IDAGIO | Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 - Part: De profundis 5059864533532

Featuring

John Storgårds
Albert Dohmen
BBC Philharmonic
Estonian National Male Choir
Arvo Pärt
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Compositional Technique

Arvo Pärt's 'tintinnabuli' style, exemplified by 'De profundis', uses triadic arpeggiations and scalic figures to create clashes that are both unpredictable and strictly controlled.

Historical Context

The poem 'Babiy Yar' by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, set in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13, sparked controversy by implicitly commenting on anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union.

Composition History

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13, 'Babiy Yar', nearly had its premiere called off due to 'interference from above' by Soviet authorities.

Performer Biography

The Estonian National Male Choir, founded in 1944, received a Grammy award in 2004 for Best Choral Performance, a first for Estonia.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Shostakovich used C major as his 'favourite musical symbol for authority' and deliberately avoided conforming to it in the second movement of his Symphony No. 13.

Composer Biography

Arvo Pärt, a composer born in 1935, went through a prolonged creative crisis between 1968 and 1976, after which he emerged with his 'tintinnabuli' style.

Composition History

Shostakovich initially planned 'Babiy Yar' as a single-movement cantata but expanded it into a five-movement symphony after finding more subversive poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko.