Dmitry Shostakovich's symphonies, along with Mahler's, are considered central to 'modern' music for non-specialist concertgoers.
Critical Reception
Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony was denied a Stalin Prize in 1946 and later placed on a list of proscribed pieces in 1948, only to be rehabilitated in 1955.
Composition History
Shostakovich initially intended his Ninth Symphony to be a large-scale 'victory symphony' honoring the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany, but abandoned the draft.
Notable Performances
The premiere of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony in Leningrad on November 21, 1937, with Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting, was overwhelmingly positive.
Composition History
Shostakovich began his Fifth Symphony in April 1937, after two years without a new concert premiere and having withdrawn his Fourth Symphony from rehearsal.
Critical Reception
The Fifth Symphony's success was initially attributed by officials to the hall being 'planted' with the composer's admirers, though its Moscow premiere confirmed public acceptance.
Critical Reception
The Fifth Symphony became one of the most recorded contemporary works, amassing more performances than any other 20th-century symphony except Sibelius's Second by Shostakovich's death.
