
n
the second
movement
of
the Fourth
Symphony.
The
meter,
rhythmic
structures nd
melodic
contours
resemble those
found
in
the
LAndlerecond
and
third movements of Mahler's Second Symph-
ony
(the
Resurrection,
894).
In
fact the first
themes
in
the third
movement
of
Mahler's
symphony
and in the second movement
of
Shostakovich's
begin
on
the final beat
of the
18
Measure
i61 in
the third movement marks the
beginning
of
a reference to a
passage
which
commences
at
measure
799
in
the first movement.
19
See
measures
48-57.
20
This
area includes measures I
17-125.
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7/25/2019 Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. a Soviet Artist's Reply
6/7
Shostakovich's
ifth
Symphony:
A Soviet Artist's
Reply...?
15
measure,
ontainmuch
egato tep-wise
writing,
and are
initially presentedby
a
string
section.
Both of these movements
also
have numerous
passages with incessantsemiquavermotion.
Members
of the clarinet
family
are the
first
non-string
nstruments o
present
irst hematic
areamaterial
n
each
of these
works;moreover,
a reference
to Mahler's
Second
Symphony
occurs
in
measures
IO8-I
2 of Shostakovich's
second movement.
The
timpani
and clarinet
writing
seem
to
be modelled
after the intro-
duction
o the thirdmovementofMahler'swork
(in
fact the
same
pitches
are
trilled
by
the
clarinets
n
both
works).
Not
only
do the above
areas nvoke a Mahlerianlavor,but the huge
orchestra
required
for Shostakovich'sFourth
suggests
on its
own
the earlier
omposer.
E-flat
clarinet
solos,
often
considered characteristic
of
Mahlerian
rchestration,
ppear
or the first
time
in
Shostakovich's
Fourth,
and
later
n
his
Fifth.
Indeed,
he
myriad
ffectsachieved
n
the
Fourth
Symphony
may
well
be viewed as
symbolic
of Shostakovich's nthusiasm
or
the
wide
variety
of
color and texture found
in
Mahler's cores.
The harmonic language also contributes
greatly
to
the varied
palette
used on the orch-
estral canvas.
Extremely
dissonant
passages,
often
independent
of
functional
relationships,
characterizeeveralareasof the
work,
and
yet
many
traditional adential
atterns
such
as
the
dominant
to
tonic)
abound. This
dichotomy
suggests
the
composer
attempted
o
integrate
the harmonic idioms of
the
first
three
sym-
phonies
into
a
single
framework. Not until
Shostakovich's
Fifth
Symphony,
however,
wouldhebe able o createasuccessfulynthesis
of
many
techniques
used
in
his
earliest
symphonies.
Though
one
may regard
Shosta-
kovich's Fifth as
merely
'takingup
where
the
First left
off,21
the
Second,
Third
and Fourth
Symphonies
must
be viewed
as
significant
works,
for
they
functionedas
compositional
experiments
which
therefore
helped
him
to
become a more skilful
composer
n his
latter
works.
The
Fifth
Symphony
of
I937
immediately
reinstated Shostakovich as the foremost
composer
of his
generation,
and
has been
acclaimedas
a
model of
SocialistRealism.This
assessment s
curiousbecausemuch
of thework
appears
ontrary
n
mood and
style
to
what the
Soviet
authorities elieveda
symphony
should
be. The
ideal
symphony
of the
period
should
have contained olk music
and
nationalisticdeas
21
Schwarz,
p.cit.,
p.
172.
lacking
in
Shostakovich's
Fifth.
Heroism,
too,
was
regarded
as
an
ideal;
perhaps
its initial
suc-
cess
resultedfrom its so-called 'heroic
finale'.22
For many years conductors have tended to
perform
the last movement much
faster
than
indicated. The
finale,
however,
does
not
sound
'heroic'
if
the
metronome
markings
of
the
composer
are followed.
A
major
misconception
poses
further
problems
when
considering
the
Fifth
Symphony,
for
many
musicians
believe
that the
composer
initially
referred
to it
as
'a
Soviet artist's creative
reply
to
justified
critic-
ism'. Boris Schwarz
points
out
that
it is
open
to
question
if
Shostakovich
actually
used the words
'justifiedcriticism', even though the quote has
appeared
in
numerous western
reports.
The
deletion
of
the
word
'justified'
does
not
imply
any
admission
of
guilt,
but
may
suggest
quite
the
contrary.23
Indeed,
the
above
problems
suggest
that other
factors
(aside
from
musical
ones)
hitherto
unaccounted
or,
may
have
helped
propel
the Fifth
Symphony
into
acclaim.24
On
the
other hand there can
be
no
doubt that the
Pravda
ttack
must
have
influenced
Shostakovich,
but
the extent of that
impact
cannot
be
deter-
mined. Nevertheless, one may ascertain that
after
Symphony
No.2 the
composer begins
to
incorporate
some
conservative
stylistic
traits in
his
symphonic
works,
and that
Symphony
No.5
represents
he
culmination of his
early
years.
A
four-movement
design,
incorporating
severaltraditional ormal
principles,distinguish-
es
the Fifth
Symphony's
architecture.
Here,
Shostakovich returns
to
nmany
f
the ideas used
in
his First
Symphony,
but
creates a work of
greater
originality
and
depth.
As in
Symphony
No.I, the opening movement utilizes sonata
principles,
but
key
relationships
occur more
freely
than in its
predecessor,
indicating
a
compromise
between
his
earlier tonal
and
nontonal
systems.
The
precise
point
of
recap-
itulation
is
ingeniously
made
ambiguous,
a
further
indication of its
flexibility.25
Shosta-
kovich also
handles
texture more
thoughtfully
in
22
Boris
Schwarz,
'Shostakovich,
Dmitry
(Dmitriyevich)',
The
New
Grove
Dictionary f
Musicand
Musicians,
d.
Stanley
Sadie
(London:
MacMillan,
I980),
Vol.
XVII, p.267.
23
Schwarz,
Music and
Musical
Life,
pp.
I70-72.
24
Indeed
nonmusical actors
appear
o have
createdmuch
ofthe
controversy
surrounding
Lady
Macbeth;
his
opera
also caused
some
agitation
in
Philadelphia.
See
Royal
S. Brown's 'The
Three
Faces of
Lady
Macbeth'
in
Essays
or
Boris
Schwarz,
Malcolm
Hamrick
Brown,
ed.
(Ann
Arbor:
UMI
Research
Press,
1984)
pp.245-252.
25
Strong
cases
may
be
made for
labelling
the
recapitulation
at
either
measure
243
or
259.
This author
prefers
the
latter,
for
the
tension created
by
the
development begins
to
release here
more
effectively.
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7/25/2019 Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. a Soviet Artist's Reply
7/7
16
Shostakovich's
ifth
Symphony:
A
Soviet
Artist's
Reply...?
the Fifth
Symphony,
where
a
polyphonic
treat-
ment of
the first
thematic
area of
the
opening
movement
helps
to
differentiate it from
the
monophonic second thematic area.Contrasting
textural
considerations,
vivid
in
earlier works
but
occasionally lacking
structural
ntegrity,
are
now
fully integrated
nto the
symphonic
fabric.26
Much of the Fifth
Symphony's
success
may
be attributed to the skilful manner in
which
Shostakovich uses
varying types
of thematic
treatment. The
great manipulation
of
motives
owes
much to
Symphony
No.
I,
but the
primary
themes of the Fifth's
various movements are
not derived from the
opening
of the
piece.
Rather, a greater coherence within each
movement makes
for
more effective contrasts
between movements.
For
example,
the brilliant
motivic
manipulations
in
the first movement
yield
to the new thematic material which
Shostakovich
presents
in
a
nondevelopmental
mnanner
n
the second
movement;
this
procedure
also
helps
to
balance
the
multi-movement
design,
recalling
similar
attempts
from
the Cello
Sonata,
First and
Fourth
Symphonies.
The
cogency
of Shostakovich's thematic treatment
would not have come to fruition in the Fifth had
he not evaluated and reacted
to the
thematic
features of
his
First
Symphony.
Those
angular
melodies
and motivic
peculiarities
which
characterize
areas of
Symphonies
2,
3
and
4
clearly
serve
as
catalysts
for
the
development
of
the mature
compositional
style
inherent
n
No.5.
Orchestration, too,
takes
on
great
structural
significance.
In the Fifth's
first
movement,
Shostakovich
saves the
piano, trumpets,
trombones, tuba,
timpani,
and
percussion
until
the development section. This inclusion of new
orchestral
colors
in the
development
makes
it
possible
to create
furthercontrasts which aid
the
tension-creating
process.
Indeed Shostakovich's
affinity
with
Mahler,
vividly
presented
in
the
Fourth
Symphony,
touches the Fifth as well.
The absence of the
brass
in the third
movement
allows these
instruments' entrance
at the
beginninlg
of the
fourth
movement
to
give
added
impact
to the new
material.27 Mahler
used a
similar
approach
in his Fifth
Symphony,
by
scoring
the fourth
movement
for
strings
and
harp
only,
prior
to its
rousing
finale.
In
essence,
Shostakovich's Fifth draws upon a variety of
tone colors used
in
his
earlier
works,
but
integrates
hese colors into its
design
in a manner
unprecedented
n his earlier
symphonies.
Principles
of
tonality fully govern
the
harmonic
processes
of
the Fifth
Symphony.
The
extreme
incorporation
of
dissonance,
which
characterizes everal sections
of
the
Second
and
Fourth
Symphonies,
acquiesces
in the
Fifth;
nevertheless,
Shostakovich
uses
tonality
most
skillfully
and
imaginatively. Perhaps
the
most
outstanding example of harmony occurs in the
second thematic area of the first
movement,
where
the vertical
sonorities
operate
within a
tonal
context;
yet
much
of this
region
defies
traditional 'Roman Numeral'
analysis
because
it
contains
chordal structures which extend
beyond
familiar
harmony.
In
effect,
Shosta-
kovich
tempers
the excessive dissonance
of his
earlier
symphonies
and
expands
his
harmonic
language,
so that the Fifth demonstrates
a
reconciliation
of
artistic
iberty
with traditional
form and content.
One must
conclude that the Fifth
Symphony
evolved
from the earlier
symphonies
and Cello
Sonata.
The First
Symphony,
the antithetical
reactions to
it,
and the
compositional
trends
present
in
the works
intervening
between
Symphonies
I
and
5
are
synthesized
in
the
Fifth.
An
analytical
review
of
these
pieces
reveals
that
the
composer
begins
to
treat
his musicalmaterials
in
a more conservative
manner after the
radical
Second
Symphony
and,
therefore,
each of these
compositions has an important role in Shosta-
kovich's
development
as a
symphonist.
Though
it would be a mistake
to assume that the Pravda
attack
on
Lady
Macbeth
f
theMtsenskDistrict
did
not force the
composer
to reconsider the
nature
of his musical
anguage,
the
effect of this incident
upon
Shostakovich's
Fifth
Symphony
has been
overemphasized.
Certainly,
it must be
regarded
not
only
as a reaction
to official
criticism,
but as
the result
of
a musical
evolution as well.
26
Malcolil Hamlrick
Brown,
in 'The
Symphonlies
of
Sergei
Prokofiev'
Ph.D.
dissertation,
The Florida State
Uliversity,
Tallahassee,
1967),
pp.435-37,
feels that the textural contrasts
within the
exposition
of Shostakovich
5
may
possibly
have
27
Schwarz
notes the
relationship
of the
Fifth
Symphony's
served Prokofiev
as
a
model
for the
opening
of
his
Fifth coda to that
of Mahler's First
Symphony
(movement
four).
Sylmpholny
1946).
See Musical
ndMusical
LJfe,
p.
172.
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