Symphony No.

2 (Shostakovich)
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Bolshevik (1920), by Boris Kustodiev.

Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. 2 in B major, Op. 14 and subtitled To October,
for the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was first performed by the Leningrad
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy Capella Choir under Nikolai Malko, on 5 November
1927. After the premiere, Shostakovich made some revisions to the score, and this final version
was first played in Moscow later in 1927 under the baton of Konstantin Saradzhev. It was also
the first time any version of the work had been played in Moscow.[1]

Shostakovich later revisited the events of the October Revolution in his Twelfth Symphony,
subtitled The Year 1917.

Contents
 1 Structure
 2 Instrumentation
 3 Overview
o 3.1 The spirit of October
o 3.2 Composition
 3.2.1 Chorus: “To October”
o 3.3 Reception
 4 Notable recordings
 5 References
o 5.1 Notes
o 5.2 Sources
 o 5.3 Further reading

Structure[edit]
The symphony is a short (about 20 minutes) experimental work in one movement; within this
movement are four sections, the last of which includes a chorus. In a marked departure from his
First Symphony, Shostakovich composed his Second in a gestural, geometric "music without
emotional structure" manner, with the intent of reflecting speech patterns and physical
movements in a neo-realistic style. This choice may have been influenced at least partially by
Vsevolod Meyerhold's theory of biomechanics.[2]

I. Largo

Meant to portray the primordial chaos from which order emerged, instrumental voices merge in
this 13-voice polyphonic beginning, like impulses released from the void. This was considered
Klangflächenmusik (cluster composition) before the term was officially coined.[3]

II. = 152

A meditative episode which Shostakovich described as the "death of a child" (letter to Boleslav
Yavorsky) killed on the Nevsky Prospekt.[4]

III. Poco meno mosso. Allegro molto.

IV. Chorus: "To October"

The choral finale of the work sets a text by Alexander Bezymensky praising Lenin and the
revolution.

Shostakovich placed far more emphasis on texture in this work than he did on thematic material.
He quickly adds sonorities and layers of sound in a manner akin to Abstract Expressionism
instead of focusing on contrapuntal clarity. While much of the symphony consequently consists
of sound effects rather than music, the work possesses an unquestionable vitality and
incorporates the basic elements of the musical language he used in the rest of his career.[4]

Instrumentation[edit]
The symphony is scored for mixed choir (in the final part) and orchestra of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2
oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, snare
drum, bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, (factory) siren, and strings.

Overview[edit]
Shostakovich's Second and Third Symphonies have often been criticized for incongruities in
their experimental orchestral sections and more conventionally agitprop choral finales. In the
Soviet Union they were considered experiments, and since the days of Stalin the term
"experiment" was not considered positive.[3] Much later, Shostakovich admitted that out of his 15
symphonies, "two, I suppose, are completely unsatisfactory – that's the Second and Third."[5] He
also rejected his early experimental writing in general as "erroneous striving after originality"
[the piano cycle Aphorisms] and "infants' diseases" [the Second and Third Symphonies].[6]

The Second Symphony was commissioned to include a poem by Alexander Bezymensky, which
glorified Lenin's role in the proletariat struggle in bombastic style.[7] The cult of Lenin, imposed
from the upper echelons of the Party, grew to gigantic proportions in the years immediately
following his death.[8] The work was initially titled "To October". It was referred to as a
Symphonic Poem and Symphonic Dedication to October. It became To October, a Symphonic
Dedication when the work was published in 1927. It only became known as a "symphony"
considerably later.[9]

The spirit of October[edit]

During the 1920s in Russia, "October" referred to the spirit of the Revolution, which was a new
world of freedom and fellowship reaching politically from the center to the left. The nearest
political idea to this concept was the Trotskyite doctrine of "permanent revolution".[10]

Composition[edit]

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Shostakovich was commissioned by Lev Shuglin, a dedicated Bolshevik and head of the
Propaganda Department of the State Music Publishing House (Muzsektor), to write a large
orchestral work with a choral finale, called Dedication to October, to celebrate the 10th
anniversary of the October Revolution.[11] The composer seems to have been dissatisfied with the
work; he wrote to Tatyana Glivenko, on 28 May 1927, that he was tired of writing it, and
considered the Bezymensky text "abominable". Nonetheless, it stands as an important
representation of Soviet music in the 1920s, and in particular of the notion of "industrial"
symphonies intended to inspire the proletariat: the choral section of the work is heralded within
the score by way of a blast from a factory whistle, an innovation proposed by Shuglin.
Soviet agitprop poster. Caption: "Comrade Lenin cleans the Earth from scum."

Part of the problem Shostakovich had in writing the symphony was that people expected a
successor to his First Symphony, and he no longer believed in writing in the same compositional
style. He also had other projects toward which he wanted to direct his attention as soon as
possible, and the First Symphony had taken him nearly a year to write. As it turned out, the
Commissariat for Enlightenment's propaganda department, Agitotdel, regularly commissioned
single-movement works on topical subjects. These works often featured revolutionary tunes and
invariably employed sung texts to make the required meaning clear. Furthermore, because of the
non-musical orientation of potential audiences, these pieces were not expected to last more than
15 or 20 minutes at most.[12]

Though Shostakovich had been commissioned by Muzsektor rather than Agitotdel, and was thus
expected to produce a composition of abstract music instead of a propaganda piece, writing a
short agitprop symphony seemed to solve all of Shostakovich's problems. Such a work was
entirely appropriate for the occasion for which it was being written. It would also be impossible
for Muzsektor to turn it down, and was guaranteed at least some friendly press. It also
sidestepped the stylistic problem of producing a sequel to the First Symphony while also opening
the door to experiment with orchestral effects in an entirely new vein. Most importantly for
Shostakovich, the piece took little time to compose, allowing him to return to other projects at
his earliest convenience.[13]

The choral section gave the composer particular trouble. Shostakovich told Yavorsky
confidentially, "I'm composing the chorus with great difficulty. The words!!!!"[14] The
consequent lack of creative fire becomes obvious; the section lacks the drive and conviction that
typified many of his later works, the singers sounding melancholy, almost desultory. It is
obviously a stilted, formal addition to a composition already lacking compositional unity. The
final words are not even given a melodic line; instead they are simply chanted by the chorus,
culminating in a formulaic apotheosis.[15] Solomon Volkov admitted of the entire choral section,
"[O]ne is tempted simply to cut it off with a pair of scissors".[16]

Chorus: “To October”[edit]

Text by Alexander Bezymensky[17]

Russian English translation

Мы шли, мы просили работы и хлеба,
Сердца были сжаты тисками тоски.
Заводские трубы тянулися к небу,
Как руки, бессильные сжать кулаки.
Страшно было имя наших тенет:
Молчанье, страданье, гнет.
We marched, we asked for work and bread.
Our hearts were gripped in a vice of anguish.
Factory chimneys towered up towards the sky
Like hands, powerless to clench a fist.
Terrible were the names of our shackles:
Silence, suffering, oppression.

Но громче орудий ворвались в молчанье But louder than gunfire there burst into the silence
Слова нашей скорби, слова наших мук. Words of our torment, words of our suffering.
О Ленин! Ты выковал волю страданья, Oh, Lenin! You forged freedom through suffering,
Ты выковал волю мозолистых рук. You forged freedom from our toil-hardened hands.
Мы поняли, Ленин, что наша судьба We knew, Lenin, that our fate
Носит имя: борьба. Bears a name: Struggle.

Борьба! Ты вела нас к последнему бою. Struggle! You led us to the final battle.
Борьба! Ты дала нам победу Труда. Struggle! You gave us the victory of Labour.
И этой победы над гнетом и тьмою And this victory over oppression and darkness
Никто не отнимет у нас никогда. None can ever take away from us!
Пусть каждый в борьбе будет молод и Let all in the struggle be young and bold:
храбр: The name of this victory is October!
Ведь имя победы – Октябрь!
October! The messenger of the awaited dawn.
Октябрь! – это солнца желанного October! The freedom of rebellious ages.
вестник. October! Labour, joy and song.
Октябрь! – это воля восставших веков. October! Happiness in the fields and at the work
Октябрь! – это труд, это радость и benches,
песня. This is the slogan and this is the name of living
Октябрь! – это счастье полей и станков. generations:
Вот знамя, вот имя живых поколений: October, the Commune and Lenin.
Октябрь, Коммуна и Ленин.

Reception[edit]

In the Soviet Union the orchestral section initially confused listeners – many of whom were
workers worn out by the October Revolution, yet listening patiently to the first performance –
while they were very much at home with the setting of characteristic revolutionary rhetoric to
music.[citation needed] In the West the opposite was true: listeners appreciated the orchestral section
but not the choral emotionalism that followed.[3] While some Soviet critics acclaimed it at the
time of the premiere, the Second Symphony did not attain lasting success.[18]
Notable recordings[edit]
Notable recordings of this symphony include:

Chorus Orchestra Conductor Record Compan

Chorus of the RSFSR Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra Kirill Kondrashin Melodiya

London Philharmonic Choir London Philharmonic Orchestra Bernard Haitink Decca Records

Academic Republican Chorus USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra Gennady Rozhdestvensky Melodiya

Brighton Festival Chorus Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Vladimir Ashkenazy Decca Records

London Voices London Symphony Orchestra Mstislav Rostropovich Teldec

Bavarian Radio Chorus Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Mariss Jansons EMI Classics

WDR Chorus WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne Rudolf Barshai Brilliant Classic

Mariinsky Chorus Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra Valery Gergiev Mariinsky

Prague Philharmonic Chorus Prague Symphony Orchestra Maxim Shostakovich Supraphon

Source: arkivmusic.com (recommended recordings selected based on critics reviews)

References[edit]
Notes[edit]

1. ^ Laurel E Fay, Shostakovich: A Life

2. ^ MacDonald 1990, p. 49.
3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Feuchtner 1994, p. 8.
4. ^ Jump up to: a b MacDonald 1990, p. 50.
5. ^ Shostakovich-Glikman 1993, p. 278.
6. ^ Schwarz 1980, p. 266.
7. ^ Maes 2002, p. 261.
8. ^ Volkov 2004, p. 64.
9. ^ Fay 2000, p. 40.
10. ^ MacDonald 1990, p. 46.
11. ^ Volkov 2004, p. 60.
12. ^ MacDonald 1990, p. 48.
13. ^ MacDonald 1990, pp. 48–49.
14. ^ Shostakovich-Bobykina 2000, p. 115.
 15. ^ Volkov 2004, p. 62.
16. ^ Volkov 2004, p. 70.
17. ^ Gakkel 2010, p. 115.
18. ^ Schwarz 1980, p. 264.

Sources[edit]

Books

 Fay, Laurel E. (2000). Shostakovich: A Life. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 40. ISBN 0-19-
513438-9. OCLC 40954268.
 Grove, Sir George; Boris Schwarz (1980). "Dmitri Shostakovich". In Stanley Sadie (ed.). The New
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Volume XVII: Schütz-Spinto. London, United Kingdom:
Macmillan Publishers. pp. 264, 266. ISBN 0-333-23111-2. OCLC 5676891.
 MacDonald, Ian (1990). The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern University Press. pp. 46,
48–50. ISBN 1-55553-089-3. OCLC 22856574.
 Maes, Francis (2002) [1996]. A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar.
Translated by Arnold J. Pomerans; Erica Pomerans. Berkeley, California: University of California
Press. p. 261. ISBN 0-520-21815-9. OCLC 46678246. Originally published as Geschiedenis van de
Russiche muziek: Van Kamarinskaja tot Babi Jar, Uitgeverij SUN, Nijmegen, 1996
 Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitriyevich; Glikman, Isaak Davidovitch (1993). Письма к другу (Pisʹma k
drugu) [Letters to a Friend] (in Russian). Moscow, Russia: DSCH. p. 278. ISBN 5-85285-231-7.
OCLC 490559096.
o Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitriyevich; Glikman, Isaak Davidovitch (2001). Story of a
Friendship: The Letters of Dmitry Shostakovich to Isaak Glikman, 1941–1975. Anthony
Phillips (trans.). London, United Kingdom: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-20982-3.
OCLC 231905283.
 Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitriyevich; Bobykina, I. (1993). Письма к другу (Dmitriǐ Shostakovich : v
pisʹmakh i dokumentakh) [Letters to a Friend] (in Russian). Moscow, Russia: DSCH. p. 115.
ISBN 5-85285-231-7. OCLC 490559096.
 Volkov, Solomon (2004) [2004]. Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between
the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator. Translated by Antonina W. Bouis. New York: Knopf.
pp. 60, 62, 64, 70. ISBN 0-520-21815-9. OCLC 54768325.
o Volkov, Solomon (2004). Шостакович и Сталин : художник и царь (Shostakovich i
Stalin : khudozhnik i t︠s︡arʹ) [Shostakovich and Stalin: The Artist and the King]. Dialogi o
kulʹture (in Russian). Moscow, Russia: ЭКСМО. ISBN 5-699-06614-4. OCLC 56899020.

Records

 Feuchtner, Bernd; Brammall, Gery (1994). Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 (Media notes).
Mstislav Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra. Hamburg, Germany: Teldec. p. 8.
90853.
o Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 – Mstislav Rostropovich at AllMusic.
Retrieved 16 September 2011.
 Gakkel, Leonid; Bezymensky, Alexander; Fogarty, Eyvor; Gunin, Anna; Ribière, Mireille;
Wulfekamp, Ursula (2010). Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 11 (Media notes). Valery Gergiev
and the Mariinsky Theater Chorus and Orchestra. Saint Petersburg, Russia: Mariinsky. MAR0507.
 o Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 11 – Valery Gergiev at AllMusic. Retrieved 16
September 2011.

Further reading[edit]

 Simpson, Robert (1972). "Chapter 16: Dmitri Shostakovich b. 1906 (Robert Layton)". The
Symphony. Volume II: Mahler to the Present Day. New York: Drake Publishers. pp. 197–216.
ISBN 0-87749-244-1. OCLC 348095.