VIII. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri: Symphony #4 in C Minor, Op. 43

VIII. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Symphony #4 in C Minor, Op. 43 (1935-36)
1. Allegretto poco moderato -- Presto
2. Moderato con moto
3. Largo -- Allegro
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov, cond.
(1:04:34)

Shostakovich's first three symphonies were written when he was 19-23. When he composed the Fourth, he was 30 and had just completed his opera, then titled "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensek District."

The opera was a popular success, but Stalin -- who had attended a rehearsal of this symphony -- was somehow dissatisfied with the composer's efforts.

He had an article published in Pravda entitled Muddle Instead of Music. Thus began the first of Shostakovich's troubled relationship with the dictator.

Shostakovich surely knew which side his bread was buttered on. His next symphony -- the Fifth (see Post CLXIX), perhaps his most popular, had a subtitle: "a Soviet artist's creative response to justified criticism."

Not until Stalin's death in 1953 did DS write a work as great and massive as the Fourth.

After withdrawing the work from rehearsals, it was not heard again until 1961! For 25 years, the manuscript gathered dust in a drawer ...

**

The end of the Second Movement contains some brilliant writing for percussion (36:04).

The end of the final movement is a long drone in C Minor which is very effective.