Symphony No.

9 (Shostakovich)
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Symphony No. 9 in E-flat major, Op. 70, was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1945. It
was premiered on 3 November 1945 in Leningrad by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
under Yevgeny Mravinsky.

Contents
 1 History
o 1.1 Development
o 1.2 Premières
o 1.3 Reception
 2 Instrumentation
 3 Form
 4 Notes
 5 References
 6 External links

History[edit]
Development[edit]

The ninth symphony was originally intended to be a celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi
Germany in World War II (see Eastern Front). The composer declared in October 1943 that the
symphony would be a large composition for orchestra, soloists and chorus "about the greatness
of the Soviet people, about our Red Army liberating our native land from the enemy". On the
occasion of the 27th anniversary of the Revolution held in 1944, Shostakovich affirmed,
"Undoubtedly like every Soviet artist, I harbor the tremulous dream of a large-scale work in
which the overpowering feelings ruling us today would find expression. I think the epigraph to
all our work in the coming years will be the single word 'Victory'."

David Rabinovich recalled from a conversation he had with Shostakovich on the ninth symphony
in 1944 that the composer "would like to write it for a chorus and solo singers as well as an
orchestra". In a meeting with his students on 16 January 1945, Shostakovich informed them that
the day before he had begun work on a new symphony. A week later, he told them that he had
reached the middle of the development section, and the work was going to open with a big tutti.
Isaak Glikman heard around ten minutes of the music Shostakovich had written for the first
movement in late April, which he described as "majestic in scale, in pathos, in its breathtaking
motion".
But then Shostakovich dropped the composition for three months. He resumed work on 26 July
1945 and finished on 30 August 1945. The symphony turned out to be a completely different
work from the one he had originally planned, with neither soloists nor chorus and a much lighter
mood. He forewarned listeners, "In character, the Ninth Symphony differs sharply from my
preceding symphonies, the Seventh and the Eighth. If the Seventh and the Eighth symphonies
bore a tragic-heroic character, then in the Ninth a transparent, pellucid, and bright mood
predominates."

Premières[edit]

Shostakovich and Sviatoslav Richter played Symphony No. 9 in a four-hand arrangement for
musicians and cultural officials in early September 1945. The premiere, conducted by Yevgeny
Mravinsky, took place on 3 November 1945 in the opening concert of the 25th season of the
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, sharing the program with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5.
The concert was broadcast live on the radio.

The Moscow premiere took place on 20 November 1945. A performing version of the first
version of the Ninth (Symphonic Fragment) was performed under Gennady Rozhdestvensky in
2008. A Naxos CD containing a recording of the Symphonic Fragment was released in
2009.[1][2][3]

Reception[edit]

Shostakovich once remarked that "musicians will like to play it, and critics will delight in
blasting it". But the initial reaction of his peers to the new symphony was generally favourable:[4]

Transparent. Much light and air. Marvellous tutti, fine themes (the main theme of the first
movement – Mozart!). Almost literally Mozart. But, of course, everything very individual,
Shostakovichian... A marvellous symphony. The finale is splendid in its joie de vivre, gaiety,
brilliance, and pungency!!

— Gavriil Nikolayevich Popov

Shostakovich's prediction was right in the long run: less than a year after its première, Soviet
critics censured the symphony for its "ideological weakness" and its failure to "reflect the true
spirit of the people of the Soviet Union". On 20 September 1946, a highly critical article by
musicologist Izrail Nestyev was published:[5]

What remains to be proposed is that the Ninth Symphony is a kind of respite, a light and amusing
interlude between Shostakovich's significant creations, a temporary rejection of great, serious
problems for the sake of playful, filigree-trimmed trifles. But is it the right time for a great artist
to go on vacation, to take a break from contemporary problems?

— Izrail Vladimirovich Nestyev, "Remarks on the Work of D. Shostakovich: Some Thoughts

Occasioned by His Ninth Symphony"
Neither was the symphony well received in the West: "The Russian composer should not have
expressed his feelings about the defeat of Nazism in such a childish manner" (New York World-
Telegram, 27 July 1946).

Symphony No. 9 was nominated for the Stalin Prize in 1946, but failed to win it. By order of
Glavrertkom, the central censorship board, the work was banned on 14 February 1948 in his
second denunciation together with some other works by the composer[citation needed]. It was
removed from the list in the summer of 1955 when the symphony was performed and broadcast.

Instrumentation[edit]
The symphony is scored for:

Woodwinds
Piccolo
2 Flutes
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in B♭ and A
2 Bassoons
Brass
4 Horns
2 Trumpets
3 Trombones
Tuba
Percussion
Timpani
Snare drum
Bass drum
Cymbals
Triangle
Tambourine
Strings
1st Violins
2nd Violins
Violas
Cellos
Double basses

Form[edit]
The work has five movements, the last three played without interruption:

I. Allegro
II. Moderato
III. Presto
IV. Largo
V. Allegretto — Allegro

A typical performance lasts for around 26 minutes, which makes this symphony one of
Shostakovich's shortest. (Only his Second is shorter.)

The symphony is a playful and vivid musical work, with a neoclassical air that has led to
comparisons to Haydn's symphonies and to Prokofiev's ”Classical” Symphony. Shostakovich
himself considered it "a joyful little piece".

Notes[edit]
1. ^ Russian Shostakovich Studies: History in the Contemporary Stage, Web Article by Dr
Liudmila Kovnatskaya.
2. ^ Four Shostakovich World Premieres Recorded for Naxos, Naxos Website.
3. ^ Liner notes to the Naxos CD (8.57213) which features the recording of the surviving
portion of the first version of the Ninth.
4. ^ Shostakovich: A Life by Laurel E Fay p. 147. via Google Books. Retrieved 15 July
2014.
5. ^ Shostakovich: A Life by Laurel E Fay p. 152. via Google Books. Retrieved 15 July
2014.

References[edit]
 Fay, Laurel (1999). Shostakovich: A Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513438-9.