The Breath of the Symphonist: Shostakovich's Tenth 0947854037, 9780947854034

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.JA 'MONOGAPH

. H

.BREATH 0

HE SYMPHONIS hostakovich's DAVID FAN

ent

ING

The Breath of the Symphonist Shostakovich's Tenth

ROYAL MUSICAL ASSOCIATION MONOGRAPHS

General editor: David Fallows

This series is supported by funds made available to the Royal Musical Association from the estate of Thurston Dart, former ing Edward Professor of Music in the University of London; The editorial board is the Publications Committee of the Association. No. 1: Playing on Words: a Guide to Luciano Berio's Sinonia (1985) by David Osmond-Smith No. 2: The Oratorio in Venice (1986) by Denis and Elsie Arnold No. 3: Music for Treviso Cathedral in the Late Sxteenth Century: a Reconstruction of the Lost Manuscripts 29 and 30 (1987) by Bonnie J . Blackburn No. 4: The Breath of the Symphonist: Shostakovich's Tenth (1988) by David Fanning

ROYAL MUSICAL ASSOCIATION MONOGRAPHS 4

The Breath of the Symphonist Shostakovich's Tenth DAVID FANNING Lecturer in Music, Universiy of Manchester

Ryl Musical Association London

1989

Published by the Royal Musical Association Registered office c/o Waterhouse & Co. , 4 St Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M8 BA © The oyal Musical Association 1988 ; reprinted with corrections and an additional note, 198 9

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Fannng, David The breath of the symphonist: Shostakovic's tenth. -(Royal Musical Association monographs; 4). 1. Shostakovich, D. I. itle II. Series 780 '. 9 2'4 ML410.S53 ISBN 0-9 4785-03-7

Typeset by Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Gloucester Music xamples y Tabitha Collingboume, Newton Abbot Printed in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wltshre Design and production in association with Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Gloucester Music examples reprnted by permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd (London), Le Chant Du Monde (Paris) and Musikverlag Hans Sikorski (Hamburg). Copies may be obtained from: Brian Jordan (agent) 12 Green Street Cambridge CB23JU

or

A

Secretary (members)

Contents·

Inroducion

1

First Movement

6

3 Second Movement

39

1

2

4 5

47

hrd Movement

58

Fouh Movement

6 Conclusion: The nguae of Doublespeak

70

Appendix 1: Shosakovich on his Tenh Symphony

7

Appendix 3: Corecions nd Eos n he Colleced Works Score

81

Appendx 2: Themaic Allusion n he Tenh Symphony Biblioraphy

Index

79

·

4

88

In memoy of my ather

1 Introduction.

When Schoenberg wrote of Sibelius and Shostakovich, 'I feel they have the breath of symphonists', he added that 'Every amateur, every music lover' could have said the same. 1 That may be so. But plenty of music lovers, amateur and professional, have asked themselves what exactly that 'breath' is, how its presence in actual pieces of music can be conirmed or refuted, and whether or not it continues to be viable in the music of our own time. It is unrealistic to expect satisfactory answers to such questions, since.the phenomenon involves an immensely complex interaction­ of musical language, large-scale structure, and instrumentation, plus the relationship of this interaction to the psychology of musical perception and to tradition. Moreover, any act of individual creative daring may demand that even the most tentative deiiion be reformulated. But that is no reason not to ponder the issues from tme to time, or to relect on speciic symphonies with those issues in mind. As Hans Keller has suggested, albeit rather enigmatically, 'Paient analytic work inspred by an emotional understanding of wide uities will in due course disclose it [the symphonic secret] in concepual terms - but only if it remains a secret. ' 2 In the spirit of tis proposition, though rather standing it on its head, I intend to b#ng my own instincts about the 'secret' to bear on an outstanding twentieth-centuy masterpiece. And I hope thereby to shed suficient light to justiy the devotion of an entire book to that one work. Outside the Soviet Union, Shostakovich's music has not been a favoured topic for specialist discussion. It does not embody the kind of radical aesthetic or technique which might prompt the interest of analysts or composers. However, in the musical awareness of the layman it continues to occupy a prominent position, reinforced by the appearance of the controversial memoirs and other anecdotal

Schoenberg 1975, p. 136. Keller 1957, p. 48. This article contains brief comments on Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, e.g. 'There may not, despite its defects, be another work of his which breathes more symphonically' (p. 50) . 1

2

1

The Breath of the Symphonist

records,3 by the connued activity of the recordng industry, and above all by the power of the music itself to speak to different nations, generations and individuals in new and surprising ways. Some of these new ways can be suggested by ieans of analytical commentary. Stylistic and structural complexities are not lacking in the Tenth Symphony, and I have not spared the reader's patience in detailing the inner workings of the music. But I have also tried �o ' keep in focus the psychological complexity those inner workings represent, since it is this which confronts us,. as I believe, with the courage of Shostakovich's creative stance, and since the ethical dimension is aruably just as vital to the 'breath of the symphonist' as any aspect of compositional technique. At various points I have drawn on remarks both in Testimony and in the official record of Shostakovich's published writings.4 The reader will probably be aware that the reliabity of both sources has been quesioned. Whether the composer ever expressed the opinions imputed to him in the former, and whether he actually held those expressed in the latter, are open questions. The nterpretation pre­ sented here is intended to stand up independently of such 'evidence', and it. relects a view of Shostakovich's music formed before the appearance of either publication. Nevertheless it would be idle to conceal that my general thrust is more compatible with Testimony or that this is unlkely to appeal to an adherent of Socialist Realist doctrines. Whatever mastery Shostakovich had displayed in such works as were known to Schoenberg in 1946, by 1953 it had evolved in response to the individual and collective experience of those years. Between the time of the Fh Symphony (1937) and the Tenth (1953) Russians had lived through the ordeals of war and ruthless dictator­ ship, and Shostakovich himself had suffered humiliation in the 1948 decrees. To put something of those experiences into music would not of itself have been difficult. To channel them into an interated symphonic work demanded extraordinary resourcefulness, however. Having to do so in an oficially 'acceptable' way must have been even more of a challenge; but far from detracting from the impact of the Tenth Symphony, I believe, and shall attempt to show, that this gives the work a fascinating extra dimension. It is generally held that the Tenth marks a turning-point in the histoy of Russian music as well as in Shostakovich's own output. It was composed in the summer of 1953, immediately following the death of Stalin, and irst performed in Leninrad on 17 December of that year in an atmosphere of renewed hopes for cultural freedom,

Principally Volkov 1979 (also referred to below simply as Testimony) and Vish­ 3 nevskaya 1984. 4 Shostakovich 1981. For discussions of the authenticity of Testimony, see Fay 1980 and Norris 1980.

2

Inroducion

mingled with uncertainty about the future. The success of the work, hotly contested at irst,5 helped to establish conidence in the possi­ bility of a new creative direction, as well as suggesting the limits this creativity would have to respect. For its contemporaries it was at once a release from some of the more crass constrictions of the Stalin era, and an inhibiting force because of the daunting scale of its achieve­ ment. 6 It is not my aim to assess the artistic changes of direction to which the Tenth Symphony may have contributed, nor to examne the social or political dimensions of Soviet Russian musical aesthetics of the time. Nor do I even propose to tackle the issues raised at the beginnng of this introduction head-on. I wish to approach instead from a slightly narrower, but scarcely less problematic, angle, namely the widely held view that the Tenth is Shostakovich's inest sym­ phony, possibly even his inest work.7 The aim here is not proof or refutation, but an illumination of some speciic issues - of structure and expression, of unity and contrast - associated with the epic symphony as a genre in the second half of the twentieth cenury and how it might be said that the Tenth Symphony displays some of Shostakovich's most effective strate�es for conronting these issues.

It was discussed in sessions of the Moscow branch of the Union of Soviet Composers on 2930 March, 5 April 1954 (see Sovetskaya Muzyka 1954; an abridged transcript in English may be found in S. C.R. 1954; selected passages from these and subsequent discussions are quoted and commented on n Schwarz 1983, pp. 2826). 6 'The accumulation of sorrow that Shostakovich experienced during that time [the Zhdanov era] came out with elemental, explosive force in his Tenth symphony written in 1953 - the great work that heralded the liberalizaion of the human spirit . . . . Its role in Soviet music is comparable to Ehrenburg's The Thaw in literature' (Schwarz 1983, pp. 246,. 273). Schwarz goes on to mention the role of Olin Downes's positive reception of the Westen premiere (15 October 1954) in the New York Times: 'Downes' acclaim . . . helped establish this work as a major contribution to the symphonic repertoire,: and moreover signiied a musical "rehabilitation" of Shostakovich whose standing in the West had sunk rather iow at that time' (ibid. p. 282). He also mentions the 'wave of "pessimistic", pseudo-tragic Soviet music' which followed the appearance of the work, and gives an indication of the response of the younger generation of Russian composers (ibid. pp. 28-6). 7 'By common consent the Tenth is the greatest of all Shostakovich's symphonies' (Blokker 1979, p. 1 1 1); 'the Tenth symphony is undoubtedly his masterpiece' (Layton in Simpson 1967, p. 213); '. . . widely regarded as the inest in the series. . . . Many of Shostakovich's symphonic methods and modes of thought are raised to their highest level, and the vision is comprehensive and profound' (Ottaway 1978, pp. 4-6); 'probably his greatest single work' (Whittall 1977, p. 87). Russian commentators are only slightly more cautious when it comes to comparative evaluation: 'Like several other Shostakovich symphonies, the Tenth deals with the serious, dramatic aspects of reality, but never before had the aesthetic of the symphony, the qualities of its artistic expression, been so consistently, from the irst note to the last, imbued with positive, deeply humanistic poetry' (Orlov 1961, p. 281). As in Russia, earlier reactions n the West were not always so complimentary: 'in general Shostakovich has said very little that he (and many others including Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov) has not said before' (Leonard 1956, p. 339).

5

3

he Breath of the Symphonist

This wll provide the framework for a lengthy discussion of the irst movement, a structure which has often been singled out for special praise, 8 and wll be summarised by means of a comparison with the irst movements of the Fifth and Eighth Symphonies, which are of broadly similar design and scope. In the second movement it can be shown that the generalised aggression of the raw musical gestures is focused by longer-range sructural forces onto a relatively speciic area of experience, compa­ tible with, but by no means exclusively tied to, Shostakovich's supposed intention to portray Stalin. 9 Interpretation becomes increasingly problematic as the sym­ phony unfolds, and the message of the third and fourth movements is as dificult to pin down as it is urgently proclaimed by Shostako­ vich's personal musical signature, making its irst overt appearance in his music. 10 Cyclic elements offer some clue, and a consideration of context wll be decisive in demonstrating both the composer's mastery (an important issue in itself, particularly as regards the inale) and how the programmatic aspect may be approached. Speci­ ic indications pointing to the latter are discussed, but an interpreta­ tion based on these alone would, I believe, be more hazardous, and certainly more forced, than one arising from a consideration of structural contexts (which in addition should leave the reader freer to bring his own experiences and imagination to bear).11 In conclusion some thoughts are offered on the general nature of Shostakovich's inales. They suggest that, by a quirk of history, defending his integrity also produced an unexpected solution to the inale problem - a personal one, certainly, but also a fascinating one, and by no means stereotyped in its application. 12 ·

Clearly this book is addressed primarily to a reader with some prior knowledge of the music - one who wll readily connect the musical examples with the sound of the score, with the emotional effect, and ideally with the structural context as well; one who will be interested in, but not rest content with, demonstrations of musical relationships;

'For anyone wishing to gain an insight into Shostakovich's creative powers, there is no more proitable ield than this big opening movement' (Ottaway 1959, p. 7). 9 Volkov 1979, p. 107. 10 It does not, as is frequently suggested, appear in the First Violin Concerto. 11 Bloker is surely right to suggest, 'It is as if the composer is saying with hi; signaure: "This is the true Shostakovich speaking. Listen to what I have to say!'" (Blokker 1979, p. 1 1 7). Galina Vishnevskaya goes further: 'Within a few months [of Stan's death] the, Tenth Symphony rang out - the composer's tragic testament forever damning the tyrant. In the symphony's third movement, as in the finale, Shostakovich "signed" that indictment with the melody of his musical monogram' (Vishnevskaya 194, pp. 2223). 12 For the composer's remarks on the 'inale problem' and on the finale of the Tenth Symphony n paricular see Shostakovich 1981, pp. 1623. 8

4

Introduction

one who will be interested in what lies behind the assertions and intuitive insights of musical jounalism; one who will have the same expectations of an author's interpretation as of a conductor's - not that it can possibly be definitive, but that it should be as whole­ hearted and truthful as it is able. Shostakovich's humanism-under­ threat is not likely to lose its relevance for generations to come. Its discussion in book form should complement, and be tested against, the immediacy of experience which music-lovers have gained in the concert hall and rom recordings over the last thrty-ive years. As a means of orientation in the discussion which follows, a simple set of abbreviations and visual aids is used in preference to potentially clumsy, or even misleading, subheadings. Thus the tree parts and seven sections into which the first movement has been divided for the purposes of discussion can be expressed as follows: /1 A

:B

:C

:D

:E

:F

:G

:

So,

ll__-� 5

17

stands for: the second section of the irst part.of the rst movement of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, from igure 5 to igure 17 n the score.13

1 3 Wherever possible, reference is made to rehearsal numbers in the published scores of the Tenth Symphony, since bar numbers are to be found in more recent editions only. Fig. 33 ndicates the third bar of igure 3; ig33 indicates the third bar before igure 3. The score published in Volume 5 of the Collected Works (Muzyka, Moscow, 1979) is a revision of the original Muzgiz score (Moscow, 1954) taking into account a copy of the latter checked by the composer and the piano duet score (Muzgiz, Moscow, 1955). ll other pubications are reproductions of the original Muziz score, with the exception of Le Chant du Monde, Paris, 1955, which is a complete re-engraving. This corects a number of minor errors in the original Muzgz score but adds some more of its own. Notes on the Collected Works score appear in Appendix 3 below.

5

2 First ·M ovement

Appraising the irst movement of the symphony critically, I see that I did not succeed in doing what I've long dreamed of: writing a real symphonic allegro. . . . In the irst movement of my symphony there are more slow tempos, more lyrical moments, than heroic-dramatic and tragic . . 1 .

.

It is not easy to be funny about music as gloomy as Shostakovich's. Perhaps the only commentator to have succeeded in this is the composer himself. The above remarks on the irst movement of the Tenth Symphony may not appear side-splitting, but a glance at the similar quotations at the head of Chapters 3 and 4 should begin to suggest the ironic undertone. The humour, if such it is, is very black, and multi-faceted like the music itself. It is a calculated insult to the audience to which it is addressed, with an attendant sense of unease (the insult must be calculated so as not to be too obvious; therefore its reality will always be open to question) and poignancy (the fact that it should be necessary to delect potentially damaging criicism into harmless channels). 2 That is not to say that the substance of the composer's comments should be lightly dismissed - we can hardly afford to do so, since Shostakovich resolutely declined, at least until Testimony, to offer any further commentary on the work. 3 But their sincerity is certainly not guaranteed . Sincere or not, Shostakovich's remarks can scarcely be a starting­ point for a deeper understanding of the music. In the irst place, it is clear that a 'real symphonic allegro' was never in question (note the delicious implication that it was only in retrospect that Shostakovich noticed his failure to compose one). The remarkable fact about the overall layout of the Tenth is rather that it lacks a slow movement.

Shostakovich's remarks quoted at the head of Chapters 2-5 are from his address to the Union of Soviet Composers. The full original text is given in Sovetskaya Muzyka 1954, p. 120. It is translated in Appendix 1 below, together with some later comments on the finale and remarks in Testimony. 2 Ivan Sollertinsky's final remark in response to the 1936 inquisitions comes to nind­ to the effect that he now intended to study the language and folklore of Stalin's native Georgia (a comment apparently taken at face value in Seroff 1943, p. 217, but as facetious irony in Schwarz 1983, p. 127) . 3 See Rabinovich 1959, p. 131. 1

6

First Movement

Secondly, it is difficult to see how the 'heroic-dramatic and ragic' aspects of the irst movement could possibly be considered subord­ inate; even if in strictly quantitative terms that may indeed be the case. A more appropriate starting�point is: what kind of meaning is put across, what features are of particular interest in the musical construction, and how do these two aspects relate to one another? It is obvious that the irst movement is an epic, both in its 'message' and in its time scale . Equally obvious is the fact that this was no new departure for Shostakovich. What is new is the attitude to the rhetoric in which the epic is couched. The rhetorical language of the Chaikovskian tradition is stll in evidence, but more than ever before Shostakovich stands back from the surface invention, on the one hand for the sake of emotional ambivalence and on the other for the sake of a structural coherence which welds emotional states into more unified dynamic arcs of experience. The most obvious symptom of the distance from rhetorical immediacy is the economy of means, the simplicity and interrelated­ ness of material. The opening musical shapes (motifs x and y in Ex. 1 below) proliferate to an exceptional degree, and awareness of ther recurrence is part of the pleasure of deepening acquaintance; but it is important that this should not be mistaken for the musical meaning itself. Signiicant economy and interrelatedness of material presup­ poses that t�e ideas themselves should be intrinsically interesting, effectively contrasted and charged with communicative force. A brief examination of the thematic material, as a preliminary to a more detailed 'chronological' discussion, should help to show how the irst movement of the Tenth Symphony fulils those criteria. 1A

:B 5

:C

17

:/

29

I

Within the exposition there are three distinct sections, defined by tonality and tempo in ways to be discussed below. 4 Each has a characteristic theme, whose individuality is deined by tempo, rhyth­ mic character/articulation and timbre/register (Ex. 1). The character of 4 These sections are here designated A,B,C etc, with a,b,c etc referring to intenal

sub-sections. Theme A etc wil refer to the characteristic theme of the section in quesion. For purposes of comparison with other works, sections A, B and C will later be referred to as introduction, irst subject and second subject, but for the time being I prefer to retain the neural teminology. In many ways the Russian terms, n part glavnaya partiya) and secondary part (pobochnaya partiya), cf. Hauptsatz, Seitensatz, are less confusing than reference to 'subjects' or 'subject-groups'; but they are clumsy in translation and the connotations of the more common terms are perhaps well enough known to justify their retention. 'Subject' is preferred to 'subject-group' because the passages in question are generally controled by one t,eme. In certain contexts, for instance tabular representations, upper- and lower-case letters have their conventional connotation of major and inor tonaities or harmonies.

7

Ex.

The Breath of the Symphonist

1

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

- ._.._. ___.. ._. _..__,

non cresc.

these themes is so unencumbered by ornament or inessenial detail that it takes on a virtually archetypal quality - at the most essential level, 'thought' (non-physical, undifferentiated rhythm and articu­ lation), 'song' (the breath of a woodwind solo in soprano register, quasi-poetic metre), and 'dance' (slurred couplets, variant on radi­ tional waltz accompaniment patten). These labels need not be too closely insisted upon. The point is that despite the simplicity of material (compare the themes of the Fifth and Eighth Symphonies in Ex. 25 below) it ranges over several different categories of thematic character; within each category a wide range of experience can be explored without endangering the clarity of the broader design, and, when appropriate, the self-containedness of those categories can be fractured in order to fuel extended paragraphs of musical thought, to drive towards a crisis point or to heighten the sense of eventual resolution. 5

is range of character and its potenial for dynamic exploitation exemplifies the ind of comprehensiveness which has been seen �s central to the European symphonic

5

8

First Movement

The unity embodied in the stepwise moion of motif x (see Ex.1) is a means to a related end. It helps to reinforce the impression that there is a single 'personality' embodied n the. music, who experiences the unfolding drama, to whom the music, as it were, happens. To put it another way, there is a reciprocal relationship between contrast, the 'events' which should be sufficiently distinctive and logical in their succession, and unity, the 'embodied personality' which should deine a significant relationship between surface idea, musical lan­ uage and large-scale structure (as I hope to show is the case in /1). Individual incarnations of this principle are of course of unlimited potential variety. The order of appearance of themes in /1 is indeed logical - fuller quotation of the musical paragraphs would show that the trochaic character of theme B is preigured in section A, ig. 1 aff, and that the paired quavers of theme C are evolved in section B, ig. -+ig. 11, ig. 133f. It is also convincing, as a progression from mental through to physical states, the latter reflective, then active - a gradual approach­ ing towards reality, perhaps, or in cinematographic terms something akin to lashback technique. The plainness of material in /1 (in terms of melody, harmony and rhythm) is certainly designed to leave room for signiicant extension, and the movement is a ine illusration of the ·truism that great music depends more on what happens to themes than on the themes themselves; but the material is also transigured by the instrumental and registral colouring, which give special eloquence to each structural juncture and, as will be shown, a sense of overall progression between them. The accumulating tempo phases, which reinforce the discreteness and logical succession of sections, also have a crucial and subtle role to play, not least in their inluence on the recapitulation, where the problem of reconciling a narrative approach to form with the demands of balanced restatement is handled with a conviction unrivalled in Shostakovich's output.

5

Theme A bears a certain amily resemblance to a number of Shostako­ vich's characteristic openng gambits but remains the simplest and

tradition. However, the connection between range of experience and musical language (particularly n terms of tonal or non-tonal) cannot be legislated for. The two relate as ends to means. This is perhaps the root of the confusion surrounding Robert Simpson's criteria for symphonism (in a powerlly argued and thought-provong essay, see Simpson 1967, p. 10). His assertion that exclusion of tonality precludes comprehen­ siveness seems to imply a rigid connection between means and ends, and is as contentious as the opposite view that adoption of tonality precludes originality of utterance. ·

9

The Breath of the Symphonist

most pregnant example of its kind. The Fifth and Eighth symphonies also begin on massed lower strings, but more as a rhetorical call to attention (see Ex. 25); the quiet opening themes of the First Violin Concerto and the · Second Cello Concerto are more · convoluted and· unfold ther implications more rapidly. The most closely comparable opening, somewhat surprisingly, is that of the Second Symphony (Ex. 2) . The apparent similarities here are more striing on paper than in effect, however, since the Second Symphony is concerned with laying out a carpet of sound in an atmospheric (not to say self­ consciously modernist) way, whereas the Tenth will more consist­ ently exploit the opening coniguration for structural and expressive ends. The programmaic intent is perhaps more overt in the earlier work - the opening presumably stands for the directionless spiritual wandering of pre-Revolutionary Man, as expressed in the irst lines of the sung text: 'We marched, we asked for work and bread, our hearts gripped in the jaws of grief' . The common ground with the Tenth is at this more general level - an inchoate, almost dreamlike searching, the sense of being on the threshold of a spiritual journey which will confront past suffering and, unambiguously in the case of the Second Symphony, propose a bright future. 6 Ex. 2

r

Largo J -

B.dr

-

=

46

. r

r

,,,

con sord.

Ve. con sord.

'

_

-

�

.__:.

Db . 8

-�

·-

---

'

More speciic to the opening of the Tenth Symphony is the quality of absence, or emptiness. Again this is a distilled version of a familiar opening gambit - for instance, the solo clarinet opening of the Thrd Symphony/ the cello theme in harmonics of the Second Piano Trio, or the wandering violin line at the beginning of the 6 Various historical antecedents for the opening of X/1 can be suggested, e.g. Musorgsky's 'On the iver' from Sunless (Kremlev 1957, p. 77), Chaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony and Liszt's Faust Symphony (both in Yarustovsky 1954, p. 13). The irst and last are especially tempting for the adherent of semantic analysis - Musorgsky's text: 'mysterious voice .. . does it call me to the depths?', Liszt's Faust as speculative thinker. But to accord any of these, or even a contrived amalgam of all of them, pride of place in the interpretation of Shostakovich's opening is bound to be of limited value, since semantic associations are deined as much by context as by gesture and culturally inherited codes. It is preferable to let such associations act as a general indication of" character and to develop more specific interpretations out of a detailed consideration of context. Wherever they seem relevant such historical associations are discussed in the course of this study, but to avoid clutter a separate check-list is included as Appendix 2. 7 'Apparently intended to suggest a spring morning' (Abraham 1943, p. 18).

10

First Movement

Fourteenth Symphony (avoiding the more obvious bass register response to the title of the poem, De Proundis). The dimensions of absence in /1 are instrumentation, dynamics, articulation, and melodic, rhythmic and metrical implication. Even tempo and thema­ tic status only become apparent with hindsight. With the general pause in bar 3 absence shades into complete silence . The immediate extension of this pregnant opening idea beins to ill the space left by the opening three bars as gradually and unobtrusively as the ·twenty-two-minute span of the movement demands, and with a bare minimum of added material. �or a while, cellos and basses meditate on the theme, explorng the interdepen­ dence of rhythm and shape - crotchets with stepwise motion, minims with thrds, the irst 'mxed' rhythm coinciding with a slight relaxation of motivic consistency (bars --1 0) . At bar 4 the theme has moved quite unemphatically rom a tonal focus on E to one on G . There is no real sense of a modulation here, only a reduplication at the characteristic minor third interval of the basic motif. This suggests that, whilst the surface of the music is gently evolving, at a deeper level the theme is impassively, statically present - a technique, or rather an instinct, of enormous potential value to the symphonist, since it carries the seed of simultaneous dfferent rates of musical motion. The irst musical sentence closes with a masterly ambivalence the closure suggested by the integration of motif and rhythm, overt and concealed inversion of basic motifs, and cadential repetition of the last bar, 8 coexists with the implicative force of expressive dynamic surges and a new chromatic motif z (Ex. 3). Ex.3

'' •J 1 r--r r 1 r ==:

�

r

r

---

1 J 1 r �r 1 :

Further aspects of harmony and tonality in the A pararaph will be discussed below in the broader context of the exposition as a whole. For the moment it may be useful to draw attention to the farly obvious division into sub-sections: a (bar 1), b (ig. 1), a 1 (ig. 2), b 1 (ig. 4), a2 , (ig. 4619), and to some of the less obvious aspects of the music's unfolding: 8 This is to become an established feature of cadettial motion in this movement, see fig. 14-3,6, ig. lS-2, ig. 2, fig. 24-2, ig. 25-2 etc, whose initial absence from the development secion and later reversal of function as phrase opening are carefully planned so as to emphasise foward momentum at that stage of the movement.

11

The Breath of the Symphonist i) The textural inversion of sub-section b, whereby some of the bass register activity of a passes into the violins who now, in logical succession from a, reveal the harmonic aspect of the third whilst the violas take the z motif into the clasp of the middle register, temporarily stiling its potential by· integration with x and its inversion. ii) The nulliication of whatever energy b possessed, through the inte­ gration of its treble activity in the extended closure of a1 (from ig. 311), with the consequent shrivelling of b1 and integration there of the striving bass fourth of b into a melodic, cadential context - the perfect fourth will play the gentlest of roles in the unfolding of section B and will never develop into a signiicant melodic or tonal force anywhere in the movement. ii) The overlap between b and a1 and between b1 and a2, contrasing with the demarcation by silence of a and b, and of a1 and b1 and reinforcing the gentle inevitability of the pull back to E minor and the opening state of mind. iv) The overlap of the tempo of section B in a2• v) The deviation rom the established patten in the third pair of ab statements (i.e. instead of the appearance of motif z, a2 leads straight into the next musical paragraph) - an extension of a Classical principle of phrase construction. vi) The constancy of motifs x and y, which suggests a slower rate of progress, a sense of epic dimensions, beneath the surface activity.

/1..�5 17

��

With the entry of a solo instrument at ig. 5 the sensation of personal involvement is heightened (see remarks above on the ·songfulness of Theme B).9 This is a new, yet carefully· evolved, realm of experince; New are the lowing contrapuntal lines, in a coordinated rather than successive motion allowed for by a more hierarchic disposition. The violin line is less rhythmically characterful, dynamically more sub­ dued and more consistently stepwise in its motion, in sum, less directional than the clarinet; and the pedal bass anchors the whole to the home tonality with the lowest sustained pitch so far. From ig. 6 the same hierarchic disposition, ntroduced by carefully engineered overlapping, applies between violin I, violin II, and iolas - the absorption of the personal into the collective experience (suggested by the 'community' of a body of srings) gives psychic energy for a longer paragraph of inner exploration. Also new but carefully evol­ ved are a number of entities related to motif x and a certain seise of he semplice marking is perhaps one way of assuring that this change is not too exaggeratedli obseved n performance. Russian commentators make much of the national tone of this theme, usually in association with the obsevation that the Tenth Symphony conirms Shostakovich's move towards a new lyricism in his ouput (Orlov 1%1, p. 4- 'the most lyrical of all Shostakovich's works'). Genrikh Orlov goes so far as to call theme B a 'symbol of th¢ Homeland' (op. cit., p. 258) and mentions that Gia called the [melodic scale-degtee of the] ifth 'the soul of Russian music' (op. cit. , p. 257).

9

12

First Movement stability embodied in major and perfect intervals, rather than the

A. The A wll, however, return rom ig.

minor and diinished ones which predoinated in section intervallic characteristics of section

7,

just as the ambivalence between E- and G-centred tonalities will

reappear. from ig. 8. The interpenetration of elements of the two

contrasting areas is an important factor in the unfolding of the lengthy

B

paragraph, which in tum is destined to play a remarkable

role in the overall design of the movement. In the exposition, section

B

constitutes a dramatic entity of its

own, ramed by the clarinet melody and characterised by the gradual

build-up and fast decay which is typical of Shostakovich's irst­ movement paragraphs. There is a more seamless internal continuity than in

A, the phrases woven into longer spans of thought and more

contrapuntally active.10

Ex. 4

JJ JJJ J. �I J J J JJJ JJJ

J J

Sction B: caracteristic rhthms a

J

flg.5

b

flg.8

c

fig.ss

d

flg.12

e

flg.13

r

r11. u

·

IJ IJ

J J

IJ

IJ

�

JJ +

J

J IJ

i J IJ

(liquiation)

V D

m

JJ ---

PfPJ�ff -p p()::f f==ff u: ptuff ff �p " : " ::-"

a

Through the sub-sections of potential force of

-

B some of the rhythmic and dynamic

A is carefully released (Ex. 4). Some of the salient

harmonic features of section

B ll be

discussed below, along with

those of the rest of the exposition; but it should be observed here that

15

for all the apparent tonal freedom of the section there is no force strong enough to challenge the control of the G-inlected E inor home tonality, which retuns uufled at ig. section.

/1

C

17

:/

29

to conclude the

I

Section C opens with the purest melody-and-accompaniment texture heard so far,. It is a ghost of a Chaikovskian waltz, Vith the constricted chromaticism of the melody matched by the inhibited

10 The longer span is already suggested by the appearance of cresc. and dim. markings in the score. These are used over stretches of three bars or more, whereas in section A Shostakovich was content ith hairpn markings, generally covering one or two bars only.

13

The Breath of the Symphonist

tone of a solo lute conined to its lowest octave and by a reluctance to conirm either metre or tonality (see Ex. 1). The hemiola elements and rregular accentuations lend. an underlying sense of unease to the whole section (compare the more regularly irregular peg-leg waltz of the lute theme in the irst movement of the First Symphony), and the mnor-Neapolitan element in the harmony (a prominent feature of the whole movement, see below, pp. 2-25) temporarily refuses �o confirm the G tonal centre proposed by the theme.11 Equally, the theme itself is reluctant to sever connections with previous material, repeatedly worrying over the -F sharp-(F naural)-E space of the opening x motif and the diminished-fourth motif of B (ig. 194, cf. ig. 75) in a way quite alien to a supposedly relative-major idea. Stability of tonality seems to have been reached at the opening of sub-section b (ig. 20), although, like shadows of the past, familiar motifs retain a disturbing autonomy, colouring the ostensible G major in unexpected yet logical ways (Ex. 5) . This autonomous growth spawns an intense contrapuntal climax (sub-section c, ig. 22), loosely controlled by newly evolved incarnations of the x motif and highly Ex. 5

p

unstable tonality, and fairly soon declining. This path of statement, growth, climax, decline is then retraced in more connuous and concentrated form (sub-section d, ig. 2-9), the heliola elements this time acknowledged in actual /4 bars as surplus space is elimi­ nated from the theme (Ex. 6); Neapolitan harmony (minor and.major) has the last word, using the mediant degree of G major to support a thoroughly ambivalent approach-chord pivot - Neapolitan (minor(!))

11

Aleksandr Dolzhansky uses this theme as example of a particular pentachordal mode in Shostakovich's music, showing a curious reluctance to admit any element of residual tonal function (Ordzhonikidze 1967, p. 417).

14

First Movement

Ex. 6

VI. plzz.

/v�:c Cl.

I

] [J

=

120J

LI

b ,,

P pizz.

of G I raised mediant (minor�major!!) or perhaps even lattened subdominant of E (Ex. 7) . But an observation of this kind demands consideration of the tonal context and language of the entire expo­ sition.

Ex. 7

[J

VI.I �'JJ I i r,

Vl.l Via.

Ve.

,.

b.

R• #

120]

'

•

plzz.

G:

p

#

I

p

arco

G:

e:

1

Exposition: I

29

___ -

?#m?PV

Tlmp. '

N

v

I

If economy of means is to be hailed as one of the admrable features of the irst movement, the full extent of its inluence should be recog­ nised. As wel as dominating the thematic surface of the music, motif x is associated with the large-scale tonal layout. This is fairly obvious in the way that the principal tonal contrast is inroduced via an augmentation of the motif (ig. 16), unemphatically and with the most unobtrusive of dominant preparations. The tonality of G is smply arrived at as an exploration of the 'other end' of the mof, and there is no suggestion of miscalculation or eccentricity in its 'premature' appearances earlier on (from bar 4 and ig. 85). In fact the function of the motif is partly to exert a kind of psychological pressure on the music - rather than liberating its contrasts rom the suspicion of arbitraness it challenges them to assert an individual mode of experience. 15

The Breath of the Symphonist

The gestural, textural and motivic evolutions mentioned above indicate the kinds of experience asserted and the logic of their progression. But it need not be assumed that harmony and tonality are merely passive cariers. of these processes. The thoroughgoing· modaity, and especially the Neapolitan emphasis, may indeed seem to anaesthetise dynaic tonal implication; but it also provides a means for local control and lexibiity of unfolding. The modal aspect of Shostakovich's language, and its relation thereby to the tradition of Russian art- and folk-music, is taken for granted in Russian musicology, but it is virtually unexamined in the West.12 To do full justice to the richness of Shostakovich's harmony, the balance between modal and tonal aspects has constantly to be borne in mind, since these may alternate, blend, or conlict with one another for longer-term dramatidstructural purposes.13 It is tempting to start from the hypothesis that modal and tonal areas equate with, respectively, the static and dynamic aspects of the structure. In point of fact, in the earlier stages of the first movement tonal organisation is invoked through somewhat rareied, hardly dynamic, pivot-chord functions, and various kinds of modality do suggest progression of some kind. Thus tonality and modality may converge towards a middle ground where one may suspect that the terms are more a convenience for analysts than separate musical realities. Thus, for instance, section A is subject to various kinds of modal indistinction, becoming progressively less clearly deined in tonal terms. i) Since nothing contradicts it, the suggesion of tonic-+dominant in bars 1-2 is sufficient to assert the E minor tonic of the movement, although the dominant degree itself is withheld and the next phrase does not acknowledge the toic at all. ii) The following 23 bars can best be understood in terms of a uniied G-based modality, initially with variable third, sixth and seventh degrees,

12 As khail Tarakhanov indicates, translation of the Russian lad is problemaical, since it connotes something more 'alive' than any of the current Western terminology for pitch-structure allows (Dahlhaus 1982, p. 1 10) . Nevertheless 'mode' is the nearest equivalent. For further information on this aspe_ct of Russian theory see McQuere 1983, pp. 53, 351 and 381 (also note 302 on p. 378) . 13 This is roughly the approach suggested by Lev Maze!' (see Maze!' 1967, p. 212), although he has not, to my knowledge, applied it to the Tenth Symphony. Thus it is dangerous to generalise from undoubtedly valid initial observations: 'One of Shostako­ vich's increasingly recurent obsessions had been to base a moif on the interval of a minor third, then to expand this interval by a semitone to produce a hint of a bighter sound, only to withdraw to the original minor again. The Tenth symphony, for example, gains its entire harmonic and melodic atmosphere from this procedure' (Kay 1971, pp. 54) . Just as often the ear registers a genuine diminished fourth rather than a major third - if anything, a darker rather than a brighter sound - and this may apply equally to harmony bult on this degree. On the other hand Eleonora Fedosova's approach seems too one-sidedly modal (Fedosova 1980, see pp. 90-1, 11--1 7, 151-3, 1624).

16

First Movement and then, in the context of subdominant regions, also touching on lat second, lat ifth and lat octave, cadencing onto a pivot back to E minor (Ex. 8).

Ex. 8 [J

H

P]

i

rlr f r�r I i�

,

._/

G: i

1•

--.-J I' •_�_J i•�r Ir F

96]

�

v

.J.�.

I

==

.

-

7

N

r I �

I

I

lv =-

!§6f '

e:

L VI

iii) a1 (ig. 2) moves a third beyond G to B (minor}, but this is obscured by the degrees of diminished ifth (F naural) and diminished sixth(!) (G lat}, the modal degrees now emphasised by superimposiion on the tonic (rather than subdominant) and by extended duration. This leads to a temporary sug­ gestion of D minor (the next step in the sequence of rising thirds) (Ex. 9 ).

b:

Jr �r l1�1 I

--.

•u r 'r

v

.J·

r r

; F

�. 1r

l,5

F r

ir

_..-_ F r

: = --=== -= -

b:

vu P7

d: v

P7

1

P5

This progressive latwards pressure exerted by modal inlections accounts in part for the sensation of each phrase being 'darker' than the previous one. . After an impressive interrupted cadence (ig. 4) the return to E inor can be described in similar ashion to that at ig. 2 - as a pivot chord operation (Ex. 10). 17

The Breath of the Symphonist

b:

'=== 7 v

I#s

v

The whole paragraph might also be understood as an interated ield of modal relationships within one hyper-mode characterised by the organising power of its third-steps (Ex. 1 1 ) .

Ex. 11

.. #•

.

.

.

In fact both pivotal approach chords and modal elements play a role in establishing integrated harmonic ields throughout the expo­ sition, as may be seen from the unfolding of section B. Three kinds of harmonic ield can be distinguished in this section. One is relatively stable and based on either of the two main focal points of the movement - E (minor) or G with familiar modal properties: -

i) ig. -65, 1-16: E aeolian with lat second and lat fourth inlections. ii) fig. 84-

' >

development d�E lat (b. 166)+C sharp (b. 175)-+d (b. 195)+e (b. 215)+e (b. 231)+e lat (b. 238)-+d (b. 249)-+c (b. 285) with a suggestion of an overall arch-shape to the development echoed in the bass to the recitatives wich constitute the recapitulation of introduc­ tion and irst subject (b. 285-339) . (Declamatory recitative is heard at the developmen/recapitulation intersection in all tree movements in question. ) Intervening harmonic landmarks in IIl/1 tend to be based on the sonority of the 'Tristan chord' (e.g. bars 186, 193, 279ff) . Hysteria assails the development at a much earlier stage than in V /1 (see bars 166f), and the most terrifying aspect of the movement is the way Shostakovich inds some eight or nine progressive stages of intensication from this already screaming level of tension - extend­ ing both the crisis and hysteria phases o_f V/1 beyond all apparently feasible limits. Two of these progressive stages involve increases of tempo (bars 197, 231) but the great majoriy are characterised prima­ rly by a kind of thematic distortion most aptly labelled bruta35

The Breath of the Symphonist

isation' 3 (which can be demonsrated even without reference to the cude forces of dynamic, insumentation and agitated accom­ paniment iguration) (Ex. 28) .

Ex. 28

� J ,JJ ,j& I �

J = 116 b . 197 lee also 186 1i , 194 1, 198 11

�

II

I

[J

#r q 1 r

�f [J

]

II

=

12]

J

p espr.

f lf7r

I[

r •ua

�i

= 52 b . 182 [see also 205 11, 23 l fl. 274 11]

tenuto

b . 69

(w . ) , 222, 247, 258 11)

�

[J = 62J b . 186 lee also 215 11, 226 11]

v 1J v

II

fJ

1�

The brutalisation process is one latent in many a symphonic drama (the irst movement of Nielsen's Sinonia semplice is one of the inest examples) . Liszt's Faust Symphony is the locus classi;us for such transformation between movements and in the broadest sense the principle can be traced back through Classical variation technique towards a vanishing point in the history of music. The clearest precedents in Shostakovich's own work are in V/1 (see Ex. 27) and in the phantasmagoric development section of IV/1; it is not inconceiv­ able that Chaikovsky could once again have been the model (e .g. the Fifth Symphony, Fate theme in inale coda) . As I have suggested, X/l's use of an opened-out exposition paragraph to control the centraJ part of the movement is possibly without parallel. But it is worth pointing out that the recapitulations of V/1 and VIII/1 are by no means as straightforward as they might at irst appear. It is true that they both announce their arrival with crushing rhetorical force, hardly comparable to the subtlety (still forceful!) of X/1 . But the aftermath is carefully controlled in each case - in V by the balancing force of bass-line descent and thematic inversion, and in VIII by a clariication of the tonal arch beneath a recitative which ponders on fragments of the irst subject, its shell­ shocked numbness being about the only conceivable ruthful response to the preceding horrors (Ex. 29) . 24 ·

24 Layton, op. at. , p. 208, suggests that 'One can only deplore Shostakovich's 3

See Robet Layton in Simpson 1967, p. 210.

propensity for instrumental recitative, for it disigures the first movement of the Eighth Symphony [as well as that of the 'Leningrad'] . ' This surely does less than justice to VIII/I, whose cor anglais recitative strikes me as a profound re-thinking of the role of a irst-subject recapitulation.

36

First Movement

Ex. 29 V/l

V

vm

I1

b. 285

e � V

289

292

297

;

311

>

f

322

.

::.:_

339

cf. 4-5

cf. 12-16

These, then, are the characteristic musical forces which shape the cenral and later stages of the three movements under consideration. It need hardly be stressed that each embodies the kind of musical process most appropriate to its expressive ends. More control would be irrelevant to the acute sense of psychic danger projected in VIIl/1 and more restriction abominable to the hyperactive progress of V/1 . The processes of X/1 are, it would seem reasonable to suggest, allied to · an overall sense of relecting on, rather than acting out, traic experience - or, less simplistically, since it is a pre-eminently dynamic process, one of progressively approaching reality through relection, absorbing its meaning as well as its sensation. It is tempting to conclude from this that the movement is ipso facto a more profound conception than either V/1 or VIIl/1, and such may indeed be the instinctive conclusion arrived at after repeated hearings. But tO progress to a value judgement such as this depends to some extent on an aricle of faith - namely that experience re-lived, assimlated or relected upon, is essenially a nobler aim in symphonic music than experience lived out. X/1 does indeed seem to take the experience of Vil and VIII/-1 as a starting-point rather than a goal and, whlst it would be puerile to suspect Shostakovich of aiming to impress by cheap effect in the earlier works, their tempo intensiicaions do offer a rather easy means of manipulaing the sense of drama. . The irony of Shostakovich's remark on his failure to compose a symphonic allegro should long since have become apparent. But there 37

The Breath of the Symphonist

is no reason to suppose that there is not a simple, literal truth in the statement as well. The first movement sonata allegro is indeed a rarity in Shostakovich's output - I/1 is a skit on one, the . first movement of the Second Piano Sonata (allegretto) has been claimed as one, 25 and the Fifth String Quartet and First Cello Concerto wrestle impressively with the idea; but even these are exceptions. Reasons why it did not come naturally to him are not difficult to propose - his extensively modal language and largely diastematic rather than functional view of long-term tonal organisation are at variance with the dynamic, hierarchic basis of the mainstream tonal language which supports the impression of allegro momentum. Behind this there is the association. in Shostakovich's mentality of fast movements with phantasmagoria (perhaps traceable to the inluence of Prokof'ev), militaristic cruelty, or false cheeriness rather than psychological uplift and resolution. And the reasons behind that can be sought deep in the Russian character as well as in Shostakovich's own nervous disposition and the surrounding political circumstances - it is difficult to run free when you are constantly looking over your shoulder. In many ways the second movement (Allegro!) of the Tenth Symphony shows exactly why a 'true' irst-movement allegro was beyond him. ·

By Ronald Stevenson in Christopher Norris 1982, p. 97: 'one ot the very few examples of the true sonata allegro in Shostakovich's work' .

25

38

3 Second Movement

his movement is perhaps too short . . . .

Too short as a construction in itself, or in terms of the overall proportions of the work? Shostakovich seems to mean the latter (for the context see Appendx 1), and it is certainly true that the movement is a special case n this respect. Even the scherzo middle movement of the Fourth Symphony, dwarfed by its neighbours, lasts twice as long. But then so is the 'Purgatorio' from Mahler's Tenth Symphony a special case in his output, and only a mentality which assesses good proportion by the stopwatch or by numbers of bars would reckon that movement too short. Perhaps the fact that both these movements are more overtly programmatic than their neigh­ bours has some bearing - it dictates a concentrated emotional force and unity of mood which would be compromised by greater length or internal contrast. It is true that Mahler's movement is part of a balanced scheme with lanking scherzos and slow outer movements, and Shostakovich mentions the possibility of an extra movement to balance his own structure . However, if we turn to his Eighth Symphony for an example of this (a more comparable case than the Ninth, because of the nature of the irst two movements) it is evident that the 'extra' movement - the third - does more to upset the balance than to restore it. Balance of proportions in a Classical sense is rarely a high priority for Shostakovich, but even so the Tenth represents a certain reinement by comparison with the Eighth, and the instinct for the intenal proportions of a movement is undoubtedly at its most higly developed in the later work. The intenal dimensions of this movement are partly dictated by its singleness of purpose, apparent in the fact that it starts ortissimo and continues with some 50 crescendos, only two diminuendos, only one general drop to pano, and no relaxation rom the fast opening tempo. 1 Admittedly Shostakovich is not notable for self-restraint ll published scores have minim= 176, which can only be a misprint. The piano duet version gives minim= l 16, which, although scarcely practical, may well be the composer's intended markng. Several recorded performances seem to assume a basic tempo of crotchet= 1 76; Shostakovich's own (of the duet version) is extremely fast at approximately crotchet= 196.

1

39

Second Movement

when it comes to sustained outpourings of fortissimo (as in the fugato in IV/1 from ig. 63, the 90 bars of pounding crotchets in IV/3 from fig. 174, the central phases of V/1 and VIIl/l), writing which is a peculiar amalgam of Chaikovskian '.whrlwind', Expressioustic violence and 1920s machine music. If the ihuman element is to be brought into the sphere of human experience, however, then the time-scale must be such as to convey inexorablity, but not to the point of desensiti­ sation. The tormenting of Aksin'ya in Act One and the whipping of Sergei in Act Two of Lady Macbeth are perhaps examples of represen­ tation of bestiality pushed close to that limit. At just on four minutes (Shostakovich's own 1954 recording of the piano duet version on Melodiya MIO 3907982 is the fastest I know of, at 3'38") the duration of X/2 is a perfectly judged embodiment of its intent. The time-scale also relects the concise scherzo-and-trio form in the background as shown in Ex. 30. However, the principle of continuous intensiication overrides the element of repetition associ­ ated with this form, certainly more so than in the more (ronically?) conventional V/2, by means of registral extension, inversions of contour, augmentation etc; and, as will be shown, a principle of constraint overrides the element of contrast as well.

Ex. 30 Scherzo

A a a ig.

71 73

/2 A

71

75

B b b1

75 7 I

Trio

c c c c1 d

9

80 81 82

D c c/d d 1>

83 84 85

Scherzo

A a a

86 90

Coda

A' a1 al

94 96

(Coda)

C A c a

98 99

I

This is, of course, a 214 movement (with the exception of seven of its 356 bars), and this is an obvious difference from the scherzo of the Fifth Symphony. The duple/quadruple metre is generally favoured by Shostakovich for the more military or sarcastic kind of scherzo (e. g. VIII/2,3) perhaps with the Rondo Burleske of Mahler's Ninth as a model. But in certain other respects the conception does resemble that of V/2 and VIIl/2, most notably in the consistency of musical shapes both within the scherzo and between it and the irst movement. This consistency is expressed largely in terms of contour in V/2 and in terms of motivic cell in VIIl/2 and X/2 (Ex. 31). Also evident from this example is the predominantly downbeat Reissued on Eurodisc 27 235 XDK. The recording on Colosseum CRLP 173, purporting to be of the composer conducting the 'National Philharmonic Orchestra', is in fact a misattribution of Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchesra (SAGA XID 5228). I wish to thank Michael Hughes of Co. Dublin and Matthew Tepper of Los Angeles for sending me copies of this recording.

2

40

Second Movement

Ex. 31

pr

� J

v12

=

= 138

1w J J 1wm 1 v

w nw

1 o en 1 Oua1T !£1 r

/1

. �·

D·1 u §

. f J I p U I r;j i j ii I • �

In1 2

=!�r1'1�'r�J.�Jjl� J. J_ J. I 1 J.J. J. ' '·1 J. �I J� J J

b

=

•

�

132

I

---,

j

f r', ;, U '' •� ii·�** ]2

b. 12

-.,

-i

"

I/l b . l

j

•q§•• JJ ll i

!

I*

etc .

>

initiation of themes in these scherzos, a very Slavonic characteristic. In fact the nature of the metrical accent as perceived at the beginning of /2 is very much open to question; one way of hearing it is as a nd of prog:essive foreshortening (see Ex. 31), and in any case the ambiguity of accent is not resolved until the appearance of the theme in bar 7.3 3 Several writers have noted the similarity to the opening of Boris dunov. Some of the p,nipal thematic and harmonic ideas in this movement, including the opening, had been tried out in the movement 'Storming of the Zeyelovsky Heights' from Shostakovich's 1949 Film Score The Fall of Berlin (see Appendix 2).

41

The Breath of the Symphonist

As in V/2 the irst section of the scherzo opposes strings and woodwinds, though the context in the later work is much more threatening and totally un-playful. 4 In the varied restatement from ig. 73 the timbres are exchanged, with violins taking over the main theme and bassoons and hons reinforcing the lower strings' accompaniment. The principal feature of the restatement is its expanded and varied ascent through three octaves (EX. 32) . It is as though the theme feeds on its accompaniment - the energy for its rhythmic diminution and faster ascent seems to drain away the motivic force of the accompaniment. ·

Ex. 32

]7

In a sense this whole section (and, more abstractly, the whole movement) can be heard as an expansion of the tonic chord which pins it down at the outset (the B flat minor underpinning being only temporarily dislodged from ig. 72 and from ig. 743) . This impression of inescapable underpinning is conirmed when details are examined a little more closely. From the start this is a very speciic kind of B flat minor, one in which the reiterated bass D flat and the quasi-ostinato rise to E natural ( F flat?) in the accompaniment insist on equal rights with the tonic. Again the pitch structure is modal (Ex. 33, cf. Ex. 31). At the point where the harmony changes (ig. 72-1 ) and the rhythm moves over to a double-quick march, the constraints of the mode are relaxed for the irst time to include G lat and A flat. The potential thus created for a chromatic rise to the tonic will be exploited rather less in this movement than that of an octatonic version of the mode, with F natural suppressed in favour of F sharp/G lat; 5 and the =

It should be stressed that interpretation can transform apparent surface characteris­ ics of Shostakovich's music. For instance, Maksim Shostakovich takes an unusually fast tempo for V/2 (Melodiya CM 0235-4 HMV ASD 2668) and this, combined with heay accentuaion, does indeed lend a threatening character to the music. 5 The 'regular' tone-semitone octatonic scale prominent in nineteenth-century Rus­ sian music is not heard in any one discrete section of the movement, but its trichordal segments domlnate the piece in tum, so that the sense of free progress is countered by the symmetrical properties of an overall unstated, but all-powerful mode. 4

=

42

Second Movement

Ex. 33 .

.

•

see Ex. 37 belw

X / 2 b. 1 - 22

chromaticisation of the lower part of the mode (as at ig. 741� wll only appear as an incidental local detail.

/2

B

75

:/

79

I

����������-

The side-drum link to section B carries on the process of rhythmic accumulation into the skirling woodwind lines (ig. 71 n � �ig. 72 a 9 9 9 99 � ) . These wood­ 9 9 � +ig. 75 ! 9 � +ig. 76 wind skds, and also the brass theme they accompany, are still conined by the mode (Ex. 4) . In fact the entire individualiy of the section amounts . to no more than a recasting of the original texture, the accompaniment now elevated to full thematic status (see ig. 758f) and the theme deprived of all rhythmic deinition. Ex. 34

By the end of the paragraph (ig. 7""1 ) the woodwind skids wll have completed their by now almost expected rise to the tonic (expected because of the precedents established in section A), and sly to the conclusion to section A (ig. 74100) the last phrase (ig. 766y demonstrates an attempt to loosen the clutches of the mode Gust as the assertions of 3/4 could be seen as attempts to break the hold of the duple metre). The varied restatement of B takes this attempt a stage further, inverting its theme and subverting the conines of the basic motif by thusting through it towards an E lat six/four harmony wich may stll sound very plagal but which is about as far from B lat inor in unctional harmoic terms as the movement will ever get (Ex. 35). The mpact of the tuba here reminds us that this area of the bass register has been only lightly deployed before this point, and the heterophony of theme and accompaniment (especially ig. 77+78) kewise signals both accumulation and immnent conclusion (because of textural saturation) of a large process. The section concludes with a crude chromatic ascent of an octave in the bass, B lat + B lat (fig. 4). 43

�

he Breath of the Symphonist

Ex. 35 [str .

&

w . sklrls]

G

f

•ff

cresc.

/2

/C

:D :/ 79 83 86

The dual process of intensiication (by register and instrumentation) and constraint (by assertion of modal underpinning) is about as close a structural metaphor to the 'musical portrait of Stalin' 6 as could be imagined, and it is this which elevates the conception above the generalised battle imagery which supplies the gestural quality of the invention (see note 3 above) . The renetic surface activity and underlying tonal paralysis continue in the trio section; whatever contrast it affords is nulliied by the associations of tempo, motif and rhythm with the scherzo and by the contours of both theme and accompaniment which have the music spinning like a rat in a trap. The section is donated by the chromatic outline of its opening theme, itself a logical progression from the scherzo material (in particular the woodwind skids from fig. 76 and the concluding cromatic scale) . The overall shape of the trio is determined by this , 'rat-in-a-trap' theme twice lailing into non-thematic skids while a striding bass theme attempts to assert itself. The irst time this bass theme is curtailed; the second time it asserts itself earlier and spawns a longish cumulative paragraph (ig. �86). The pitch-structure gradually crystallises around a diminished-seventh outline domin­ ated by versions of the minor-third x motif but still just avoiding the 'conventionl' octatoic scale. The apparent anomaly of the tonally non-functional dominant sevenths which begin and conclude the section is also explained by reference to the mode (Ex. 36) .

6

Vokov 1979, p. 107.

4

Second Movement

Ex. 36 "

0

'

••

••

•

••

i

'

N.B.

Other factors associated with the extension of the bass theme and its drive into the return of the scherzo are the re-emergence of the side drum together with the dactylic rhythm and three-note motifs of the main theme and accompaniment (rom ig. 85), and the clarifi­ cation of a hitherto irregular phrase-structure into two (perhaps three) concluding four-bar phrases (ig. 851611211).

/2

I

IA 86

:A1 94

������������

The re-working of the scherzo is essentially concerned with inding a means of continuing the process of intensiication. Starting as it does at the peak of a climax, the return apparently has nowhere to go. However, it makes resourceful use of some remaiing means of instrumentation - the lower brass and the bass register in general have not yet featured with the sustained emphasis which is to be evident from fig. 87. This is the point where the main theme appears in augmentation and evened-out rhythmical values, whilst the horns and trumpets assert the -A-B lat segment of the mode which was previously absent rom the scherzo but of prime importance in the trio (Ex. 37) . Perhaps under this inluence, the augmentation of the

Ex. 37

�1 : :0nD1,!' 1 : 1: · ,,� J

h

>

f

>

>

••

>

>

espr.

I• 11 - ·

n.

I:

R

••

o

45

The Breath of the Symphonist

theme avoids the modally incongruent F natural (ig. 896 cf. ig. 24) . A re-disposition of orchestral forces re-states the augmentation (from ig. 90) . On this re-statement the theme is allowed to continue through to the inconruent F and the evened�out minim pulse radually admits a two-crotchet motif which is a reminder of the contrasting B section of the scherzo (otherwise not overtly recapi­ tulated) . The ascent towards fig. 94 also refers back to this theme (�ee ig. 775£1) but is cut off one step before the tonic. Shostakovich's exploitation of diastematic relationships is straightforward and effective throughout the work. In this case the aim is to embrace the whole of the scherzo return in one long ascent in the treble from B lat to B lat, slower and narrower in range than the ascents of the earlier part of the movement, but ultimately even more forceful (Ex. 38) . From fig. 94 the violins return to the material omitted from the previous augmentation, reaching up towards A flat. The succeeding woodwind variant covers similar ground, reaching one note urther to A natural. Only now is the side drum granted its delayed reappearance (ig. 98 ) . A blazing return of the trio theme, now with full triadic doubling, cadences towards the E lat six/four which concluded the scherzo, thus clinching the chromatic ascent to B lat, locking onto the climactic phase of the scherzo and providing a semi-conventional interation of trio material. The fact that this theme is a perfect ifth lower/perfect fourth higher than its original appearance need not tempt us to look for further evidence of a traditional tonal recapitulation scheme . A inal chromatic ascent, including glissando horns, is a gesture which sums up the technical and programmatic essence of the whole movement.

Ex. 38

[A ugmentation bass ; augmenation treble ;

46

recall f b1 ;

Ca, recall f a;

recall of trio]

Third

4 Movement

A s o r the third movement . . . there are some lonueurs and, o n the other hand, some places which are too short. For me it would be very useful and valuable to hear comrades' opinions on this count.

The general intent of the second movement is unmistakable, although its more specific programmatic signiicance may not be so. 1 In the third movement it may be that the signiicance is so private that it escapes even the most general deinition. Being so much more varied in mood, . it has perhaps inevitably had widely divergent interpretations placed on it. 2 There have been inales in Shostako­ ich's output whose surface characteristics probably mask their true intentions (see Chapter 6) and there have been scherzo-type movements (e.g. VJ/2, IX/3) whose tone is difficult to deine because of ther context. But not before X/3 has there been an inner movement which has been quite so elusive. We seem to be on the threshold of the cryptic, anti-heroic statements of the late Shostakovich (Sympho­ ies XIII, XV, Second Cello Concerto, Second Violin Concerto, Quartets 12-15, Suite on Verses y Michelangelo, Violin and Viola Sonatas). It is by no means uncommon for Shostakovich to succeed a tragic irst movement and/or driving scherzo with a kind of emotional numbness. The third movement of the Eighth String Quart�t is perhaps the best-known example and the nearest cognate in · this respect to the third movement of the Tenth Symphony. In the quartet the scherzo, for all its surface animation, rings hollow because of the muted timbre, circling DSCH repetitions, open strings, xated trills etc, as though the personality of the music had drained away and its feelings were detached from its actions. For the moment though, tempting similarities with movements

1 Volkov 1979, p. 107. Frederick Youens's 194 sleeve-note to the Mravinsky record­ ng seems rather apt: 'It gives the effect of a giganic whirlwind overtaking a community. ' 2 I t is vaiously descibed as 'pastoral' (Youens 1964), 'graceful . . . lyrical' (Wilde 1%7), . 'macabre' (Borchardt 1 982), 'muscular' (Geoffrey Norris 1 982), 'nostalic . . . lippant' (Layton 1977) and 'notable for its delicacy' (Rayment 1956) . See also Chapter 1, note 1 1 above.

47

The Breath of the Symphonist

of this kind should perhaps be set aside and attention focused on the unique properties of the movement in question. That these will have to be considered in the context of the work as a whole is evident from the recall of the irst movement introduction theme from ig. 1 15; as will be suggested, the cyclic 'element extends beyond this single explicit reference. Taking the broader view, it also seems that in the absence of an actual slow movement the irst and · third movements and the introduction to the fourth all have a share in that 'missing' breadth. The design of the movement is accordingly more complex than that of the second, behaving in something of the manner of a rondo, but with a progressive accumulation of tension grafted on, so that the music becomes more urgent and more unpredictable as it proceeds (Ex. 39) .

Ex. 39 ig. 100 ig. 104 ig. 1 10

A B A1

ig. 114

c

i g . 121 fig, 127 ig. 129

A2 B1 A3

fig. 139

incorporating elements of B

incorporaing cyclic reminiscences

quasi-recapitulation curtailed extended quasi-development, accumulating dramatic recall of horn theme rom C Coda on C,A,B

towards crisis and

/3 -�-� 100 104 The movement starts in anything but an obvious way. 3 Dolce is an unexpected marking for theme A, especially for the apparently neutral soft quavers which accompany it. This is presumably intended to warn against too spiky an articulation, and it might also be taken as an indication that the music is setting out to soothe away some of the agony of the second movement. 4 The economy of Shostakovich's markings throughout the movement is worth con­ sidering. The espr[essivo] for the horn interjections and return of the irst movement theme in section C, and semplice for the return of

3

'The semi-humorous, semi-wistful dancing quality is stressed by the foot-taps

[pritoptyvaniyami] of the accompaniment and the melody's almost waltz-like circling on the spot' (Sabinina 1976, p. 294). The marking is, in fact, absent from the composer's manuscript (and is also omitted from the Chant du Monde edition); but its appearance in the irst printed score is presumed to be the composer's initiative (see editorial remarks in Collected Works vol.

4

5).

48

theme A at ig. 121 - none of these is obvious. All are as important to an understanding of the musical character and structure as are the thematic coniguraions themselves. At least until bar 7 or 8 it is by no means obvious to the innocent ear that the music is in triple metre . Just as att he opening of the second movement, the listener has to search for the underlying metrical point of reference, so that his attention is maximally engaged in this dimension longer than it might usually be - and the engagement continues in both cases because of the irregularity of phrase-structure (set off against the stark regularity of the contrasting B theme in the case of the third movement) . The A theme itself sets off once again from motif x of Ex. 1 and continues as if to reproduce motif y as well, resulting in an interver­ sion of the DSCH moif. The continuation in fact produces a trans­ posed augmentation of the second movement theme from the First Violin Concerto, a shape recognisable as a characteristic Shostakovich ingerprint (possibly inherited from Chaikovsky, Ex. 40). Third Movement

Ex. 40

- \s

�

X/ 3

VI .

Alleretto

w •'1 j l.

i

i

Fl.

13 8

P dolee no. l

J.

Violin Conceto

;i �

:

l 4' ' I J q J

ADearo

I �

I

f

VI •

��..

J

=

100

II

[ � = so]

ff]

I 1t lr :

Cbalkov sky : Manfed. g theme

f

Lento luau;•

.! c

.

H

.

qJ .

' Ij, 4

tf%�

. a �r � 11g 1 E-b. 4

.

•

.

} fr ··� -·�

Allegro non lroppo

vm / 1

''

•

= �i � -� f l = =�: I: ;;� 104 ,-.

=

tring atet no . 5

= ;1• I

I

•

J

si --> -

JE

1J

,J

"F

1r

�-

The theme's irst harmonic instinct is towards the Neapolitan - in the accompaniment, in the continuation of the theme a,d, after a restatement with a ghostly canon similar to, if less humorous than, 1/2 (fig, 11), as a harmonic force when that continuaion expands esrssio. Tis expansion takes the music via the minor Neapolitan to areas as distant as B double lat major (ig. 1026) before side-slipping 49

The Breath of the Symphonist

back through neighbours to the tonic. C minor's grip is only tenuous, but as yet there has been no serious challenge to its status.

104 110 Instead of the return to theme A which might now be expected, a real challenge does appear, in the shape of the dominant key (or some­ thing like it), a new theme (or something like it), and a shift from strings to woodwind and percussion which is one of the few unequivocal events of the movement so far. There are motivic connections with theme A, but the contrast and the element of challenge are asserted in both dynamics and rhythm - the reversal of stress in the anapaest igure, emphasised by the repeated notes, transforms the rhythm from a passive to an active force. This triple-time march, perhaps paying the second movement back for being a duple-time scherzo, is a typical example of the hybrid dance idioms which abound in Shostakovich's music, possibly dating back to the twelve-year-old composer's improvisation classes under G . Bruni. 5 Once again the pitch structure is modal. In melodic terms the congruent properties of the two disjunct pentachords are less clearly exploited than the fact that seven of the nine constituent tetrachords outline a diminisheq fourth (Ex. 41). One of these tetrachords, of course, contains the DSCH motif - its irst overt appearance in Shostakovich's music, although there are several near misses in the First Violin Concerto and diminished intervals are such a vital part of

Ex. 41

f .

==

Mde

•

I

1.

;

.

..

8 I

L

•

bw

•

1..

h• ••

••

See Shostakovich 1981, p. 12. For interesting early comments on Shostakovich's merical subtleties see Slonimsky 192, p. 423.

5

50

Third Movement

his musical language that transpositions and interversions of the f motif can readily be ound n many other of his works. 6 The oundation of G major triads is clear enough, but again the harmonic colouring and progression do not . operate functionally in any way but are paralysed by the grip of the mode (compare the second bassoon bass line ig. 1055-106 with the clarinet ostinato from ig. 104) . There are apparent congruencies with section A in the way that section B proposes a continuaion from C sharp major with a contrapuntal texture taking over from melody and accompaniment. Whatever purposeul qualities this restatement of the theme might aspire to by moving to the tritonal opposite pole are soon nulliied, however, by the long meandering transition back to theme A (ig. 10--1 0), essentially nothing more than a varied 6 or 76 descent with much doubling back and chromatic disguise . Loss of conidence is the hallmark of this passage and the tonally noncommittal diminished ourth outline proves to be an ideal carrier for this.

/3

A1 :/

110

114

The retun o� section A is almost exactly literal rom ig. 1 1-1 1 . The ghostly canon is then replaced by a shadowy bassoon-and-percussion statement with similar minor-Neapolitan leanings as in A, but this time ncorporating elements of section B as if to emphasise the closure of a larger structural unit. The transitional extension f�ints at another introduction to theme B, reversing the 'loss of conidence' descent of �A 1 and rising hopefully but blindly towards new reions.

The hon signal which punctuates the central section is the most enigmatic feature of the entire symphony. Its prominence suggests that it carries some deeply personal significance, but whether as a cryptogram or some other kind of musical association can only be a matter for speculation. Russian commentators have interpreted it as a 'distant riend' 7 or as 'impassive eternal Naure' .8 The idea of pastoral associations rings alse: Nature-representation is, along with reliious

6 So, incidentaly, can sng but presumably coincidental occurrences in other music, such as Berg's Chamber Concerto (irst movement, bar 4) . Yarustovsky refers to the motif n his early discussion of the work as if its signiicance were already well known to Russian audiences (Yaustovsky 1954, pp. 17-18). 7 Yarustovsky 1954, p. 18. 8 Orlov 196, p. 295.

51

The Breath of the Symphonist

aspration, one of the few Mahlerian archetypes conspicuous by its absence rom Shostakovich's music. Marina Sabinina attempts to support the argument with reference to the horn calls in Brahms 1/4 and Mahler /5 and mentions. similar thematic shapes in Shostako­ Vich III (opening clarinet theme) and VIll/4 (horn in Variaion 4) . The theme has also been likened to Pimen's music in Boris Godunov, with associations of prophetic utterance. 9 But here again, despite Shos­ takovich's well-known afinity with Musorgsky, his work on Boris, and the strking similarity of the main second movement theme to the opening of the opera, the association is not strong enough n purely musical terms to be worth pursuing. There is a much more signiicant resemblance to a passage in Mahler V/3: at bars 700££ the obbligato horn interrupts the progress of the music, immediately followed by the four orchestral horns twice intoning the perfect fourth E-A. Further striking similarities are to the opening horn theme of Das Lied van der Erde and the passage from ig. -7 in Shostakovich III (Ex. 42) . None of these associations, however, seems clear enough to be definitive, or even to help specify what meaning might be attached to the idea. How convenient if EAEDA could be shown to be a musical signature complementing DSCH. 10 Ex. 42

Mahler

V /3

Langsam

molto rit.

>

Tempo

>

etc.

mo/to cresc.

� JJ 1 . I J. I J J I .t I . I t � [ J : 138]

X/3

f

Hn.

2 Hn s .

4 J I J-n n I f

fS

/1 Allgro pesonte

4 Hn s .

--

espr.

Ds Lied von der rde

1°

fh

0 3 [l� msso J . 100 +]

m

9

I

ff

b.l

}1.

�

I J. j I

I· .

Borchardt 1982. For another enigmatic, motto-like appearance of the same notes, see Quartet 1 1 .

52

Third Movement

In fact 'meaning' is dependent to an unusual degree on the wider structural context. Nothing lke the horn theme' s rhythic or melodic shape appears anywhere else in the symphony. We suddenly become aware of the extent to which the work has been dominated by the conjunct motion and generally plain rhythm ofx and its associated motifs. Nor is its tonal orbit (A minor?) associated with any other part of the score. Here, for once, we at least have a striking contrast. The theme comes in like a soul in search of its body. What follows is a series of meditations on, or recombinations of, previous materials, which grow progressively more tenuous until there is no further resistance to the return of the main substance of the movement. These meditations are, in order of appearance: i) (ig. 1 15) The introduction theme of the irst movement, at its original tempo and in the guise of its G minor coda appearance (cf. ig. 654). i) (ig. 1 16) A composite of elements rom the irst movement - original tempo of second subject, woodwind thirds of second subject recapitulation, hemiola rhythm and repeated cadential al of introduction theme. The rhythm also recalls continuaion material of sections A and B in the third movement. ii) (ig. 117) he tempo of the first movement introduction and coda, with the B lat minor tonality of the second movement proposed as a harmoni­ sation of the horn theme. iv) (ig. 116) B lat resolves plagally to D major, and a passage of extraordinary beauty ensues, which turns out to be a decorated version of the horn theme (Ex. 43).

Ex. 43

]6

argo

J

=

72

J poco espr.

[a. PJ [a. PJ ==

It might seem that this largo is an attempt to integrate the theme with the main substance of the work (x motifs in melody and accompaniment). Or perhaps its signiicance lies deeper - a medi53

The Breath of the Symphonist

tation on a suppressed slow movement, bearing in mind that the tempo is distinctly slower than -anything heard so far in the work. 11 This would mean that the lute and piccolo are carrying the 'real' idea and the horn theme is a version of it stripped to its essentials. It is as though the expforatory early stages of the inale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony are being relived - instead of Beethoven's exhortatory recitatives and the rejected inventory , o f previous movements, a summons of a more inscrutable kind pro­ vokes more tentative reminiscences with no ultimate breakthrough. In the largo we are allowed, at least, to hope . For all its modality this is a movement where major keys y to assert some sort of dominance under the DSCH theme in token of deiance, under the 'suppressed slow movement' as an emblem of hope. The irony, of course, is that what might have become an Ode to Hope peters out into the void. Before the return of the opening idea, the horn makes an awkward attempt to combine with a waltz-step accompaniment, with inconsequential rhythmic alterations . For a moment it seems that the A major foundation of the harmony will at least allow the theme to ind its own tonal bearings, just as the previous episode allowed it to ind a distinctive tempo and melody. This key area has come about by a quite uncharacteristic sharpwards drift (Ex. 4) . However, the hold of irst-movement associations, principally motif and tempo, is too irm to grant the music real autonomy. Tonal unsteadiness under­ mines it, followed by a quiet stroke on the tam-tam, for Shostakovich as for Mahler a frequent token of fateful intervention or the imminent demise of an idea.

Ex. 4 = ,1, /3

] i

] ]� I � 2 11 - ,. / ..

]6 •

.

•

] 11 11 .

/A2 121 127

�����--.-'..'-'�����

For a brief while the tempo and accompaniment texture from the conclusion of section C hang on, but the return of A is already under way. It departs from the minor Neapolitan in the manner of the first movement recapitulation, using the cor anglais tone carefully saved up for this point (the solo oboe is being saved for the inale introduction) and with the all-important semplice marking showing the music's indifference to the brooding exploration of the middle section. At this transposition and in its new scoring A2 is now a straightforward recapitulation of A. 1 1 That the signiicance o f this passage is out o f all proportion t o its duration is perhaps suggested by the remarkable observation in one early review: 'a broad largo of truly symphonic dimensions, which the composer has entitled Nocturne' (Zoff 1954, p. 360) . The reference to a title is obscure. In the duet score the tempo for the largo is crotchet=SO and the quasi-waltz at ig. 118 is crotchet= l08.

54

/3

I

I

B1

127

Third Movement

129

�� �

Shostakovich declines the opportunity provided by his original 5 minor extension in section A to let the corresponding C minor of A2 lead nto a tonic recapitulation of section 5. Instead he briely echoes the aspring A 1+C transition and then delects to F major. This creates . a new kind of friction with the DSCH motif (retained at original pitch) . In section A the impression of bitonality had been softened by the symmetrical and congruent properties of the mode; now, although contiguous diminished fourth tetrachords are once again exploited, the congruencies are less marked, and the impres­ sion of disjunction between melody and accompaniment is greater. Another propelling force is the more regular waltz accompaniment, which has set aside the retarding misplaced emphases of its earlier appearance and has also appropriated the percussion band of A2 •

The new design of 5 1 thus provides an extremely effective platform for A3 , which takes the momentum set up and drives onwards towards a climactic three-stage crisis. That this in a sense usurps the extension of 5 1 is suggested by the delayed appearance of the circling diminished fourth DSCH igures (ig. 13-9) which will all into the subdued coda just as the corresponding ideas in 5 fell into the subdued codetta-like A1 . In the process of accumulation there are several noteworthy aspects: i) (ig. 129-3!7) Augmentaion of theme A (compare the augmentation in the return of the scherzo in the second movement). The evened-out rhythm assimilates the theme even more closely to the DSCH of theme B which appears at ig. 130S. The three-bar macro-rhythm of cellos and basses assists foward propulsion. ii) (ig. 1317-32) Three-bar ostinato in bass remains and is shadowed in augmentation by x moif treble theme. Force of emphasis and trombone preparation (bars 352-3) inally shift the modal 'tonic' from F to E (Ex. 45) . Accelerando to dotted minim =80.

Ex. 45 �

• ••

b· .

55

The Breath of the Symphonist

ii) (ig. 132) Further augmentation of the -G sharp modal segment in the bass; return of triangle (displaced from previous return of theme B); conirmation of E major. DSCH has now been heard over modal G (ig. 104), F (ig. 127), and E (ig. 132) . From this point through to the coda the phrase-structure is very clearly in · four-bar units, with DSCH asserting itself -at the end of each phrase (extensions at . ig. 1359, 13/1, 138-1). The tendency for DSCH to fall sequentially is resisted, and the harmony is sucked into the orbit of the climax of the irst movement, a further concealed example of the cyclic element, which seems to stand for a psychological coming to terms with reality (Ex. 46) .

Ex. 46

iv) (ig. 135) The sense of crisis is reinforced by a fortissimo declamation of theme C at original pitch, highlighting the diminished seventh element of the crisis chord and producing a mild resemblance to the second of the 'Schreckensanfare' chords of Beethoven I/4 (Ex. 47) .

Ex. 47 l]6 .

v) (ig. 136) It is tempting to interpret the harmonic layout of the next 102 bars as a disguised large-scale circle-of-ifths progression, grounding the home tonic at last and bringing order out of chaos (Ex. 48) .

Ex. 48

ll6 .

ll

�

19

j!: ·� v·= ·§:�: :

� • • ..

'

(l)

(V )

)6

J •

B

::

w� � 0

(!)

However, the more important point to b e noted amid the profusion of descending DSCH motifs and circling chromaticism is that the real aim of this aftermath is to make some inal sense of the horn intervention. The harmony glimpses the solution towards the end of the section by anchoring its pitches to a bass G (see Ex. 48) .

Third Movement

/3 ����-'��'����� C_ od � a 139 The coda is as fne a demonstration of Shostkovich' s genius as one could hope to find, and the extent of its subtleties isguises the fact that it opens with two vrtualy identi�al thrteen-bar passages (fig. 139 - 40-2 = 140-2 - 141-2). The iitative bass DSCH statement which concludes both passages manages both to refer back to the inor­ Neapolitan recapitulation of A2 and to use precisely that feature to combine a diatonic and modl cadence onto C (Ex. 49). Ex.

49 ] 10

��: ;.�,

'�', r

[J

>izz� f

=

108]

1 r J •J 1 1 =--

i

1 1u w 0

p

An equal masterstroke is the balance beween indifference and reconciliation. The salient thematic characters of the movement stand in apparently indifferent isolation, each fading into oblivion in its own way - the horn theme muted on its last appearance and with the fateful tam-tam colouring its last note, the muted violin solo rening to the original low register of theme A, the DSCH motif retuning to its original high register and almost literally signing off the movement. Yet the inal harmony, which adds a tonic C to the cadential harmony of the previous section, offers a kind of recon­ cliation, crystallising the horn theme into a static object and reminding us that, after all, it can be related to the main material of the movement (see Ex. 48) . It may not have anything like the same emotional directness as the end of Das Lied von der Erde which its harmony so closely resembles, but as a clear gaze into the face of despair it is perhaps the best that can realistically be hoped for. 12

12 Or altenaively, in the words of a Russian commentator, 'The world is clear and bight after the recent thunderstorm' (Polyakova 1961, p. 34) . 57

5 Fourth Movement

In the inale the introduction is rather lengthy, although when I last heard this introduction I thought that it fulilled its conception and compositional function and more or less balanced out the whole movement.

Until recently the supposed weakness of many of Shostakovich's inales has been almost as much an institutionalised criticism in the West as the ba·nality of Mahler and the naiVety of Bruckner used to be. For Russian commentators these movements have generally been redeemable by constructs such as the breakthrough to optimism (with conlicting elements permissible as reminders of the outside anta­ gonisms still to be overcome) or Nationalistic folk-celebrations (with an element of wildness permissible as an expression of peasant exuberance) - or else they have been open to criticism precisely for the lack of such qualities . 1 In recent years there has been an increasing willingness among Western commentators, bolstered by remarks in Testimony, to admit the possibility of ironic intention - that banality, hollowness, exhaus­ tion or whatever may be the mirror image of a corrupt society, or an embittered response to it, rather than failed Utopian, order-from­ chaos statements such as the post-Beethoven tradition may have led us to expect, with the added twist that, in ostensibly fulilling the demands of Socialist Realism by outward cheerfulness, Shostakovich lets the authorities have their poisoned cake and eat it. Whether this revisionist view will become as widely accepted as what we take to be our newly enlightened perception of Bruckner and Mahler is an open question. For the moment it is sufficient to observe that none of Shostakovich's finales should have its character taken for granted. 2

See Chapter 6 for further details of Russian commentary on the finale. Contrast an 'oficial' Russian view of the Ninth Symphony, especially the finale, with a more recent Western view. 'The bassoon introduces an uncomplicated melody, which is quickly caught up by the strings, and the music is once more possessed of a light, carefree atmosphere, speeding to the end with happy exhilaration' (Shlifshtein 1966) . 'A horridly sinister thing, ghostly quiet almost throughout, rising to a menacing crescendo and ending not even with forced gaiety but a numb, driven desperation. 1

2

58

Ex. 50

a, 3

exposition themes A,B,C introduction themes transition ? transfomation (rhythmic) 1st, 2nd, 3rd - recall of ideas from irst, second, third movements ! 'crisis' chord from irst movement . DSCH moif

Key:

�

l�roduction ig . 14

52>

a

at

146 3

b

b

E

161

�

f#-& -E

a- 1 , 82, � 179

. -?F

1 °

195-2 196 At A/B �· F

145

w

a

b

(a• )

147

148

at

149

()

��

163 A2

:164 c

166 ci

167 c2

168 c

E

E

ge•

fa

fa

g

c

l ..

183 B

1839 2nd

14 *

D

B& 7 ?V of >

18014 a 1� B 2nd 2nd ? +C#

197 A/B

181 2nd 3rd V of C

182

198 c

a�t , 82 �

e

G

199

+E

I

152 �

1st b

b

b

: 162 A

: 1 80

151 l i

150 3

9

1

I

II

Exposiion 153 154 A A1

156 A

a> 157

: 158 B

51

159

160

E

E

E

f#

f#

Bo F #

175 1737 : 174 A-, B, 3+At ,tt

:176

a1- 3 ..

177 1 78 B B

?V of f

?modal a?

Development 172 170 171 At,B A+,B A >

II

f

f

a•

E

173 B

lt

f#

!

Recapitulation 187 185 186 a� a t- */2nd

188 3

c+ V of c c#+ V of d

189 */2nd

!

V of E

a 1 > */2nd 190

191

: 192 A

a> + aA 1

193 A

194 A

E

j

0 :

. ::

..

0


VI . (Bf) Fag. . •; V la vc Y I C . fag. , Db . ( U ), f

If

!]

B9 [J 176] u ..;

O

lJ

J

o I

f

U

I

f

D

1f

+ !]bass c.

=

Plo c . (15 f

)

Fl.;b., C I (B t)

VI. n .,Tr .,VlI s.dr.

Fag.,C.fag a.

Vc . , b .,

Trb . , b

" "

f

!� �-

...;

h

cesc.

..Y :" ��

p

u P

cesc.

a transformed element of the introduction (fig. 1737, 176) . From ig. 174 there is an accumulation of structural tension at three levels. First, by analogy with the irst phase of the development, there are sub-diisions dened by the waing 3 (at ig. 1749 , 1754); secondly the isposiion of tonaities suggests a rising progression (ig. 17�) followed by a ree-loating phase (ig. 1780); thirdly the whole paragraph is controlled, again by analogy with the exposition, by the ncreasing importance of section B material, with the midway thrust proided by transformation of a 1 (ig. 176) and the inal appearance of the cheeky transition idea (fig. 1799) . O n that inal appearance the rising ifths are distorted to itones, and the implied ren to brainless normality is violently thrust aside as further transformations and superimposiions 'initiate the third phase of the development. They sweep the music ever more urgently into a sense of crisis, in the process awakening associations with the brutal and troubled worlds of the inner movements (Ex. 60) . Even the tlent side drum of the second movement is brought back at the highpont (see Ex. 59), and the crunch comes with a treble-orte unison DSCH statement (ig. 14) .

/4

I

I

Recap. : 200 185

The apparent augmentation of introduction themes in the recapi­ tulation is in reality a speeding-up to more than double tempo (minim=88 where previously dotted crotchet=42) . 12 This guards against any vestige of self-pity in the reiniscence. (Note the semplice markng and compare the cor anglais in the recapitulation of the thrd movement, ig. 121). Meanwle the interpolations of DSCH super­ imposed on the transformation of A (see Ex. 59) are a reminder of the 12 The L'istesso tmpo marng (not present n the manuscript or the duet score) is more stily obseved by the composer and Moisei Vainberg (see Chapter 3, notes 1, 2) than n most performances with orchestra.

67

The Breath of the Symphonist

Ex. 60

Trb .,H. (at Tr . ( " t ) Fag ., Trb ., Vc . ,Tlmp . Tba . , Db .

·���§�������������� �

]9

development section and, perhaps, an expression of solidarity with its anxieties. The whole of the introduction phase of the recapi­ ulation takes place effecively over the dominant of E, though with scarcely any confirmation of this tonal funcion until the main body of the movement reurns in the clearest E major yet. The fact that the cello, oboe and bassoon themes have returned a minor third lower than their original appearance whereas the tonality is anchored a perfect ifth lower indicates how much the tonal orientaion of both passages is determined by harmonic context rather than melodic construction. The retun of theme A at ig. 192 suggests not so much the commonplace as simply lat-footed senility. The low-register bassoon solo is another woodwind timbre carefully reserved for one ital statement, and its grandfatherly associations (as in Peter and the Wof or Boris Timofeevich in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) are entirely appro­ priate - grandpa tries to imitate the youngsters' high jinks. The potential treats of the percussion band (cf. third movement) and of 68

the major-minor opposition (ig. 194f� are sll present, but the music is seemingly now beyond their reach. The darinet takes up the theme in original guise, but reduces the rhythmic proile of its continuation (fig. 1947--8) to a drivel of even semiquavers. The cheeky transition material has been elininated, and along with it the disturbing Neapolitan element. hat should then barge in but a blatant Neapolitan F major and aiother augmentation of theme A in the horns (the youngsters imitating grandpa imitating them?), with a new two-note slur pointing its apex and even embracing DSCH (ig. 19+8). The augmentation return of A has pointed up the underlying similarity to theme C and thus made the full recapi­ tulation of C dispensable, and token reacquantance with theme C (ig. 198) leads into a bright coda. Fourth Movement

/4 -��: 200

Theme B is even more benign now over a fortissimo pizzicato quasi-plagal-cadence accompaniment. The side drum and DSCH join n the celebrations (around ig. 202), the swirling woodwind lines rom the second movement (fig. 75) are added, A goes over the top (ig. 204) , 13 a fully diatonic home-key theme B emerges for the irst time (fig. 2047), Neapolitan harmony, DSCH motifs and theme B (around ig. 205) all merrily swing the hero along to the uncompli­ cated conclusion, capped by the scale/glissando of the end of the second movement. He loved Big Brother.

13 Surely remembered from Chaikovsky's Pathetique, letter X (lead-in to the penulti­ mate statement of the third movement theme) .

69

6 Conclusion: The La·nguage of Doublesp eak

Some of the speakers at the Composers' Union criticised the inale of my Tenth Symphony for lacking dramatic completeness. I consider these comments absolutely justiied. 1

The irst extended commentary o n the Tenth Symphony set the tone for Russian assessments of the inale: 'In the inale, after the slow introduction with its conlicting confrontation of themes, a new set of images comes into being - colourful reminiscences of distant childhood, a world of naive, cheerful tunes · [ naigyshei] . '2 This assessment is echoed by several writers, including Lev Mazel', for whose work in general Shostakovich expressed approval: 'close to the inale of the Eighth Symphony in its pastoral aspect, but livelier, inclined towards images of youthfulness, hopes, "the morning of life'".3 Representations of the child's view of the world have been a familiar musical subject at least since Schumann's Kinderszenen. Mahler, Elgar, Debussy, Ravel, Prokof'ev and Britten, amongst others, have made memorable contributions. Shostakovich is not perhaps so noted for works of this kind - A Child's Exercise Book, op. 69 (194), and the suite Dances of the Dolls (assembled in 1952 from material composed 1929-35) are the only speciic examples in his large output. However, as with most of the above-named composers, the topos inds its way into his 'serious' work, in his case in unexpectedly powerful ways which have nothing to do with relaxation or retro­ spection of any kind. 1 Shostakovich 1981, p. 163. 2 Yaustovsky 194, p. 20.

3 Maze!' 1986, p. 29. 'Since it came into existence, Soviet musicology has overcome many dangers, the most important of them being, in my view, the danger of losing touch with the actual sound of music. This can involve another danger, too - of losing a sense of reality, and with it the ablity to judge soberly aid honestly about art. I admire the work of L. Maze! above all because it never lost this vital link' (Shostakovich 1981, p. 275).

70

Conclusion: The Language of Doublespeak

The two Piano Concertos are examples of the rough, almost bullying energy, more adolescent than childlike, which is so char­ acteristic of Shostakovich. The inale of the Tenth Symphony also has a tone of boisterous playfulness - cheeky and insouciant, not so much tongue-in�cheek as poking its tongue out at authority. 4 Here its signiicance must be considered in the overall context of the work. It repre sents nothing less than a new protagonist in the music, distinct from the universalised experience and deiant self-assertion of the earlier movements (which are bound up with the motivic unity and the DSCH signature respectively) . This is perhaps why so much of the inale does not adhere to the strict motivic economy of the rest of the work and remains indifferent to the generative power of the tree-note motif that opens the Symphony. Shostakovich circum­ vents the problem of tone (a historical as well as a political problem) in the symphonic inale by adopting a persona through which he can comment more truthfully, albeit ironically, than by direct, at the time inevitably constrained, means. If the psychological necessity for the change of protagonist can be appreciated, then its musical embo­ diment is more easily understood as well. At least that is an explanation which is consistent with the musical evidence. There are three aspects which conribute towards substaniating such an interpretation. In the irst place, themes associated with one state of being (the introspecion of the introduc­ tion) are operated on by gestural types which, taken out of context, put them into a completely different realm ('uncomplicated' extraver­ sion) . Especially when there is no gradual evolution from one state to another, something of the original character remains as a disturbing undertone. There is a perceived disjunction between melodic proile and other parameters, like a tragic speech delivered with merry inlections. The result occupies an unsettling emotional no-man's­ land. Secondly there is an irony arising from disjunction between gesture and immediate context. That is, a certain element of musical rhetoric can change its meaning given a slight mismatch with · the 'expeded' tempo, or with an introducion which fails to prepare for it, or with a continuation which fails to bring relief. For example, Shostakovich's tempo marking of crotchet= 176 for the main body of the last movement is a fraction fast for comfort - which is precisely the point, since the intended impression, it could be argued, is of hecic, almost unconrolled momentum, which also facilitates the evenual recall of the second movement (see Chapter 3, note 1); similarly, wh�n at the early stages of the recapiulaion the bassoon theme in augmentation succeeds the searching inroduction without the buffer provided by transitional material as earlier in . the 4 Shostakovich's taste for musical sare goes back at least to the To Fables y Kylov

op. 4 and indeed the end of this work has been likened to the end of the Tenth . Symphony (see Hulme 1983).

71

The Breath of the Symphonist

movement, its cheekiness is the more unsettling for its failure to observe contextual decorum; and when the lively music in the development fails to give way according to one's expectations (at ig. 180) it becomes like a smile held beyond its natural· duration - at irst vaguely worrying, then more disturbing and inally frighteing. Thirdly, and only on the basis of these two lines of thought, one can call upon evidence such as the comments on exultant inales and multifaceted music in Testimony, 5 which suggest that interpretation s along these lines may well harmonise with the composer's intentions. If such evidence is deemed unreliable, all rests on the question whether or not these things are inadvertent miscalculations. Early Russian commentators assumed that they were . At the discussion sessions mentioned above (see Chapter l, note 5) there were referen­ ces to the one-sidedness of the symphony (i. e . the preponderance of tragic elements) and several early articles identiied the flimsiness of the inale as the main reason for this. 6 They were soon countered by articles pointing to the element of struggle in the inale and coining the phrase 'optimistic tragedy' in an attempt to place the Tenth within a widened concept of Socialist Realism. 7 These latter views have been echoed in the West. 8 My own view is that the finale's failure to observe symphonic good taste is not mitigated by the conlicting elements which arise during its course but actually gives them a profound raison d'etre. If anything this is not so much an 'optimisic tragedy' as a 'pessimistic comedy' . Comparison with the genuinely straightforward cheerfulness of Shostakovich's Festive Overture op. 96 (1954) perhaps makes the point better than any attempt to argue it in words. 'I discovered to my astonishment that the man who considers himself its greatest 5 interpreter [Mravinskyl does not understand my music. He says that I wanted to write exultant finales for my Fifth and Seventh Symphonies but I couldn't manage it. It never occurred to this man that I never thought about any exultant inales, for what exultation could there be?' (Volkov 1979, p. 140) . 'Jewish folk music has made a most powerful impression on me. I never tire of delighing in it: it is muli-faceted, it can appear to be happy while it is tragic. It is almost always laughter through tears. This quality of Jewish folk music is close to my idea of what music should be. There should always be two layers in music' (op. it. , pp. 1 1 8-19) . 6 See Akimova 1954, p. 30, Khachaturyan 1954, p. 25, Kremlev 1957, p. 82. Kremlev is especially scathing, finding no interest in the introducion and a modernised-Mozart stylisaion in the main body of the inale. 7 See Volkonsky 1954, p. 27, Sokol'sky 1954, p. 86, Orlov 1962, p. 54. Orlov follows Volkonsky's lead in viewing the overall structure of the four movements as a kind of A--A1-B1 patten, with the third and fourth movements as 'lighter' versions of the irst and second. Sabinina (1976, p. 312) follows Maze!' in viewing the 'dramaturgy' of the work as a nd of system of 'concentric' (very loosely speaking!) circles, the first being the irst-movement introduction, the second the introduction plus first-subject group, the third the irst movement as a whole, and the fourth the enire work. 8 See Robert Layton in Simpson 1967, pp. 21-14, Ottaway 1978, pp. 48-9, Whittall 1977, p. 89. I would contend, however, that the adverse criticisms are closer to the mark than the more sympathetic assessments, and that the inale should be viewed as a deliberately unbalanced piece.

72

Conclusion: The Language of Doublespeak

With the best will in the world it is still no more possible to prove the existence of irony in music than to deine the parameters of an ironic 'Oh, yes' in literature. Timing, context and cultural conven­ tions, some would say ideology, too, all contribute to the instinct which may lead us to impute such meaning; and performance, as has already been suggested, plays a crucial role in its communication. And even if the general principle is accepted, there are many other possible shades of interpretation in a case such as the end of the Tenth Symphony, apart from the one I emphasised at the end of the previous chapter. When cultural conventions are shrouded in an atmosphere of fear and pretence, not to mention the distance between East and West, the possibiliies of misinterpretation, or at least multiplicity of interpretation, increase . It is certainly possible to see Shostakovich's outpu t in general as dichotomous or manic depressive - swinging between a vein of profound suffering and an extremely gifted but ultimately facile improvisation - rather than calculatedly ambivalent. 9 Anyone who clings to a single interpreta­ tion needs to be aware of alternative possibilities. But as long as Shostakovich's message continues to impress with its sense of profundity and relevance, attempts to come to terms with it need not be ashamed of their lack of conclusiveness. This fact also bears on the kind of expectation that can be placed on a study of the present kind. With composers such as Bart6k and Stravinsky the musical language is sufficiently radical and complex to constitute a worthwhile topic even when the investigaion conines itself to the question of coherence. With Shostakovich the language is apparently more traditional, though, as I hope to have shown, not lacking in subtlety; but the message is far more open to doubt, so that a study of style or technique in vacuo will be of marginal interest. To return to an argument broached in the Introduction, the 'emotional understanding of wide unities' is crucial to the concept of the Breath of the Symphonist, but in Shostakovich's case this leads to questions of intention and ideology which are outside the province of musical analysis. It is probable that a deepening understanding of this music will remain for some time the province of the inspired hunch, and in the absence of reliable source material, such inspiration may well continue to come primarily from the world of the performer and the journalist rather than from the scholar. For instance, the cellist Heinrich Schiff comments: Shostakovich's virtuosic last movements are rarely joyful releases from the sadness of what has gone before. He is more often depicting the Idiot in the However, it should be noted that writers on Shostakovich have been know� to reverse such opinions through closer acquaintance with the music - see Ottaway 1978, p. 48. Hugh Ottaway's remarks on the Tenth Symphony, though inevitably gen­ eralised because of the nature of the publication, are sensitive and acute and fort he general reader his study is easly the best introduction to Shostakovich's symphonies .

9

73

The Breath of the Symphonist play; that is how I tell pupils to tackle that strange, euphoric outburst in the middle part of the Cello Sonata inale. The Idiot comes on, disaranges everything, is primitive . . . but not funny. 10

Such an insight is valuable not just for its own sake but because the work in question (composed in 1934) is crucial to an understandng of how the Fifth Symphony, and hence the whole of Shostakovich's ' later output, was possible. 11 It may be worth concluding with a brief discussion of other ambi­ valent Shostakovich inales, as an indication of his achievement in turning an apparent weakness into an unexpected source of strength. It is by no means always the case that Shostakovich conceals his message in his inales - there is no mistaking the tragic import of the last movement in the Second Piano Trio, the Eighth String Quartet, or the Fourteenth Symphony, for instance. But more often than not the surface of the music is not to be trusted, especially in the case of apparently infantile pieces. The inale of the Ninth Symphony has already been mentioned as an example of the role performance may play in modifying, even reversing, one's perception of character. In Kondrashin's interpretation at least (see Chapter 5, notes 2 and 3) the added crescendos in the long notes of the bassoon theme sow the seeds of disruption aid anxiety from the very beginning, and conirmation comes when the crushing full brass statement gives a sadistic edge to Shostakovich's elimination of rhythmic proile (cf. the re:statements in the second and tird movements of the Tenth Symphony). 12 Again, taken in isolation, the inale of the Piano Quintet seems uncomplicated, rather lat in invention, rather extended in duration; heard in the aftermath of a properly intense performance of the fourth movement it suggests rather the latness of a post-holocaust situation - inconsequential renewed activity before horriied onlookers. Emotional numbness behind trivial physical activity is one of the most characteristic Shostakovich utterances. The succession of portentous ntroduction and apparently trivial inale in the Tenth is somewhat similar to the overall progress of the Sixth Symphony - a work which has caused commentators considera­ ble disquiet. It is surely far-fetched to suggest that Shostakovich was Schiff 194, p. 199. After the composition of idy Maceth and before the 1936 Pravda affair, Shostako­ vich expressed s nterest in the revival of chamber music, . and in developing purity and smplicity of language (see Shostakovich 1981, pp. 32, 196 and Chapter 2, note 21 above). 12 In deence of Mravinsky (see note 5 above) his assessment of I/5 is worth quoting: 'The nsouciant or frivolous "light-heartedness" of the irst movement (thik of the secondary subject!) and the element of deliberate and labored gaiety in the inale express, not the composer's own feelings, but those of his opposite - the self-satisied, short-sighted philistine who is essenially indifferent to everything' (Sollertinsky 1981, p. 122 no source given). 10

11

-

74

Conclusion: The Language of Doublespeak

unaware of the discrepancy in the latter work beween the meditative rst movement and the apparently uncomplicated fast scherzo and finale, or indeed of the dangers of such a discrepancy. The discrep­ ancy is surely the whole point. The intensity of the suffering and tragedy become the more horrifying for the determination to laugh them off and dance jigs with them. There is explicit conirmation in Testimony of the ambivalence at the ehd of the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies (see note 5 above) . But the anti-heroic inale is to be found in a more intmate, personal guise in some of Shostakovich's later works. Three in particular come to mind: the Fifteenth Symphony with its extraordinary Wagner quota­ tions, balancing (!) the William Tell theme in the irst movement; the Thirteenth Symphony with its commemoration of Galileo, Pasteur and those who hold to the truth in the face of bitter opposition, and the 'Immortality' setting at the end of the Michelangelo Suite, with its shadow of the finale of Beethoven's Fifth eventually retuning, in chilling symbolism, as an accompaniment oly.13 There is surely a sense in which the Tenth Symphony also draws on and subverts a Beethovenian archetype. The horn call interspersed with cyclic reminiscences in the middle section of the third movement, and the brooding introduction to the inale, recall the recitative and reminiscences of Beethoven I/4, while the crisis chord of movements one, three and four recalls Beethoven's 'Schrek­ kensfanfare' . This time there is no Ode to Joy, or at best only an ironic one, pointing to its futility rather than its reality. In this sense it is Shostakovich, rather than Thomas Mann's ictionalised Schoenberg, who realises Adrian Leverkihn's famous project to 'revoke the Ninth Symphony' . Shostakovich is not, of course, the only master of musical ambivalence. He himself draws attention to the Jewish tradition (see note 5 above), and the inluence of Mahler can scarcely be overes­ timated. The inales of Mahler's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies are open questions to this day. Mozart's 'smiling through tears' is familiar enough to have become a journalistic cliche . Even Chai­ kovsky might be suspected of a proto-Shostakovichian ploy in the (deliberately?) banal conclusion to his Fifth Symphony. In his discussion of the inale problem, Shostakovich notes the necessity for contrast of mood and cites Chakovsky' s Fourth and Sixth Symphonies in approval. 14 But the whole problem is of course far more deep-seated than that, as profound as the whole problem of humanism in an age where mass murderers listen to Mozart and go to the opera. A social creed which actually demands happy endings might seem to compound the problem. Instead it offered a lifeline not of the composer's own making, much as the effective embargo . on ·

13 Or, in a Russian assessment: 'An image of childhood, of the beginning of life - is there any better expression of the idea of immortality?' (Vasina-Grossman 1980, p. 252). 14 Shostakovich 1981, pp. 162-3.

75

The Breath of the Symphonist

dramatic opera after Lady Macbeth opened up unforeseen possibilities for his symphonic output. Shostakovich's brand of ambivalence in the Tenth Symphony (and others) offers a quite unexpected but intensely personal solution to the finle problem, wherein relaxation and intensification, the apparently irreconcilable legacies of the Classical and Romantic traditions, co exist and lend one another new profundity of meaning. From the epic tragedy of the first movement, to the naked. violence of the second� to the enigmatic defiance of the third, to what? To a coexistence of the Mahlerian poles of utopia and catastrophe, of idealism and nihilism. The Doublethink of the Stalin years is countered with a devast g brand of Doublespeak.

�

76

Appendix 1 Shosakovich . on his Tenh Symphony I worked on the Tenth Symphony last summer [1953] and inished it in the autumn. As with other works of ine, I wrote it quickly. This is perhaps not so much a virtue as a failing, because when one works so fast not everything turns out well. As soon as a piece is completed the creative fever subsides; and when you see faults in the piece, someimes major and far-reacing ones, you begin to think that it wouldn't be a bad idea to avoid them in your future work. As for what has been written - that's done, thank goodness. I advise everyone, and myself irst and foremost, not to rush. It's better to take longer over a composition and to correct faults in the process of work. The symphony consists of four movements. Appraising the irst movement of the symphony critically, I see that I did not succeed in doing what I've long dreamed of: writing a real symphonic allegro. It did not come to me n this symphony, just as it did not in my previous symphonic works. But I hope that in the future I will succeed in writing such an allegro. In the irst movement of my symphony there are more slow tempos, more lyrical moments, than heroic-dramatic and tragic (as in the irst movements of symphonies by Beethoven, Chaikovsky, Borodin and many other composers). The second movement, it seems to me, in general realises my conception and fulils its rightful place in the cycle. But this movement is perhaps too short, especially considering that the irst, third and fourth are quite long. Thus the cyclic construction is somewhat harmed . Apparently another movement is needed which, together with the short second movement, would possibly balance out the structure of the whole work. As for the third movement. of the symphony, here l would say the conception is more or less successful, although here too then� are some longueurs and, on the other hand, some places which are too short. For me it would be very useful and valuable to hear comrades' opiions on tis count. In the inale the introduction is rather lengthy, although when I last heard this introduction I thought that it fulfilled its conception and compositional function and more or less balanced out the whole movement. Composers often like to say of themselves: I tried this, I intended that, etc. But I, perhaps, will refrain rom talking in that way. To me it would be much more interesting to know what listeners feel, to hear their opiions. I will just say one ting: in this work I wanted to convey human feelings and passions. 1 1

My translaion rom Sovetskaya Muzyka 1954, p. 120.

77

The Breath of the Symphonist

Some of the speakers at the Composers' Union criticised the inale of my Tenth Symphony for lacking dramatic completeness. I consider these comments absolutely justiied. Although the music in the finale does reach some sort of conclusion, I agree that · something in it misired. I feel that it lacks a bro ad, melodic, contrasting theme. The movement is dominated by fast, mobile themes, but there should also have been a sweeping, melodious theme around the middle, Qr perhaps nearer the end, or even at the very end. This would probably have intensiied the sonority of the inale and of the whole sym­ phony. Should I modify the last movement of my symphony, or rewrite it completely? Perhaps I shall sometime, but not now. The work was conceived as a whole, and to return to it at the present time would be very hard for me . 2 I couldn't write an apotheosis to Stalin, I simply couldn't. 1· knew what I was in for when I wrote the Ninth. But I did depict Stalin in my next symphony, the Tenth. I wrote it right after Stalin's death, and no one has yet guessed what the symphony is about. It's about Stalin and the Stalin years. The second part, the scherzo, is a musical portrait of Stalin, roughly speaking. Of course there are many other things in it, but that is the basis. 3

2 Shostakovich 1981, p. 163. 3

Volkov 1979, p. 107.

78

Appendix 2 Thematic Allusion in he Tenh Symphony

The following list is drawn up rom major published sources on Shostakovich's music. Where no source is indicated the idea is my own. Frst published references only are given, so far as I have been able to determine them.

Fst Movement

Introduction

Chaikovsky, Pathitque Symphony (openg) Liszt, Faust Symphony (opening) Musorgsky, Boris dunov (beginning of Prologue) Musorgsky, 'Nad rekoi' ('On the River', rom Sunless) Bart6k, Conerto or Orchestra (opeing) Shostakovich, 24 Preludes and Fugues Frst suject group op. 87 fugue 24 Second suject Brahms, Piano Conceto no. 1 op. 15 (irst solo) Grieg, Valse aprice op. 37 no. 2 Shostakovich, From Jwish ok Poety op. 9 'Lulaby', 'Winter' 24 Preludes and Fugues op. 87 prelude 8, fugue 24 e Fall of Berlin op. 82 (Concentration Camp sequence) Fig. �7 cisis chord e Fall of Berlin op. 82 ('In the destroyed village') Second Movement Musorgsky, Boris dunov (intro­ n Theme duction) Shostakovich, Quartet no. 3 (trd movement) /1 (development) I3

Belinsy op. 85 (Choral song) e Fall of Berlin op. 82 ('Storing Zeye­

Fig. 82 Movement in general

d Movement

ng

lovsky heights') Shcherbachev, Fth Symphony, scherzo Chaikovsky, Queen of Sdes (fourth scene) Shostakovich, Sn Rivers op. 95 (scene of workers demonsraing against the poice)

Shostakovich, Quartet no. 5 (opeing) 24 Preludes op. 4 no. 10 Vioin Concerto no. 1 . (oeing of scherzo)

Yaustovsky 194, p. 13 Yaustovsky 1954, p. 13 Yaustovsky 1954, p. 13 Kremlev 1957, p. 77 Sabinina 1976, p. 305 Yaustovsky 1954, p. 14 Kremlev 1957, pp. 778 Saa 1976, p. 293 Sabinina 1976, p. 293 I. zn (in Sovetsaya Muzya 1954, p. 128) .

Orlov 1961, p. 266 Yaustovsky 1954, p. 15 Yaustovsky 1954, p. 15 Yaustovsky 1954, p. 15 Sabina 1976, p. 299 I. zn (in Sovetsaya Muzya 1954, p. 128) Orlov 1%1, p. 267 Yarustovsky 1954, pp. 1-17 Orlov 1961, p. 266

Orlov 1%1, p. 270 Orlov 1%1, p. 270 Orlov 1961, p. 269

9

The Breath of the Symphonist Funeral - Triumphal Prelude op. 130 b. 6-11 Fig. 114 (hon call)

Fouh Movement Introduction Fig. 145 (oboe theme) Fig. 146 (oboe)

Fig. 153 (irst subject) Fig. 14 (theme C) , Development Coda

80

(openg) ctoer op. 131 (openng) Piano Trio no. 2 (finale ig. -8) Brahms, 1/4 (hon cal) Mahler, II (hon calls) Shostakovich, III (opening clanet theme) II/4 (hon n outh variaton) Maler, as Lied n der Erde, (openng hon theme) Mahler, V/3; bars 99££. Musorgsky, Boris Godunov (Pimen's music)

Sabina 1976, p. 302 Sabina 1976, p. 302 Sabna 1976, p. 301 Sabinina 1976, pp � 301-2

Borchardt 1982

Shostakovich, 1/4 X/2

Orlov 1966, p. 295 Orlov 1961, p. 274

Prokofev, I

Layton/Simpson p. 214

Shostakovich; 'National holiday' from The Gadly op. 97 he Fall of Berlin op. 82 ('In the Garden') Mozart, X/4 Bizet, L'Arlesienne (presumably second theme of 'Farandole') Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique (finale) Musorgsky, Night on a Bare Mountain Chaikovsky, VI/3 Shostakovich, Two Fables y Kylov op. 4 (end of no. 2)

1%7,

Orlov 1961, p. 275 Yarustovsky 1954, p. 19 Yarustovksy 1954, p. 19 Yarustovsky 1954, p. 19 Hulme 1983

Appendix 3

Correcions and Errors in he Collected Works Score At irst glance the Collected Works score - D. Shostakovich, Sobranie sochinenii, tom pyatyi [Collected Works, volume 5), edited with brief Critical Commentary by M. C. Vainberg - appears to be a corrected reprint using the original Muzgiz plates; apart from the elimination of blank staves, enabling the second, third and fourth movements each to take one page fewer, the page layout is identical. But closer inspection reveals that it must be a re-engraving, using essentially the same typeface . Recently printed study scores are reproductions of this score . Since this edition introduces a number of minor errors as well as corrections, the provisional checklist given below may be found useful (though it lays no claim to being comprehensive) . Changes of orthography and style are not listed, except where these involve a material difference from the original score . The autograph is in the Glinka Central State Museum of Musical Culture, Moscow (collection 32, item 31).

Key: C E

U ?

Correction Error Uncorrected error Possible corection, possible error

Fist Movement 105 121

? E

127 144

E E u

1'1

E E. ?

21+6 264

c

32-2 32+5 335

E c c

Cellos haipin crescendo omitted Horns - espr. changed to cresc. In the Collected Works score almost all espr. markings have been changed to espress. ; it seems lkely, especially in view of the hairpin crescendo to piu f at ig. 12+10, that cresc. was inserted in error after deletion of espr. (see also cello part at fig. 121) Bassoons - dots omitted Horn 1 - p removed espress. should presumably apply to horns 1 and 3, rather than 2 and 4 (cf. fig. 141) Tempo indication shifted from irst to second beat of bar Flute - accent and p marking omitted Cellos, double basses - staccato dots added (but not at ig. 217) Violins - staccato dots removed (cf. violas, cellos in Muzgiz score) Oainet - accent omitted Horn 3 - ie completed . Cellos, double basses - hairpin crescendo extended over full bar (cf. bassoons, double bassoon) �

81

The Breath of the Smphoist 35-1 353 358

u u E c

4.6

c ? ?

4� 6

?

523 43 62 671 +ll

? E ? ?

2

4+4

Oboe 2 - last note should read F natural Clanet 2 - antepenltimate note should read D natural Tumpets - irst slur should begin before irst note Woodnd - hairpn crescendo added over last two beats (d. strngs and ig. 354) Piccolo - ffespress. added . Tumpet 2 and 3 - . mf changed to f (d. ig. 4S2- 3) Violns, violas, cellos - harpin crescendo extended over two full bars Bassoons, double bassoon - hairpin crescendo assimlate d to cellos and double basses Violin l, upper part - hairpin crescendo omitted Viola - cresc. added Violins, violas - hairpn crescendo conined to this bar Strings - harpin dynamics assimlated to cellos (but not at ig. 671 2- 1 3) ·

·

Second Movement

71 741. 3 741 0

u · c c

754

c

76+ 7

E

7-1+773

?

781 787 788 865 866 866 82

? u u u c ? ? ? c

8""2

c

897

? ?U

9 3

901 96 914 9-2 93-2 964 2

99 11

c ?U c c c E u ? u

Metronome mark should probably be minm 116 (see chapter 3, note 1) Violn 1 - staccato dots on irst quavers of bar added Bassoons, double bassoon, hons - staccato dot on quaver added Piccolo, lutes - harpn crescendo assimilated to oboes and clarnets Sings - ad liJitum markings shifted; they are probably intended to ndicate that the non div . is optional, and should therefore be horzontally aligned with that marking Staccato dots added to brass quavers (including hons 1 and 2 at ig. 2) . but bassoon, double bassoon, timpani unchanged Trumpets - ffchanged to sff Trombone 3, tuba - add hairpin crescendo Brass - add harpin crescendo Violn 1 - add harpin crescendo Violas - accent on last quaver added . . Sngs - staccato dot on second beat added (cf. ig. 8/1) Vions, violas - accent added (cf. ig. 782•6• 10) Cellos, double basses - stac.to dot added Violins, violas - hairpin crescendo over second beat added (cf. woodwind) Woodwnd - hairpin crescendo over second beat added (cf. sngs) Timpani - f changed to mf Violins, violas should perhaps have hairpin crescendo over second beat Bassoons, double bassoon - hairpin crescendo added Strings should perhaps have hairpin crescendo over second beat Violins - accent on irst beat added Sings - hairpin crescendo over second beat added Strings - hairpn crescendo over second beat added Flutes - superfluous p added cresc. should be added here in clarinets Violns, violas - accent added Bassoon 1 - last note should be C =

hird Movement

10 148

82

E ?U

Meronome mark should be crotchet 138 (cf. ig. 122) Oboes 2 and 3 - hairpin crescendo should perhaps be assimilated to clarinets and bassoons (cf. ig. 1044, 1052•11) =

Appendx 3

1061 1126 1161 1297 1333 1362

c c c c c c

Oboe 3, clnet 3 - muta in C. ingl., Cl. picc. respecively Violn 1 - E flat Horn - p added Violin 1 - E natrl (uncler n some scores) Side dum - hairpin cscendo added Violn 1 - B natural

Foh Movement

145-3 14-1 156-1

E E ?U

156-1 157-1 1571 153 152-3 1614 1615 161-6 1617 162 1682 1701 1721-9

c c c E E c c ?U ?U c E c c

17@ 176-7 181 1811 18-2 1 901 - 15 194-1 195 1956 1965 19-1

c c c ? c E c ?U c c ?U

201 1

c

2035 2031 0 204·-1

c c c E

Oboe - second note C natral dotted crotchet Flute - p omitted Clarinet - second beat should perhaps have staccato dot (cf. ig. 1532) '1ute, piccolo - staccato dots added Clarinet I last note - staccato dot added Clainet 1 - semiquaver lag added Clarinet 1 - staccato dots omitted Piccolo - staccato dots on irst quavers omitted Double basses - staccato dots added Bassoons - staccato dot on A added Bassoons - perhaps F and B lat should also be staccato Double basses - perhaps irst quaver should be staccato Piccolo - staccato dot on B lat added Homs 1 and 2 - staccato dot on second beat omitted Violas - staccato dot added VioUns, violas - staccato dots added (see commentary in Collected Works score, p. 325) Viilin 1 - staccato dot on E added Violin 1 - staccato dot added on B lat, removed from F Rehearsal igure added at b. 45 (omitted in some scores) Brass - all parts given solo indication E lat clarinet - (muta in Cl . Ill-A) added Hairpin crescendo in Violin 2 omitted Oainet - staccato dots added Clarinet 1 - staccato dot should perhaps e removed Oboe - staccato dots on irst beat added Horn 1 - staccato dots on irst beat added Horns - perhaps staccato dots should be added on inal semiquavers at ig. 19-1, fig. 1972•4 (cf. ig. 196-lfl) Trombone 2 - sena sord. indication removed (superluous); violin 2, violas, cellos, double basses - pizz. sign removed (superluous); violin 1 - f changed to f Side drum - hairpin crescendo to f added Side drum hairpin crescendo added Side drum, timpani - hairpin crescendo to f added Double basses - hairpin crescendo removed �

83

Bibliography A Note on Russian Sources The two major studies of the Tenth Symphony are to be found in Orlov 1961 and Sabinina 1976, the latter a major scholarly work running to 480 pages. Orlov' s later writings contain little information not found in his earlier study; Sabinina 1965 deals with the irst six symphonies only (there is a brief summary of the Tenth on p. 173) . ' The earliest published s tudy of the Tenth is Sokol'sky 1954 which, especially as ampliied in Yarustovsky 1954, laid down the main lines of thought for future Russian commentaries. Mazel' 1960 contains some interesting observations but is rather generalised in accordance with the book's purpose as a 'guide' to the symphonies. The articles collected in Mazel' 1986 are more penetrating, notably 'O traktovke sonatnoi formy i tskla v bol'shikh simfoniyakh Shostakovicha' [On the interpretation of sonata form and sonata cycle in the major symphonies of Shostakovich' . His scholarship drew praise from Shostakovich (see Shostakovich 1981, p. 275); for a Ger.an transla­ tion of his most important general article on Shostakovich's musical language see Mazel' 1967. For background information on Russian theory see McQuere 1983 and Brown 1974. For an interesting example in English of a kind of analysis drawing on Russian methods see Mar6thy 1977. Both Orlov 1961 and Sabinina 1976 are informative on Shostako­ vich's works between the Ninth and Tenth Symphonies (194--5 3), Orlov especially on the ilm music and Sabinina especially on the more 'serious' works (Quartets 4 and 5, Violin Concerto no. l, From fewish Folk Poety, 24 Preludes and Fugues) . Both set out to deflect the severity of certain earlier critical responses (see [Sovetskaya muzyka] 1954, [S. C.R.] 1954, Kremlev 1957) . Sabinina is alone in abandoning the chronological approach to analysis (seeing her work as to some extent complementary to Mazel' and Orlov); and she is more inter­ ested than other Russian writers in the question of irony (op . cit., p . 290) although she eventually reaches a rather conventional Socialist Realist conclusion. In general all these writings describe the surface of the music in some detal, and sometimes with imagination and sensitivity; but there still seems to be a tacit agreement not to stray into forbidden areas of interpretation and this, combined with disinclination for structural analysis, deprives the authors of the chance to interpret at a deeper level. For the major biographical study of Shostakovich see Khentova 1985-6. Despite its title this monumental work contains very little musical observation; but there is valuable information on the composer's personal circumstances at all points in his career (e.g. a photograph of the house where the Tenth Symphony was composed, 84

Bibliography

op. cit., i, between pp. 288 and 289) . For a useul bibliography of Russian sources up to 1965 see Sadovnikov 1965. Abraham, Gerald. Eight Soviet Composers. Oxford Universiy Press, London, 1943. Akimova, z. 'Slovo slushatelya' [A listener's comment] ; Sovetsaya muzya, 1954, no. 4, 29-30. Apostolov, P. 'K voprosu o voploshcheii otritsatel'nogo obraza v muzyke' [On the question of the representation of negativity in music] . Sovetsaya muzya, 1954, no . . 3, 2740. Ballantine, Christopher. Twentieth Centuy Symphony. Dobson, London, 1983. Blokker, Roy, with Robert Dearling. The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich: e Symphonies. The Tantivy Press, London, 1979. Bobrovsky, Viktor. 'The Shostakovich Symphonies' . Soviet Literature, 1966, no. 10, 15�5. -. amernye instrumental'nye ansambli D. Shostaovicha [Shostakovich's works for chamber instrumental ensembles] . Sovetsii kompositor, Moscow, 1961 . 0 peremennosti unktsii muzyal'noi ormy [The variablity of the functions of musical form] . Muzyka, Moscow, 1970. Borchardt, Georg. 'Dimitri Schostakowitsch: Symphonie Nr. 10' . Sleeve note to DG 413 361 [1982] . Brown, Malcolm. 'The Soviet Russian Concepts of "Intonazia" and "Musical Imagery'" . The Musical Quarterly, Ix (1974), 55767. Dahlhaus, Carl, and Giwi Ordschonikidse (eds . ) . Beitrige zur Musikkultur in der Sowjetunion und in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Sikorski/Heinrichshofen, Ham­ burg and Wilhelmshaven, 1982. Includes Michail Tarakanow, 'Die Musiktheorie in der sowjetischen Musikwissenschaft' (pp. 10-19). Dailevich, Lev. D. D. Shostakovich. Sovetski kompozitor, Moscow, 1958. -. Sovetskii simonizm [Soviet symphonism] . Muzgiz, Moscow and Leningrad, 1952. Fay, Laurel. 'Shostakovich versus Volkov' . Russian Reviw, xx (1980), 48-93. Fedosova, Eleonora. Diatonicheskie lady v tvorchestve D. Shostakovicha [Diatonic modes in the music of D. Shostakovich] . Sovetski kompozitor, Moscow, 1980. Finkelstein, Sidney. 'Shostakovich's Tenth' . New World Rview, xxii (1954), -8. Huband, Joseph. 'The irst five symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich' . D.A. diss. , Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana), 1984. Hulme, Derek. Shostakovich Catalogue. Kyle & Glen Music, Muir of Ord, Ross-shire, 1982. -. Sleeve note to ASD 1650331 [1983] . Kay, Norman: Shostakovich. Oxford University Press, London, 1971 . Kazakova, Tatyana. 'Orchestral style development in the symphonies of Dmiri Shostakovich' . M.A. diss. , California State University (Fullerton), 1982. Keldysh, Yuri. Istoriya muzyki narodov SSSR [A musical history of the peoples of the USSR], vol. 4, 194r1956. Sovetskii kompozitor, Moscow, 1973. Includes contri­ bution by Marina Sabinina on Tenth Symphony, pp. 5-62 . -. 'Soviet Music Today' . Tempo, no. 32 (Summer 1954), 2-8. Keller, Hans. 'The Crisis of Commitment: Second-round Marxism in the westen musical world' . Musical Nwsletter, v, no. 1 (Winter 1975), -7, l-22. -. 'The New in Review: Around the secret of the symphony'. The Music Reviw, xvii (1957), 4-51 . -. 'Shostakovich's 12th Quartet' . Tempo, no. 94 (Autumn 1970), 6-15. Khachaturyan, Aram. 'Desyataya simfoniya D. Shostakovicha' [The Tenth Symphony of D. Shostakovich] . Sovetsaya muzya, 1954, no. 3, 26. Khentova, Sofya. Shostakovich: zhizn' i tvorchestvo [Shostakovich: life and works] . 2 vols. . Sovetskii kompositor, Leningrad, 1986. Kremlev, Yuli. 'O desyatoi simfonii D. Shostakovicha' [Shostakovich's Tenth Sym­ phony] . Sovetsaya muzya, 1957, no. 4, 7-84. Layton, Robert. 'Dimitri Shostakovich (190-1975) Symphony no. 10 in E minor, opus 93 (1953)' . Sleeve note to RL 25049 [1977] . Leonard, Richard. A Histoy of Russian Music. jarrolds, London, 1956. Mar6thy, Janos. 'Harmonic Disharmony: Shostakovich's Quintet' . Studia Musicologia, x (1977), 3248. Mazel', Lev. Eyudy o Shostakoviche [Studies of Shostakovich] . Sovetskii kompozitor, Moscow, 1986. -. Simonii D. D. Shostakovicha: putevoditel' [The symphonies of D. D. Shostakovich: a -

.

85

The Breath of the Symphonist guide) . Sovetskii kompozitor, Moscow, 1960. -. ' ber den Stl Dmiri Schostakowitschs' . Beitrige zur Musikwissenschat, x (1967), 208-20 (see Ordzhonikidze 1967). McQuere, Gordon (ed . ) . Russian Theoretical Thought in Music. UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, 1983. Meyer, Krzysztof. Dmitri Schostakowitsch. Reclam, Leipzig. 1980. Norris, Christopher (ed . ) . Shostakovich: the Man and his Music. Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982. Norris, Geoffrey. 'Bitter Memories: . The Shostakovich tesimony' [review of Volkov 1979) . The Musical Times, cxxi (1980), 241-3. -. 'Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10' . Sleeve note to DG 413 361 [1982) . Oistrakh, David. 'Zametki muzykanta' . Sovetsaya muzya, 1954, no. 9, 21-6. Translated as 'Notes of a Musician. Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony' . S . C.R. [Society or Cultural Relations with the U. S . S . R . ] Music Section Bulletin, i, no. 4 (October 1954), 16. Oliver, Michael. Review in Gramophone, !xi, no. 735 (August 194), p. 228. Ordzhonkidze, Givi. Dmitri Shostakovich. Sovetskii kompozitor, Moscow, 1967. Includes A. Dolzhansky, 'Aleksandriiskii pentakhord v muzyke D. Shostako­ vicha' [The Alexandrine pentachord in the music of D. Shostakovich], 397439; Lev Maze!', 'Zametki o muzykal'nom yazyke Shostakovicha' [Observations on Shostakovich's musical language), 303-59; Al'fred Shnitke, 'Nekotorye osoben­ nosi orkestrovogo golosovedeniya v simfonicheskikh proizvedeniyakh D. D. Shostakovicha' [Some features of orchestration in the symphonic works of D. D. Shostakovich], 499c532. Orlov, Genrikh. 'Obogashchenie zhanra' [The enrichment of a genre]. Sovetsaya muzya, 1954, no. 11, 10-15. . -. Russkii Sovetskii Simonizm [Russian Soviet symphonism) . Muzyka, Moscow and Leningrad, 1966. -. Simonii Shostakovicha [The symphonies of Shostakovich] . Muzgiz, Leninrad, 196 1 . -. Simonii D. Shostakovicha [The symphonies . of D. Shostakovich] . Muzgiz, Leningrad, 1962. Ottaway, Hugh. 'Shostakovich: Some later works'. Tempo, no. 50 (Winter 1959) . 2-14. -. Shostakovich Symphonies. British Broadcasting Corporaion, London, 1978. -. 'Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony' . The Musical Times, xcvii (1956), 350-2. Polyakova, Lyudmila. Soviet Music. Foreign Languages Publising House, Moscow, 1961 . Rabinovich, David. Dmity Shostaovich. Lawrence & Wishart, London, 1959. Rayment, Malcolm. 'Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 in E minor Op. 93' . Sleeve note to ALP 1322 ( = HQM 1034) [1956] . Sabinina, Marina. Shostakovich - Simonist: dramaturgiya, estetia, stil' [Shostakovich symphonist: dramaturgy, aestheic, style]. Muzyka, Moscow, 1976. -. Simonizm Shostakovicha: put' k zrelosti [Shostakovich's symphonism: the path to maturity). Nauka, Moscow, 1965. Sadovnikov, Efim. D. D. Shostaovich: Notograicheskii i bibliograicheskii spravochnik [D. D. Shostakovich: A guide to ediions and bibliography] . Muzyka, Moscow, 1965. Schiff, Heinrich. Interview in Gramophone, !xii, no. 735 (August 1984), p. 199. Schoenberg, Arnold, ed. Leonard Stein. Style and Idea . Faber, London, 1975. Includes 'Criteria for the Evaluaion of Music' (1946), 12-36. Schwarz, Boris. Music and Musical Le in Soviet Russia. Enlarged Ediion. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1983. [S.C.R.] 'Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony' . (Abridged translaion of [Sovetskaya muzyka] 1954 . ) S.C.R. [Societyor Cultural Relations with the U. S.S.R.] Music Section Bulletin, i, no. 3 (August 1954), 12-16. Seroff, Victor. Dmitri Shostakovich . Knopf, New York, 1943 (repr. 1970) . Shlifshtein, S. Sleeve note to ASD 2409 [1966) . Shneerson, Grigori. D. Shostakovich: Stat'i i materialy [D. Shostakovich: Aricles and materials) . Sovetskii kompozitor, Moscow, 1976. Shostakovich, Dmitri. Dmity Shostakovich About Himself and His Times. Compiled by Lev Grigoryev and Yakov Platek. Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1981 . [From Mikhail Yakovlev, Dmitri Shostakovich o vremeni i o sebe. Sovetskii kompozitor, Moscow, 1980.) 'Thoughts about Tchaikovsky'. In Russian Symphony [foreword to anonymously edited symposium] . Philosophical Library, New York, 1947.

86

Bibliography Simpson, Robert (ed . ) . The Symphony. Two vols. Penguin, Harmondsworth, 196,7. Includes Hans Keller, . 'Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky', i, 342-53, Robert Layton, 'Dmitri Shostakovich', i, 197-217. Slonimsky, Nicolas. 'Dmiti Dmitrievitch Shostakovitch' . The Musical Quarterly, xxviii (1942), 41-44. -. Music since 1 900. 4th edition. Cassell, London, 1972. . Sokol' sky, Matias. 'Zrelost' i masterstvo' [Maturity and mastery] . Sovetskaya kul'tura, 27 February 1954, 3. -. 'Novoe ispolnenie desyatoi simfonii D. Shostakovicha' [A New Intepretation of . Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony] . Sovetsaya muzya, 1954, no. 12, 8-7. Abridged translation in S.C.R. [Society or Cultural Relations with the· U. S . S.R.) Music Section Bulletin, i, no. 1 (May 1955), 1-3. . Sollertinsky, Dmitri and Ludmlla . Pages rom the Le of Dmitri Shostakovich. Robert Hale, London, 198 1 . [Sovetskaya muzyka . ] 'Znachitel'noe yavlenie sovetskoi muzyki' (An important event in Soviet music] . Sovetsaya muzya, 1954, no. 6, 119:34·. For translaion see [S. C . R . ] above. Sponheuer, Bernd. Logik des Zerfalls: Untersuchungen zum Finalproblei in den Symphonien Gustav Mahlers. Schneider, Tutzing, 1978. . Stanley, Bill Thaddeus, Jr. 'The Relationship of Orchestration to Formal Structures in the Non-programmatic Symphonies of Shostakovich' . Ph.D. diss. , The Florida State University, 1979. Tigranov, Georgi. Sovetsaya simoniya za 50 let [50 years of the Soviet symphony], Muzyka, Leningrad, 1967. Includes Boris Arapov on Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, 45�. Tret'yakova, Liliya. Dmitri Shostakovich. Sovetskaya Rossiya, Moscow, . 1.7K Generalised synopsis of Tenth Symphony on pp. 18-93. Vasina-Grossman, Vera. Mastera sovetskogo romansa [Masters of Soviet song] . Muzyka, Moscow, 1980. Vishnevskaya, Galina, translated by Guy Daniels. Galina: A Russian Stoy. Hodder and ' Stoughton, London, 1984. Volkonsky, Andrei. 'Optimisticheskaya tragediya' [An optimisic tragedy] . Sovetskaya muzya, 1954, no. 4, -8. Volkov, Solomon. Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich as related to and edited y Solomon Volkov. Hamish Hamilton, London, 1979. Whittall, Arnold. Music since the First World War. Dent, London, 1977. Wilde, Erika. 'Dimitri Shostakowitsch (*1906) Symphonie Nr. 10 e-moll op. 93' . Sleeve note to DG 139020 [1967] . Yarustovsky, Boris. 'Desyataya simfoniya D. Shostakovicha' [The Tenth Symphony of D. Shostakovich] . Sovetsaya muzya, 1954, no. 4, -24. Youens, Frederick. 'Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 in E minor, op. 93' . Sleeve note to XID 5228 [1964] . Zoff, Otto. 'Schostakowitschs zehnte Symphonie in New York' . Melos, xx U1954), 360. Eric Rosebery' s mpotant dissertation 'Ideology, Style, Content and Thematic Process n the Symphoies, Celo Concetos and Sng Qutets of Shostkovich' (h.D., Bistol University, 1981; Grland, New York, 1989) was not nown to me at the tme of witing. Rosebery views the overlldramargy of the Tenth Smphony as a dialectical process in which the thrd movement acts as a pivot towrds the tiumphant synthesis of the nale (p. 206) . I feel the issue is rather more. complex (see above pp. 62, 71, 2 [n. 7], 76); nd the remrks of Shostkovich's riend Ivan Solernsky (on 19th centry symphonic radition, but undoubtedly relevant to Shostkovich) iven m ranslaion n Rosebey's Appendix B, lso suggest to me the appropiateness of a less drect mode of ntepretaion (see lso Rosebey' s reiew of this book n Music and Lettes, xx (1989), 2814) . ·

·

·

.

·

,

.

·

·

·

.

.

I.

87

Abraham, Gerald, i o n. 7 Akimova, Z., 2 n. 6 ambivalence, · 7, 7-6

Index

Ballanine, Christopher, 21 n. 15, 25 n. 17 Bart6k, Bela, 73, 79· Beethoven, Ludwig van, 58, 75, 77: Piano Sonata Op. 0 No. 3, 21 n. 14; Sym­ phony No. 5, 75; Symphony No. 7, 25 n. 17; Symphony No. 9, 54, 56, 61 n. 6, 75 Berg, Alban, 28: Chamber· Concerto, 51 n. 6 Berlioz, Hector: Symphonie antastique, 61 n. 6, 80 Bizet, Georges: L'Arlesienne, 80 Blokker, Roy, 3 n. 7, 4 n. 11 Bobrovsky, Viktor, 4 n. 11 Borchardt, Georg, 47 n. 2, 52 n. 9, 80 Borodin, Aleksandr, 4 n. 10, 77 Brahms, Johannes: Piano Concerto No. l , 79; Symphony N o . l , 52, 61 n. 6, 80 'Breath of [the] symphonist[s]', l, 2, 8-9 n. 5, 11, 73 Britten, Benjamin, 70 Brown, Malcolm, 84 Bruckner, Anton, 25 n. 17, 58 Bruni, G . , 50 brutalisation, 36 Chaikovsky, Petr, 3 n. 7, 7, 13, 40, 77: Queen of Spades, 79; Symphony No. 4, 25, 4 n. 10, 75: Symphony No. 5, 32 n. 22, 36, 40, 75; Symphony No. 6 ('Pathe­ tique'), 10 n. 6, 25 n. 17, 69 n. 13, 75, 79, 80; Manred Symphony, 49 contrast, 9, 53 cyclic construction, 48, 56, 77 Dahlhaus, Carl, 16 n. 12 Debussy, Claude, 70 diastematy, 26, 46 'Dmitry Shostakovich About Himself and His Times' [Shostakovkh's "oficial" writings and speeches], 2, 4 n. 12, 6 n. 1, 31 n. 21, 50 n. 5, 70, 74 n. 11, 75 n. 14, 78 Dolzhansky, Aleksandr, 14 n. 11 Downes, Olin, 3 n. 6 DSCH musical signature, 4, 47-57, 62, 67, 69, 71 Dzhugashvili, losif, 2, 3, 4, 6 . n. 2, 4, 76, 78 Erenburg, Il'ya, 3 n. 6

88

Elgar, Edward, 70 expressionism, 40 Fay, Laurel, 2 n . 4 Fedosova, Eleonora, 16 n� 13 finale problem, 4, 58; 71, 75, 76 Galilei, Galileo, 75 Glinka, Mikhail, 12 n. 9 Grieg, Edvard: Valse-caprice, 80 heterophony, 23 n. 16, 43 Hughes, Michael, 40 n. 2 Hulme, Oerek, 30 n. 19, 71 n. 4, 80 humour, 6 irony, 6, 58, 7 i-6, 84 Jewish music, 72 n. 5, 75 Kay, Norman, 16 n. 13 Keller, Hans, 1, 25 n. 17 Khachaturyan, Aram, 2 n. 6 .Khentova, Sof'ya, 4 Kremlev, Yuli, 10 n. 6, 72 n. 6, 79, 84 Kondrashin, Kirill, 60 n. 3, 74 Layton, Robert, 3 n. 7, 36 nn. 23-4, 47 n . 2, 72 n. 8, 80 Leonard, Richard, 3 n. 7 Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, 40 Liszt, Franz: Faust Symphony,. 10 n. 6, 36, 79 Mahler, Gustav, 28, 52, 54, 58, 70, 75: Das Lied von der Erde, 52, 57, 80; Symphony No. 1, 20 n. 14; Symphony No. 2, 52, 80; Symphony No. 5, 52, 60, 75, 80; Symphony No. 6, 61 n. 6; Symphony No. 7, 62, 75; Symphony No. 9, 40; Symphony No. 10, 39 Mann, Thomas, Doktor austus, 75 Mar6thy, Janos, 84 Maze!', Lev, 16 n. 13, 25 n. 17, 70, 72 n. 7, 4 Mcculloh, Russell, 30 n. 19 McQuere, Gordon, 16 n. 12, 4 Meyer, Krzysztof, 4 n. 10 modality, 14 n. 1 1 , 16-20, 256, 29, 34, 426, 5--1 , 55, 56, 64 motif x, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 29� 30, 31, 40, 41-2, 4, 45, 49, 53, 54, 55, 71 motif y, 7, 12, 25, 49 motif z, 11, 12, 62, n. 8 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 72 n. 6, 75: Symphony No. 39, 80

Index Mravinsky, Evgeni, 40 n. 2, 47 n. 1, 2 n . 5 , 7 4 n. 12 Musorgsky, Modest, 52: Boris Godunov, 41 n. 3, 52, 79, 80; Night on a Bare Moun­ tain, 80; Sunless ('On the iver'), 10 n. 6, 79 ·

Nature, 31 n . 20, 47 n . 2, 51 Nielsen, Carl: Symphony No. 6 ('Sinfonia semplice'}, 36 Norris, Christopher, 38 n. 25 Norris, Geoffrey, 2 n. 4, 47 n. 2 octatonic scale, 42 n. 5 Oliver, Michael, 5860 nn. 2-3 Ordzhonikidze, Givi, 14 n. 1 1 , 23 n. 16 Orlov, Genrikh, 3 n. 7, 12 n . 9, 31 n. 20, 51 n. 8, 61 n. 6, 72 n. 7, 7980, 4 Ottaway, Hugh, 3 n. 7, 4 i. 8, 60 n. 2, 72 n. 8, 73 n. 9 Pasteur, Louis, 75 phrase-structure, 45, 49, 56 pivot chords, 16, 17-18, 18, 20 Polyakova, Lyudmila, 57 n. 12 programme, 4, 10, 47 Pravda, 74 n . 1 1 Prokof'ev, Sergei, 38, 70: Pete r and the Wol, 68: Symphony No. 6, 80 Rabinovich, David, 6 n. 3 Rakhmaninov, Sergei, 3 n. 7: Piano Concerto No. 2, 25 n. 1 7 Ravel, Maurice, 70 Rayment, Malcolm, 47 n. 2 rhetoric, 7 Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai, 28 Rizhkin, I . , 79 rondo, 48, 64 n. 11 Rqssini, Gioacchino, 75 Sabinina, Marina, 48 n. 3, 52, 62 n. 8, 4 n. 11, 72 n. 7, 79-80, 4 Sadovnikov, Eim, 85 Schwarz, Boris, 3 nn. 6, 6 n. 2 Schiff, Heinrich, 734 Schoenberg, Arnold, 1, 2, 75 Schubert, Franz, Death and the Maiden Quartet, 21 n. 14 Schumann, Robert, Kinderszenen, 70 Seroff, Victor, 6 n. 2 Shcherbachev, Vladimir, Symphony No. 5, 79 Shlifshtein, Semen, 58 n. 2 Shnitke, Al'fred,. 23 n. 16 Shostakovich, Dmitri: . Belinsky, 79; Cello Concerto No. 1, 20 n. 14, 38; Cello Concerto No. 2, 10, 47; Cello Sonata, 74; Child's Exercise Book, 70; Dances of the Dolls, 70; Fall of Berlin, 41 n. 3, 79, 80;

Festive Overture, 2; From Jwish Folk Poety, 79, 4; Funeral-Triumphal Prelude, 80; Gadly, 80; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, 31 n. 21, 0, 68, 74 n. 11; 76;

October, 80;

Piano Concerto No. 1, 71; Piano Concerto No. 2, 71; Piano Quintet, 74; Piano Sonata No. 2, 38; Piano Trio No. 2, 10, 74, 80; Preludes Op. 4, 79; Preludes and Fugues, 79, 84; Seven Rivers, 79; String Quartet No. 3, 79; String Quartet No. 4, 4; String Quartet No. 5, 38, 49, 79, 84; String Quartet No. 8, 47, 74; String Quartet No. 1 1 , 52; String Quartets Nos. 12-15, 47; Suite on Verses of Michelangelo, 47, 75; Symphony No. 1, 14, 49, 61 n. 6, 80; Symphony No. 2, 10; Symphony No. 3, 10, 52, 80; Symphony No. 4, 36, 39, 40; Symphony No. 5, 2, 4, 8, 10, 23, 29, 31-7, 40, 41, 42, 72 n. 5, 74, 75; Symphony No. 6, 47, '4; Symphony No. 7, 25, 36 n. 24, 40, 2 n. 5, 75, 79; Symphony No. 8, 4, 8, 10, 22, 23, 29, 31-7, 39, 40, 41, 49, 52, 70, 79, 80; Symphony No. 9, 38, 39, 47, 60, 74 n . 1 2 , 78, 80, 84; Symphony No. 10, First movement, 4, -38, 40, 48, 53-54, 62, 63, 71, 72 n. 7, 75, 76, 77, 79, 81-2; themes, 7-9, 2-4; Section A (Intro­ duction), 7-9, 9-12, 15-18, 23, 24, 26, 28, 30-1, 53, 62, 63, 72 n. 7; Section B (First Subject}, 5, 7-9, 12-13, 15, 18-21, 23, 24, 26-7, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, 72 n. 7; Section C (Second Subject}, 7-9, 13-15, 20-1 , 23, 24, 28, 29-30, 53; Section D (Development}, 11 n. 8, 21, 22-8, 29-30, 31, 56, 62, 75; Section E (Recapitulation of introduction and first subject}, 21, 24, 25, 28-9, 31, 36, 54; Section F (Recapitulation of second subject}, 24, 2-30, 53; Sec­ tion G (Coda}, 26, 27, 3-1 , 53; Second Movement, 4, 38, 3946, 48, 52, 53, 55, 67, 69, 71, 72 n. 7, 74, 76, 77, 79, 82; Third Movement, 4, 20, 32, 47-57, 60, 62, 63, 67, 68, 72 n. 7, 74, 75, 76, 77, 7980, 82-3; Fourth Movement, 4, 48, 54, 5-69 , 706, 77, 78, 80, 83; Collected Works score, 5 n. 13, 48 n. 4, 60 n. 4 first performance, 2;

89

The Breath of the Symphonist significance for Russian composers, 3; version for piano duet, 5 n. 13, 30 n. 19, 39 n . 1, 40, 54 n. 11, 67 n . 12 Symphony No. 13, 47, 75; 'Symphony No. 14, 11, 74; Symphony No. 15, 47, 75; Two Fables y Kylov, 71 n. 4, 80; Viola Sonata, 47; Violin Concerto No. 1, 4 n. 10, 10, 49, 50, 79, 4; Violin Concerto No. 2, 47; Violin Sonata, 47 writings, see: 'Dmitry Shostakovich About Himself and His Times'; 'Testimony' Shostakovich, Maksim, 42 n. 4 Sibelius, Jean, 1 Simpson, Robert, 3 n. 7, 9 n. 5, 25 n. 17, 36 nn. 234, 72 n. 8, 80 Skryabin, Aleksandr, 28 Slonimsky, Nicolas, 50 n. 5, 62 n. 8 Socialist realism, 2, 58, 72, 4 Sokol'sky, Matias, 72 n. 7, 4 Sollertinsky, Dmitri and Ludmilla, 74 n. 12 Sollertinsky, Ivan, 6 n. 2 Sponheuer, Bernd, 60 n. 5 Stalin, Iosif, see Dzhugashvili, Iosif Stanley, BiJI, 29 n. 18 Stevenson; Ronald, 38 n. 25

90

Stravinsky, Igor, 73; Symphony in C, 25 n. 17 symphonic allegro, 6, 38, 77 Tarakhanov, Mikhail, 16 n. 12 Tepper, Matthew, 40 n. 2 'Testimony' [Shostakovich's disputed memoirs], 2, 4, 6, 4, 47, 58, 72, 78 tonality, passim transformation, 60-1, 623, 4, 65-7 Union - of Soviet Composers, 3 n. 5, 6, 2 unity, 9 Vainberg, Moisei, 30 n. 19, 67 n. 12, 81 Vasina-Grossman, Vera, 75 n. 13 Vish.evskaya, Galina, 2 n. 3, 4 n. 1 1 Volkonsky, Andrei, 7 2 n . 7 Volkov, Solomon, see 'Testimony' Wagner, Richard, 75 Whittall, Arnold, 3 n. 7, 62 n. 7, 2 n. 8 Wilde, Erika, 47 n. 2 Yarustovsky, Boris, 10 n. 6, 29 n. 18, 51 nn. 6-7, 63 n. 9, 70 n. 2, 79-80, 4 Youens, Frederick, 47 nn. 1-2 Zhdanov, Andrei, 3 n. 6 Zoff, Otto, 54 n. 1 1