Despite enthusiastic public reception, critical and 'official' reactions to the Tenth Symphony were circumspect, reflecting the difficulty in assessing the work so soon after Stalin's death.
Composition History
Shostakovich completed the Tenth Symphony in earnest in 1953, finishing the first movement on August 5th and the entire work by October 25th.
Notable Performances
The public premiere of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony was conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra in Leningrad on December 17, 1953.
Compositional Technique
The third movement of the symphony features a four-note motif D-E flat-C-B, which in German nomenclature spells D-S-C-H, representing the composer's initials and first three letters of his surname.
Composition History
The eight-year gap between Shostakovich's Ninth and Tenth Symphonies was the longest hiatus between any two of his symphonic works.
Historical Context
The 'Zhdanov decree' of February 1948 censured Shostakovich, effectively dividing his output into 'official' works for immediate consumption and 'private' works with no prospect of public performance.
Compositional Technique
A five-note motif E-A-E-D-A, a musical translation of the first name of pianist Elmira Nazirova, appears twelve times in the third movement.
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