D.D. Shostakovich "Leningrad Symphony"
Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony (Leningrad) is a great work that reflects not only the will to win, but also force majeure spirit of the Russian people. The music is a chronicle of the war years; a trace of history can be heard in every sound. The composition, grandiose in scale, gave hope and faith not only to people in besieged Leningrad, but also to the entire Soviet people.
Find out how the work was composed and under what circumstances it was first performed, as well as the content and variety interesting facts can be found on our page.
The history of the creation of the “Leningrad Symphony”
Dmitry Shostakovich was always a very sensitive person; it was as if he anticipated the beginning of a complex historical event. So, back in 1935, the composer began to compose variations in the passacaglia genre. It is worth noting that this genre is a funeral procession, common in Spain. According to the plan, the essay was supposed to repeat the principle of variation used Maurice Ravel V " Bolero" The sketches were even shown to students at the conservatory where the brilliant musician taught. The theme of the passacaglia was quite simple, but its development was created thanks to the dry drumming. Gradually the dynamics increased to enormous power, which demonstrated a symbol of fear and horror. The composer was tired of working on the work and put it aside.
The war awakened Shostakovich the desire to complete the work and bring it to triumphant and victorious finale. The composer decided to use the previously started passacaglia in the symphony; it became a large episode, which was built on variations, and replaced the development. In the summer of 1941, the first part was completely ready. Then the composer began work on the middle movements, which were completed by the composer even before the evacuation from Leningrad.
The author recalled own work over the work: “I wrote it faster than previous works. I couldn't do anything differently and not write it. There was a terrible war going on all around. I just wanted to capture the image of our country, which is fighting so hard in its own music. On the first day of the war, I already got to work. Then I lived at the conservatory, like many of my musician friends. I was an air defense fighter. I didn’t sleep or eat, and only looked up from my writing when I was on duty or when there were air raid alarms.”
The fourth part was the most difficult, as it was supposed to be the triumph of good over evil. The composer felt anxious; the war had a very serious impact on his morale. His mother and sister were not evacuated from the city, and Shostakovich was very worried about them. Pain tormented his soul, he could not think about anything. There was no one nearby who could inspire him to the heroic finale of the work, but, nevertheless, the composer gathered his courage and completed the work in the most optimistic spirit. A few days before the onset of 1942, the work was completely composed.
Performance of Symphony No. 7
The work was first performed in Kuibyshev in the spring of 1942. The premiere was conducted by Samuil Samosud. It is noteworthy that correspondents from different countries. The audience's assessment was more than high; several countries immediately wanted to perform the symphony in the world's most famous philharmonic societies, and requests began to be sent to send the score. The right to be the first to perform the work outside the country was entrusted to the famous conductor Toscanini. In the summer of 1942, the work was performed in New York and was a huge success. The music spread all over the world.
But not a single performance on Western stages could compare with the scale of the premiere in besieged Leningrad. On August 9, 1942, the day when, according to Hitler’s plan, the city was supposed to fall from the blockade, Shostakovich’s music was played. All four movements were played by conductor Carl Eliasberg. The work was heard in every home and on the streets, as it was broadcast on the radio and through street speakers. The Germans were amazed - this was a real feat, showing the strength of the Soviet people.
Interesting facts about Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7
- The work received the name “Leningradskaya” from the famous poetess Anna Akhmatova.
- Since its composition, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 has become one of the most politicized works of all time. classical music. Thus, the date of the premiere of the symphonic work in Leningrad was not chosen by chance. According to the German plan, the complete massacre of the city built by Peter the Great was scheduled for August 9th. The commander-in-chief was given special invitation cards to the Astoria restaurant, which was popular at that time. They wanted to celebrate the victory over the besieged in the city. Tickets for the premiere of the symphony were distributed free of charge to survivors of the siege. The Germans knew about everything and became unwitting listeners of the work. On the day of the premiere, it became clear who would win the battle for the city.
- On the day of the premiere, the whole city was filled with Shostakovich’s music. The symphony was broadcast on the radio and also from city street loudspeakers. People listened and could not hide their own emotions. Many cried with a sense of pride for the country.
- The music of the first part of the symphony became the basis of a ballet called “Leningrad Symphony”.
- The famous writer Alexei Tolstoy wrote an article about the “Leningrad” Symphony, in which he not only described the work as a triumph of the thought of the human in man, but also analyzed the work from a musical point of view.
- Most of the musicians were taken out of the city at the beginning of the blockade, so difficulties arose in assembling a whole orchestra. But still, it was assembled, and the piece was learned in just a few weeks. The Leningrad premiere was conducted by a famous conductor German origin Eliasberg. Thus, it was emphasized that, regardless of nationality, every person strives for peace.
- The symphony can be heard in the famous computer game called "Entente".
- In 2015, the work was performed at the Philharmonic Society of the city of Donetsk. The premiere took place as part of a special project.
- Poet and friend Alexander Petrovich Mezhirov dedicated this work poetry.
- One of the Germans, after the USSR’s victory over Nazi Germany, admitted: “It was on the day of the premiere of the Leningrad Symphony that we realized that we would lose not only the battle, but the entire war. Then we felt the strength of the Russian people, which could overcome everything, including hunger and death.
- Shostakovich himself wanted the symphony in Leningrad to be performed by his favorite orchestra of the Leningrad Philharmonic, conducted by the brilliant Mravinsky. But this could not happen, since the orchestra was in Novosibirsk, transporting musicians would have become too difficult and could lead to tragedy, since the city was under siege, so the orchestra had to be formed from people who were in the city. Many were musicians in military bands, many were invited from neighboring cities, but in the end the orchestra was assembled and performed the work.
- During the performance of the symphony, the secret operation "Squall" was successfully carried out. Later, a participant in this operation will write a poem dedicated to Shostakovich and the operation itself.
- A review by a journalist from the English magazine Time, who was specially sent to the USSR for the premiere in Kuibyshev, has been preserved. The correspondent then wrote that the work was filled with extraordinary nervousness; he noted the brightness and expressiveness of the melodies. In his opinion, the symphony had to be performed in Great Britain and around the world.
- The music is associated with another military event that has happened in our days. On August 21, 2008, the work was performed in Tskhinvali. The symphony was conducted by one of the best conductors modernity Valery Gergiev. The performance was broadcast on leading Russian channels, and was also broadcast on radio stations.
- On the building of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic you can see memorial plaque dedicated to the premiere of the symphony.
- After the signing of the surrender, a news reporter in Europe said: “Is it possible to defeat a country in which, during such terrible military operations, blockades and death, destruction and famine, people manage to write such a powerful work and perform it in a besieged city? I think not. This is a unique feat."
Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, alto flute, piccolo flute, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, piccolo clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 5 timpani, triangle, tambourine, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, tom-tom, xylophone, 2 harps, piano, strings.
History of creation
It is not known exactly when, at the end of the 30s or in 1940, but in any case even before the start of the Great Patriotic War Shostakovich wrote variations on an unchanging theme - the passacaglia, similar in concept to Ravel's Bolero. He showed it to his younger colleagues and students (since the autumn of 1937, Shostakovich taught composition and orchestration at the Leningrad Conservatory). The theme, simple, as if dancing, developed against the background of the dry knock of a snare drum and grew to enormous power. At first it sounded harmless, even somewhat frivolous, but it grew into a terrible symbol of suppression. The composer shelved this work without performing or publishing it.
On June 22, 1941, his life, like the lives of all people in our country, changed dramatically. The war began, previous plans were crossed out. Everyone began to work for the needs of the front. Shostakovich, along with everyone else, dug trenches and was on duty during air raids. He made arrangements for concert brigades sent to active units. Naturally, there were no pianos on the front lines, and he rearranged accompaniments for small ensembles and did other necessary work, as it seemed to him. But as always with this unique musician-publicist - as it has been since childhood, when music conveyed the momentary impressions of stormy revolutionary years, - a major symphonic plan began to mature, dedicated directly to what was happening. He began writing the Seventh Symphony. The first part was completed in the summer. He managed to show it to his closest friend I. Sollertinsky, who on August 22 was leaving for Novosibirsk with the Philharmonic, artistic director which was for many years. In September, already in blockaded Leningrad, the composer created the second part and showed it to his colleagues. Started working on the third part.
On October 1, by special order of the authorities, he, his wife and two children were flown to Moscow. From there, half a month later, he traveled further east by train. Initially it was planned to go to the Urals, but Shostakovich decided to stop in Kuibyshev (as Samara was called in those years). The Bolshoi Theater was based here, there were many acquaintances who initially took the composer and his family into their home, but very quickly the city leadership allocated him a room, and in early December, a two-room apartment. It was equipped with a piano, loaned by the local music school. It was possible to continue working.
Unlike the first three parts, which were created literally in one breath, work on the final progressed slowly. It was sad and anxious at heart. Mother and sister remained in besieged Leningrad, which experienced the most terrible, hungry and cold days. The pain for them did not leave for a minute. It was bad even without Sollertinsky. The composer was accustomed to the fact that a friend was always there, that one could share one’s most intimate thoughts with him - and this, in those days of universal denunciation, became the greatest value. Shostakovich wrote to him often. He reported literally everything that could be entrusted to censored mail. In particular, about the fact that the ending “is not written.” It is not surprising that the last part took a long time to come through. Shostakovich understood that in the symphony, dedicated to events war, everyone expected a solemn victorious apotheosis with a choir, a celebration of the coming victory. But there was no reason for this yet, and he wrote as his heart dictated. It is no coincidence that the opinion later spread that the finale was inferior in importance to the first part, that the forces of evil were embodied much stronger than the humanistic principle opposing them.
On December 27, 1941, the Seventh Symphony was completed. Of course, Shostakovich wanted it to be performed by his favorite orchestra - the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mravinsky. But he was far away, in Novosibirsk, and the authorities insisted on an urgent premiere: a performance of the symphony, which the composer called Leningrad and dedicated to the feat hometown, was given political significance. The premiere took place in Kuibyshev on March 5, 1942. The orchestra was playing Bolshoi Theater under the leadership of Samuil Samosud.
It is very interesting what the “official writer” of that time, Alexey Tolstoy, wrote about the symphony: “The seventh symphony is dedicated to the triumph of the human in man. Let's try (at least partly) to get into the path musical thinking Shostakovich - in the menacing dark nights of Leningrad, under the roar of explosions, in the glow of fires, it led him to write this frank work.<...>The Seventh Symphony arose from the conscience of the Russian people, who without hesitation accepted mortal combat with the black forces. Written in Leningrad, it has grown to the size of great world art, understandable at all latitudes and meridians, because it tells the truth about man in an unprecedented time of his misfortunes and trials. The symphony is transparent in its enormous complexity, it is both stern and masculinely lyrical, and all flies into the future, revealing itself beyond the victory of man over the beast.
The violins talk about stormless happiness - trouble lurks in it, it is still blind and limited, like that of that bird that “walks merrily along the path of disasters”... In this well-being, from the dark depths of unresolved contradictions, the theme of war arises - short, dry, clear, similar to a steel hook. Let’s make a reservation: the man of the Seventh Symphony is someone typical, generalized, and someone beloved by the author. Shostakovich himself is national in the symphony, his Russian enraged conscience is national, bringing down the seventh heaven of the symphony on the heads of the destroyers.
The theme of war arises remotely and at first looks like some kind of simple and eerie dance, like learned rats dancing to the tune of the pied piper. Like a rising wind, this theme begins to sway the orchestra, it takes possession of it, grows, and becomes stronger. The rat catcher, with his iron rats, rises from behind the hill... This is war moving. She triumphs in the timpani and drums, the violins answer with a cry of pain and despair. And it seems to you, squeezing the oak railings with your fingers: is it really, really everything has already been crushed and torn to pieces? There is confusion and chaos in the orchestra.
No. Man is stronger than the elements. Stringed instruments start to fight. The harmony of violins and human voices of bassoons is more powerful than the rumble of a donkey skin stretched over drums. With the desperate beating of your heart you help the triumph of harmony. And the violins harmonize the chaos of war, silence its cavernous roar.
The damned rat catcher is no more, he is carried away into the black abyss of time. Only the thoughtful and stern human voice of the bassoon can be heard - after so many losses and disasters. There is no return to stormless happiness. Before the gaze of a person, wise in suffering, is the path traveled, where he seeks justification for life.
Blood is shed for the beauty of the world. Beauty is not fun, not delight and not festive clothes, beauty is the re-creation and arrangement of wild nature with the hands and genius of man. The symphony seems to touch with a light breath the great heritage of the human journey, and it comes to life.
Average (third - L.M.) part of the symphony is a renaissance, the rebirth of beauty from dust and ashes. It is as if the shadows of great art, great goodness were evoked before the eyes of the new Dante by the force of stern and lyrical reflection.
The final movement of the symphony flies into the future. A majestic world of ideas and passions is revealed to the listeners. This is worth living for and worth fighting for. The powerful theme of man now speaks not about happiness, but about happiness. Here - you are caught up in the light, you are as if in a whirlwind of it... And again you are swaying on the azure waves of the ocean of the future. With increasing tension, you wait... for the completion of a huge musical experience. The violins pick you up, you can’t breathe, as if on mountain heights, and together with the harmonic storm of the orchestra, in unimaginable tension, you rush into a breakthrough, into the future, towards the blue cities of a higher order...” (“Pravda”, 1942, February 16) .
After the Kuibyshev premiere, the symphonies were held in Moscow and Novosibirsk (under the baton of Mravinsky), but the most remarkable, truly heroic one took place under the baton of Carl Eliasberg in besieged Leningrad. To perform a monumental symphony with a huge orchestra, musicians were recalled from military units. Before the start of rehearsals, some had to be admitted to the hospital - fed and treated, since all ordinary residents of the city had become dystrophic. On the day the symphony was performed - August 9, 1942 - all the artillery forces of the besieged city were sent to suppress enemy firing points: nothing should have interfered with the significant premiere.
And the white-columned hall of the Philharmonic was full. Pale, exhausted Leningraders filled it to hear music dedicated to them. The speakers carried it throughout the city.
The public around the world perceived the performance of the Seventh as an event of great importance. Soon, requests began to arrive from abroad to send the score. Competition broke out between the largest orchestras in the Western Hemisphere for the right to perform the symphony first. Shostakovich's choice fell on Toscanini. A plane carrying precious microfilms flew across a war-torn world, and on July 19, 1942, the Seventh Symphony was performed in New York. Her victorious march across the globe began.
Music
First part begins in a clear, light C major with a wide, sing-song melody of an epic nature, with a pronounced Russian national flavor. It develops, grows, and is filled with more and more power. The side part is also songlike. It resembles a soft, calm lullaby. The conclusion of the exhibition sounds peaceful. Everything breathes calm peaceful life. But then, from somewhere far away, the beat of a drum is heard, and then a melody appears: primitive, similar to the banal couplets of a chansonette - the personification of everyday life and vulgarity. This begins the “invasion episode” (thus, the form of the first movement is a sonata with an episode instead of a development). At first the sound seems harmless. However, the theme is repeated eleven times, increasingly intensifying. It does not change melodically, only the texture becomes denser, more and more new instruments are added, then the theme is presented not in one voice, but in chord complexes. And as a result, she grows into a colossal monster - a gnashing machine of destruction that seems to erase all life. But opposition begins. After a powerful climax, the reprise comes darkened, in condensed minor colors. The melody of the side part is especially expressive, becoming melancholy and lonely. A most expressive bassoon solo is heard. It's no longer a lullaby, but rather a cry punctuated by painful spasms. Only in code for the first time main party sounds in a major key, finally affirming the so hard-won overcoming of the forces of evil.
Second part- scherzo - designed in soft, chamber colors. The first theme, presented by the strings, combines light sadness and a smile, slightly noticeable humor and self-absorption. The oboe expressively performs the second theme - a romance, extended. Then other brass instruments enter. Themes alternate in a complex tripartite, creating an attractive and bright image, in which many critics see musical picture Leningrad on transparent white nights. Only in the middle section of the scherzo do other, harsh features appear, and a caricatured, distorted image is born, full of feverish excitement. The reprise of the scherzo sounds muffled and sad.
The third part- a majestic and soulful adagio. It opens with a choral introduction, sounding like a requiem for the dead. This is followed by a pathetic statement from the violins. The second theme is close to the violin theme, but the timbre of the flute and a more songlike character convey, in the words of the composer himself, “the rapture of life, admiration for nature.” The middle episode of the part is characterized by stormy drama and romantic tension. It can be perceived as a memory of the past, a reaction to the tragic events of the first part, aggravated by the impression of enduring beauty in the second. The reprise begins with a recitative from the violins, the chorale sounds again, and everything fades into the mysteriously rumbling beats of the tom-tom and the rustling tremolo of the timpani. The transition to the last part begins.
At first finals- the same barely audible timpani tremolo, the quiet sound of muted violins, muffled signals. There is a gradual, slow gathering of strength. In the twilight darkness the main theme arises, full of indomitable energy. Its deployment is colossal in scale. This is an image of struggle, of popular anger. It is replaced by an episode in the rhythm of a saraband - sad and majestic, like a memory of the fallen. And then begins a steady ascent to the triumph of the conclusion of the symphony, where main topic the first part, as a symbol of peace and impending victory, sounds dazzling from trumpets and trombones.
The path to the goal
The virtuoso was born on September 25, 1906 in a family where music was respected and loved. The parents' passion was passed on to their son. At the age of 9, after watching N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan,” the boy declared that he intended to study music seriously. The first teacher was my mother, who taught piano. Later she gave the boy to music school, whose director was the famous teacher I. A. Glyasser.
Later, misunderstandings arose between the student and the teacher regarding the choice of direction. The mentor saw the guy as a pianist, the young man dreamed of becoming a composer. Therefore, in 1918, Dmitry left the school. Perhaps, if the talent had remained to study there, the world today would not know such a work as Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony. The history of the creation of the composition is a significant part of the musician’s biography.
Melodist of the future
The following summer, Dmitry went to audition for the Petrograd Conservatory. There he was noticed by the famous professor and composer A.K. Glazunov. History mentions that this man turned to Maxim Gorky with a request to help with a scholarship for young talent. When asked whether he was good at music, the professor honestly answered that Shostakovich’s style was alien and incomprehensible to him, but this was a topic for the future. So, in the fall the guy entered the conservatory.
But it was only in 1941 that Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony was written. The history of the creation of this work - ups and downs.
Universal love and hate
While still studying, Dmitry created significant melodies, but only after graduating from the conservatory did he write his First Symphony. The work became diploma work. Newspapers called him a revolutionary in the world of music. Along with the glory young man There was a lot of negative criticism. Nevertheless, Shostakovich did not stop working.
Despite his amazing talent, he was unlucky. Every job failed miserably. Many ill-wishers sharply condemned the composer even before Shostakovich's 7th symphony was released. The history of the creation of the composition is interesting - the virtuoso composed it already at the peak of its popularity. But before that, in 1936, the newspaper Pravda harshly condemned ballets and operas of the new format. Ironically, she also fell under the hot hand unusual music from the production, the author of which was Dmitry Dmitrievich.
The terrible muse of the Seventh Symphony
The composer was persecuted and his works were banned. The fourth symphony was a pain. For some time he slept dressed and with a suitcase next to the bed - the musician was afraid of arrest at any moment.
However, he didn’t pause. In 1937 he released the Fifth Symphony, which surpassed his previous compositions and rehabilitated him.
But another work opened up the world of experiences and feelings in music. The story of the creation of Shostakovich's 7th symphony was tragic and dramatic.
In 1937, he taught composition classes at the Leningrad Conservatory, and later received the title of professor.
In this city the Second finds him World War. Dmitry Dmitrievich met her during the blockade (the city was surrounded on September 8), then he, like other artists of that time, was taken from the cultural capital of Russia. The composer and his family were evacuated first to Moscow, and then, on October 1, to Kuibyshev (since 1991 - Samara).
Start of work
It is worth noting that the author began working on this music even before the Great Patriotic War. In 1939-1940, the history of the creation of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 began. The first people to hear her excerpts were her students and colleagues. Originally it was simple theme, which developed with the sound of a snare drum. Already in the summer of 1941, this part became a separate emotional episode of the work. The symphony officially started on July 19. Afterwards the author admitted that he had never written so actively. It is interesting that the composer addressed Leningraders on the radio, where he announced his creative plans.
In September I worked on the second and third parts. On December 27, the master wrote the final part. On March 5, 1942, Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony was performed for the first time in Kuibyshev. The story of the creation of the work during the siege is no less exciting than the premiere itself. The evacuated orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater played it. Conducted by Samuel Samosuda.
Main concert
The master's dream was to perform in Leningrad. They spent a lot of effort to make the music sound. The task of organizing the concert fell to the only orchestra that remained in besieged Leningrad. The battered city brought musicians together drop by drop. Everyone who could stand on their feet was accepted. Many front-line soldiers took part in the performance. Only musical notes were delivered to the city. Then they signed the games and put up posters. On August 9, 1942, Shostakovich's 7th Symphony was performed. The history of the creation of the work is also unique in that it was on this day fascist troops planned to break through the defenses.
The conductor was Carl Eliasberg. The order was given: “While the concert is going on, the enemy must remain silent.” Soviet artillery ensured calm and actually covered all the artists. They broadcast music on the radio.
It was a real holiday for the exhausted residents. People cried and gave standing ovation. In August the symphony was played 6 times.
World recognition
Four months after the premiere, the work was performed in Novosibirsk. In the summer, residents of Great Britain and the USA heard it. The author became popular. People from all over the world were captivated by the siege story of the creation of Shostakovich's 7th symphony. In the first few months, it was played more than 60 times. Its first broadcast was listened to by more than 20 million people on this continent.
There were also envious people who argued that the work would not have received such popularity if not for the drama of Leningrad. But, despite this, even the bravest critic did not dare to declare that the author’s work was mediocrity.
There were changes in the area too Soviet Union. Ace has been called the Beethoven of the twentieth century. The man received a negative opinion about the genius from the composer S. Rachmaninov, who said: “They forgot all the artists, only Shostakovich remained.” Symphony 7 “Leningradskaya”, the history of whose creation is worthy of respect, has won the hearts of millions.
Music of the Heart
Tragic events are heard in music. The author wanted to show all the pain that comes not only from war, but also He loved his people, but despised the power that governs them. His goal was to convey the feelings of millions Soviet people. The master suffered along with the city and its inhabitants and defended the walls with notes. Anger, love, suffering are embodied in such a work as Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony. The history of its creation covers the period of the first months of the war and the start of the blockade.
The theme itself is a grandiose struggle between good and evil, peace and slavery. If you close your eyes and turn on the tune, you can hear the sky buzzing with enemy planes, like motherland moans from dirty boots occupiers, as a mother cries as she sees off her son to his death.
The “Famous Leningradka” became a symbol of freedom - as poetess Anna Akhmatova called her. On one side of the wall there were enemies, injustice, on the other - art, Shostakovich, the 7th symphony. The history of its creation briefly reflects the first stage of the war and the role of art in the struggle for freedom!
There are probably few people in Russia for whom the phrase “Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony” would not evoke a complex combination of emotions: pride and delight, pain and admiration. Someone will instantly remember brightest moments or the general mood evoked by the music; someone – events of our history inextricably linked with the symphony.
In this amazing work we hear the struggle, the anger of the people, the cry for the fallen, and the persistent, unbroken faith in the victory of life, faith in man. The effect produced by the Leningrad Symphony was truly deafening. However, few know how and where it all began. For the first time, the sounds of the symphony, named after the city on the Neva, were heard next to the Volga in the city of Kuibyshev (now Samara).
Dmitry Shostakovich. Photo from 1946
“Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad” in C major op. 60” – this is the exact name of Dmitry Shostakovich’s great creation. The composer began work on it in the late 1930s, not yet knowing that it would be the Leningrad Symphony. The work was conceived as one of the variations of the passacaglia, that is theme song, light and casual at the beginning and powerful and awe-inspiring at the end. In 1940, the work was completed, but was not performed publicly.
The fate of the work was decided by the war. With the beginning of it, Shostakovich plunged into work for the needs of the front and the people: he was on duty on the roofs of the northern capital during air raids, dug trenches and rearranged musical works for ensembles going to perform on the front line. What was happening could not but influence the course of the author’s creative thought, and Shostakovich decided to transform the above-mentioned variation into a large symphonic work.
By the beginning of autumn 1941, already in blockaded Leningrad, the composer completed work on the first two movements of the Seventh Symphony and began the third. In October, by special order, Shostakovich and his family were evacuated to Moscow. The composer was supposed to move to the Urals, but he himself chose Kuibyshev: the staff of the Bolshoi Theater was evacuated here. Thus, even during the war years, the Kuibyshevites lived a rich cultural life, listened best voices countries and watched best productions. By the way, the street on which the composer lived during his stay in Kuibyshev was renamed from Rabochaya to Shostakovich Street for his 100th anniversary.
Shostakovich and conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Evgeny Mravinsky in June 1942 If the three parts of the symphony were written literally in one breath (“I have never composed as quickly as I do now”), then work on the finale progressed slowly. The composer was tormented by anxiety for his mother and sister who remained in Leningrad. And it is unclear what the course of the war would lead to; the facts did not foretell victory. However, the ending should be solemn, marking a bright future and coming joy.
On December 27, 1941, Shostakovich completed work on the symphony, which he called Leningrad, dedicating it to the suffering and great struggle of the townspeople and defenders of the Motherland. On March 5, 1942, on the stage of the Kuibyshev Opera and Ballet Theater, a truly historical event – world premiere Seventh (Leningrad) Symphony. The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra under the direction of Samuil Samosud performed the work in the presence of the author, representatives of other states and, of course, numerous Soviet listeners. The broadcast was carried out on all radio stations in the country. This event can be called the pinnacle musical life cities in the 20th century.
Premiere poster 
Photos from the premiere in Kuibyshev The writer, “red count” Alexei Tolstoy attended the Kuibyshev rehearsals of the premiere. In the newspaper Pravda, he characterized Shostakovich’s creation with the following words:
“The seventh symphony is dedicated to the triumph of the human in man. Let's try (at least partially) to penetrate into the path of Shostakovich's musical thinking - into the formidable dark nights Leningrad, under the roar of explosions, in the glow of fires, it led him to write this frank work.
<…>
The Seventh Symphony arose from the conscience of the Russian people, who without hesitation accepted mortal combat with the black forces. Written in Leningrad, it has grown to the size of great world art, understandable at all latitudes and meridians, because it tells the truth about man in an unprecedented time of his misfortunes and trials. The symphony is transparent in its enormous complexity, it is both severe and masculinely lyrical, and it all flies into the future, revealing itself beyond the victory of man over the beast.”
Samuil Samosud and Dmitry Shostakovich Samuel Samosud, who stood at the conductor's stand on the evening of the premiere, spoke about the epoch-making significance of the work:
“Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony is important to us not only as an outstanding musical composition half a century. The significance of the symphony lies in its deep political sound. At that moment when the world is plunged into the abyss of an unprecedented cataclysm, it is at this moment that such Elbrus appears in the Soviet country musical creativity, like the Seventh Symphony."
After the Kuibyshev premiere, the symphony was performed in Moscow and Novosibirsk, in the UK and in the USA, but Shostakovich dreamed “...so that the Seventh Symphony in the near future will be performed in Leningrad, in my hometown, which inspired me to create it.”
The Leningrad premiere took place on August 9, 1942 and was akin to a miracle. The symphony was performed by the Great Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Radio Committee under the baton of Carl Eliasberg. Some musicians, especially those who were exhausted, had to be hospitalized before rehearsals began. On the day of the premiere, all artillery was sent to suppress enemy firing points. According to eyewitnesses, Big hall The Philharmonic was full, people were carrying fresh flowers.
A Red Army soldier buys a ticket to the Seventh Symphony in Leningrad in 1942 A participant in the premiere in Leningrad, oboist Ksenia Matus recalled:
“It was a great holiday. Still, we created a miracle. This is how our life began to continue. We have risen."
Flutist Galina Lelyukhina echoed her:
“There were loudspeakers, the Germans heard it all. As they later said, the Germans all went crazy when they heard this. They thought the city was dead.”
The Leningrad Symphony is performed by the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture (recorded in 1985). Conductor - Gennady Rozhdestvensky.
70 years ago, on August 9, 1942, in besieged Leningrad, Dmitry Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony in C major, which later received the name “Leningrad”, was performed.
“With pain and pride I looked at my beloved city. And it stood, scorched by fires, battle-hardened, having experienced the deep suffering of a fighter, and was even more beautiful in its stern grandeur. How could one not love this city, built by Peter, one cannot tell everything the world about its glory, about the courage of its defenders... My weapon was music", the composer later wrote.
In May 1942, the score was delivered to the besieged city by plane. At a concert at the Leningrad Philharmonic, Symphony No. 7 was performed by the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra Leningrad Radio Committee under the direction of conductor Carl Eliasberg. Some of the orchestra members died of hunger and were replaced by musicians recalled from the front.
"The circumstances under which the Seventh was created were publicized throughout the world: the first three movements were written in about a month in Leningrad, under the fire of the Germans who reached that city in September 1941. The symphony was thus considered a direct reflection of the events of the first days of the war. No one took into account the composer's style of work. Shostakovich wrote very quickly, but only after the music was fully formed in his mind as a reflection of the pre-war fate of both the composer and Leningrad."
From the book "Testimony"
“The first listeners did not connect the famous “march” from the first part of the Seventh with the German invasion; this is the result of later propaganda. Conductor Evgeny Mravinsky, a friend of the composer of those years (the Eighth Symphony is dedicated to him), recalled that after hearing the march from the Seventh on the radio in March 1942, he thought that the composer had created a comprehensive picture of stupidity and stupid vulgarity.
The popularity of the march sequence obscured the obvious fact that the first movement - and indeed the work as a whole - is full of requiem-style sorrow. Shostakovich emphasized at every opportunity that for him the central place in this music is occupied by the intonation of the requiem. But the composer's words were deliberately ignored. The pre-war years, in reality full of hunger, fear and massacres of innocent people during the period of Stalin's terror, were now portrayed in official propaganda as a bright and carefree idyll. So why not present the symphony as a “symbol of the fight” against the Germans?”
From the book "Testimony. Memoirs of Dmitry Shostakovich,
recorded and edited by Solomon Volkov."
RIA News. Boris Kudoyarov
Residents of besieged Leningrad emerge from a bomb shelter after the all-clear
Shocked by Shostakovich's music, Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy wrote about this work:
"...The seventh symphony is dedicated to the triumph of the human in man.<…>
The Seventh Symphony arose from the conscience of the Russian people, who without hesitation accepted mortal combat with the black forces. Written in Leningrad, it has grown to the size of great world art, understandable at all latitudes and meridians, because it tells the truth about man in an unprecedented time of his misfortunes and trials. The symphony is transparent in its enormous complexity, it is both stern and masculinely lyrical, and all flies into the future, revealing itself beyond the victory of man over the beast.<…>
The theme of war arises remotely and at first looks like some kind of simple and eerie dance, like learned rats dancing to the tune of the pied piper. Like a rising wind, this theme begins to sway the orchestra, it takes possession of it, grows, and becomes stronger. The rat catcher with his iron rats rises from behind the hill... This is a war moving. She triumphs in the timpani and drums, the violins answer with a cry of pain and despair. And it seems to you, squeezing the oak railings with your fingers: is it really, really, everything has already been crushed and torn to pieces? There is confusion and chaos in the orchestra.<…>
No, man is stronger than the elements. The string instruments begin to struggle. The harmony of violins and human voices of bassoons is more powerful than the roar of a donkey skin stretched over drums. With the desperate beating of your heart you help the triumph of harmony. And the violins harmonize the chaos of war, silence its cavernous roar.
The damned rat catcher is no more, he is carried away into the black abyss of time. The bows are lowered, and many of the violinists have tears in their eyes. Only the thoughtful and stern human voice of the bassoon can be heard - after so many losses and disasters. There is no return to stormless happiness. Before the gaze of a person, wise in suffering, is the path traveled, where he seeks justification for life."
The concert in besieged Leningrad became a kind of symbol of the resistance of the city and its inhabitants, but the music itself inspired everyone who heard it. This is how I wrote it poetess about one of the first performances of Shostakovich’s work:
“And so on March 29, 1942, the joint orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater and the All-Union Radio Committee performed the Seventh Symphony, which the composer dedicated to Leningrad and called the Leningrad Symphony.
Famous pilots, writers, and Stakhanovites came to the Column Hall of the House of Unions. There were many front-line soldiers here - with Western Front, from the South, from the North - they came to Moscow on business, for a few days, in order to go to the battlefields again tomorrow, and still found time to come listen to the Seventh - Leningrad - Symphony. They put on all their orders, granted to them by the Republic, and everyone was in their best dresses, festive, beautiful, elegant. And in the Hall of Columns it was very warm, everyone was without coats, the electricity was on, and there was even a smell of perfume.
RIA News. Boris Kudoyarov
Leningrad during the siege during the Great Patriotic War. Air defense fighters early in the morning on one of the city streets
The first sounds of the Seventh Symphony are pure and joyful. You listen to them greedily and in surprise - this is how we once lived, before the war, how happy we were, how free, how much space and silence there was around. I want to listen to this wise, sweet music of the world endlessly. But suddenly and very quietly a dry crackling sound is heard, the dry beat of a drum - the whisper of a drum. It’s still a whisper, but it’s becoming more and more persistent, more and more intrusive. In a short musical phrase - sad, monotonous and at the same time somehow defiantly cheerful - the instruments of the orchestra begin to echo each other. The dry beat of the drum is louder. War. The drums are already thundering. A short, monotonous and alarming musical phrase takes over the entire orchestra and becomes scary. The music is so loud it's hard to breathe. There is no escape from it... This is the enemy advancing on Leningrad. He threatens death, the trumpets growl and whistle. Death? Well, we are not afraid, we will not retreat, we will not surrender ourselves to the enemy. The music rages furiously... Comrades, this is about us, this is about the September days of Leningrad, full of anger and challenge. The orchestra thunders furiously - the fanfare rings in the same monotonous phrase and uncontrollably carries the soul towards mortal combat... And when you can no longer breathe from the thunder and roar of the orchestra, suddenly everything breaks off, and the theme of war turns into a majestic requiem. A lonely bassoon, covering the raging orchestra, raises its low, tragic voice skyward. And then he sings alone, alone in the ensuing silence...
“I don’t know how to characterize this music,” says the composer himself, “maybe it contains the tears of a mother, or even the feeling when the grief is so great that there are no more tears left.”
Comrades, this is about us, this is our great tearless grief for our relatives and friends - the defenders of Leningrad, who died in battles on the outskirts of the city, who fell on its streets, who died in its half-blind houses...
We haven’t cried for a long time, because our grief is greater than tears. But, having killed the tears that eased the soul, grief did not kill the life in us. And the Seventh Symphony talks about this. Its second and third parts, also written in Leningrad, are transparent, joyful music, full of rapture for life and admiration for nature. And this is also about us, about people who have learned to love and appreciate life in a new way! And it is clear why the third part merges with the fourth: in the fourth part, the theme of war, excitedly and defiantly repeated, bravely moves into the theme of the coming victory, and the music rages freely again, and its solemn, menacing, almost cruel rejoicing reaches unimaginable power, physically shaking the vaults building.
We will defeat the Germans.
Comrades, we will definitely defeat them!
We are ready for all the trials that still await us, ready for the triumph of life. This triumph is evidenced by the "Leningrad Symphony", a work of world-wide resonance, created in our besieged, starving city, deprived of light and warmth - in a city fighting for the happiness and freedom of all mankind.
And the people who came to listen to the “Leningrad Symphony” stood up and stood and applauded the composer, son and defender of Leningrad. And I looked at him, small, fragile, with big glasses, and thought: “This man is stronger than Hitler...”
The material was prepared based on information from open sources