Shostakovich, Dmitri: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Opus 93

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Opus 93 (1953) 57 minutes

2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 3 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, tam-tam, triangle, tambourine, xylophone, cymbals, bass drum, and strings.

For more than half of his artistic life, Dmitri Shostakovich lived under the tyranny of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Following the surrender of Germany in May of 1945, Shostakovich announced that he would write his Ninth Symphony, a “Victory Symphony” with a grand “apotheosis.” Stalin anticipated that new work would emulate the Beethoven’s Ninth (1824), an epic work that concludes with a triumphant choral finale. Of course, Stalin expected the finale of the new work to sing his praises. Instead, Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony emerged as a satirical (and at times acerbic) 25-minute composition with conventional orchestral forces. Stalin viewed the Ninth Symphony as a personal insult and was furious.

Stalin’s perceptions may have been correct. In Testimony: the Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich, the composer (at least as related by his friend and student, Solomon Volkov) offered these comments about the circumstances surrounding the composition of the Ninth Symphony:

Stalin always listened to experts and specialists carefully. The experts told him I knew my work and therefore Stalin assumed the symphony in his honor would be a quality piece of music. He would be able to say, “There it is, our national Ninth.”...I confess that I gave hope to the leader and the teacher’s dreams. I announced that I was writing an apotheosis. I was trying to get them off my back but it turned against me...I couldn’t write an apotheosis to Stalin, I simply couldn’t. I knew what I was in for when I wrote the Ninth.

Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953. In the summer and autumn of that year, Shostakovich returned to symphonic composition for the first time since 1945. The Tenth Symphony received its premiere on December 17, 1953. Evgeny Mravinsky, the composer’s longtime friend and musical champion, conducted the Leningrad Philharmonic.

Shostakovich refused to offer a public explanation of the meaning of the Tenth Symphony, curtly stating: “Let them work it out for themselves.” The Shostakovich of Volkov’s Testimony was more forthcoming:

But I did depict Stalin in my next Symphony, the Tenth. I wrote it right after Stalin’s death, and no one yet has guessed what the Symphony is about. It’s about Stalin and the Stalin years. The second part, the scherzo, is about Stalin, roughly speaking. Of course, there are many other things in it, but that’s the basis.

If these words accurately reflect Shostakovich’s thoughts, the Symphony’s program becomes intriguing, to say the least. In the Tenth Symphony, Shostakovich employs a device found in several of his compositions—a motif based on the notes D-Eb-C-B, which, in German musical notation, is D-S-C-H, a musical representation of the composer (D. Schostakowitsch). In the course of the Tenth Symphony, this “Shostakovich” motif confronts and ultimately defeats the “Stalin” music.

Whether the Tenth Symphony in fact portrays the triumph of Shostakovich over Stalin remains for the individual listener to decide. Regardless of the work’s extra-musical associations, the Shostakovich Tenth represents the welcome resurrection of a brilliant symphonic composer and dramatist, at the height of his powers.

The Tenth Symphony is in four movements. The first (Moderato), by far the longest of the four, is constructed as a massive arch. The “Stalin” second movement (Allegro) assaults with an almost unremitting energy and violence. The third movement (Allegretto) features the introduction of the “D-S-C-H” motif, played by the piccolo, flute, and oboe. The finale opens with a slow-tempo introduction (Andante). During the ensuing Allegro, the “Stalin” music from the second movement makes a stormy intrusion on the celebration, only to be crushed by a massive orchestral statement of the “D-S-C-H” motif. After a hushed interlude (Listesso tempo), the Symphony concludes with a reprise of the frenetic Allegro material, punctuated by triumphant statements of “D-S-C-H” in the brass and timpani.