shostakovich's fifth symphony. a soviet artist's reply

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Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony: A Soviet Artist's Reply...?Author(s): J. Daniel Huband

Source: Tempo, New Series, No. 173, Soviet Issue (Jun., 1990), pp. 11-16Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/946394Accessed: 10-11-2015 14:39 UTC

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2/7

J. Daniel

Huband

Shostakovich's Fifth

Symphony:

A

Soviet

Artist's

Reply...?

The

attempt

to relate a

nonmusical

event to

a

musical

phenomenon

creates

problems

for the

musicologist.

Compelled

to

search

beyond

the

mere notes on the

printed page,

one

may

try

to

gain

more

penetrating

insights

into a

particular

work

by scrutinizing

historical circumstances

concurrent with the

genesis

of

the

music.

In

the

case ofDmitri

Shostakovich's Fifth

Symphony,

the

social

and

political

background

to this

piece

has

been

greatly

emphasized.1

Yet

could

the

efforts

to relate the

composer's

compositional

style

to his

troubles with

the Soviet

regime

obscure musical issues? The Fifth

Symphony,

frequently

viewed

by many

music

historians

as

an

apologetic

musical

response

to the

Pravda

attack

on

the

opera Lady

Macbeth

of

the

Mtsensk

District,

does

not

present

as

drastic a

change

in

musical

style

as

is

commonly

believed.

An

analysis

of

the four earlier

symphonies

reveals

that

they

function

importantly

in the

composer's

evolution

as

a

symphonist;

Shostakovich

refines

several

compositional techniques

employed

in

these

works

and

incorporates

them

in

the Fifth

Symphony,

his

first

fully

mature

piece.

The

most salient features

of the

composer's early

works

that most

clearly

relate

to his

develop-

ment as a

symphonist

shall be

discussed in

this

essay.

This

process

aims to

reassess the

hypo-

thesis

which

suggests

Shostakovich

suddenly

mended

his

ways

in

light

of

official criticism.2

Shostakovich

began

to

compose

his First

Symphony

in

the fall

of

1924

as

a

graduation

piece

while a

student

at

the

Petrograd

Conservatory.

A

four-movement architecture

which

employs

traditional

forms can

hardly

be

considered as

innovative,

yet

the work of

a

fine

crafstman

is

evident.

Sonata

principles

guide

1

A

representative

view of

the

Fifth

Symphony

may

be found

in

Tim

Souster's

'Shostakovich

At The

Crossroads'

Tempo

8,

Autumn

1966,

pp.2-9)

which concludes

that 'there

can be no

doubt,

in this

particular

case,

as to the

fruitfulnessof

a

political

intervention in

the arts'.

2

The views

expressed

in

Testimony:

The Memoirs

of

Dmitri

Shostakovich,

as

related to

and edited

by

Solomon

Volkov

(New

York:

Harper

and

Row,

I979),

are not

included in this

essay

because

its

authenticity

in full

or

part

has

not been

established.

See LaurelE.

Fay's

'Shostakovich Versus

Volkov:

Whose

Testimony?'

Russian

Review

39

(October

1980):

484-93.

the

outer

movements,

while

ternary designs

shape

the

innerones.

The

Symphony's

primary

themes evolve

from the

opening

measures

of

the

piece,

thus

engaging

motives as

unifying

agents throughout

the

work.

Certainly,

for

1925,

the

harmonic idiom seems

conservative,

with tonal

principles

governing

the

processes.

The

orchestration

remains

imaginative

and

colorful;

yet

the

composer

conspicuously

avoids

any

hint

of

heavy

orchestration.

'Chamber-

music-like'

sonorities

characterize

much of

the

composition

since

thick textures are

avoided.3

These

stylistic

tendencies,

however,

were

destined

almost

immediately

to

undergo

drama-

tic

modification.

When the

young

Dmitri

left the

conservatory,

he found

himself

confronted with

a

continuing

struggle

between

the

proponents

of

Western-

oriented modernism

and

those who

believed

in

'Proletarian'music.

The adherents

of Western-

oriented

modernism

establishedthe

Association

for

Contemporary

Music

(ACM)

in

'1923,

and

in the

same

year,

those

who

believed

music

should

be

immediately

comprehensible

to

the

simple

workman

or

peasant

established

the

Association

of Proletarian

Musicians

(RAPM).4

Shostakovich

found

stimulus

in

both

these

movements,

for

his works

which

immediately

follow the First

Symphony

exemplify

an

acute

reaction

to

its

ethos.

Shostakovich

inaugurated

his

most

sudden,

severe

change

of

style

with

the

Octet for

Strings,

op.i

I;

the

Piano

Sonata, op.I2

('October

Sonata');

and

the

Aphorisms,

p.

13.

A

defiance

of

traditional

ormal

principles

akes

hold,

linear

textures

often

dominate,

and

incisive,

dissonant

passages

(occasionally

approaching

cacophony)

frequentlycharacterizeheharmony. Maximilian

Steinberg,

the

teacherwho

guided

Shostakovich

on the

First

Symphony,

expressed

dismay

over

Dmitri's

new

found

style:

3

Boris

Schwarz,

Music

andMusical

Life

in

Soviet Russia

917-

1981,

enlarged

ed.

(Bloomington:

Indiana

University

Press,

I983),

p.

72.

4

A

third

group, primarily

ound in

academic

circles,

consisted

of

Russian

traditionalists;

this

group

was

not

formally

organized.

Schwarz,

op.cit.,

p.

149.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/7

12

Shostakovich's

ifth

Symphony:

A

Soviet

Artist's

Reply...?

On

leaving

the

Conservatoire,

Shostakovich

ame

under the influence of

people

who

professed

he

musical

principles

f the 'extremist'West. This was

in

1925

...

One

of

Shostakovich's

first

compositions

was his

sonata,

written

in

contemporary

idiom and

called

by

him

October

ymphony.

Already

n this

therewas an

unhealthy endency

o

'adapt'

ormalistic

language

for

the

expression

of

revolutionary

deas.

The most extreme tatement

f

Shostakovich's

new'

tendency

was the

Aphorisms.

hen

[sic]

he

brought

them to

me,

I

told

him

that

I

understood

othing

n

them that

they

were

quite

foreign

-

afterwhich he

ceased

coming

to me.5

Shostakovich's

Second

Symphony

of

1927

has been described as

'an

ASM orchestral

piece

with an RAPM finale'by Gerald Abrahamwho

notes that 'the work was at first

actually accept-

ed

-

with reservations

-

by

both

parties'.6

In

this

piece,

entitled To

October:

A

Symphonic

Dedication,

cored for orchestraand chorus

with a

contemporary

revolutionary

text

by

Alexander

Bezymensky,

Shostakovich

creates the anti-

thesis to

Symphony

No.I,

including

the

utilization

of

a

single-movement

form.

Though

five internal divisions

may

be

discernible,

these

sections bear little

relation to the traditional

movements of a sonata cycle. Furthermore,the

composer

abandons

sonata form

principles

and

thematic

development.

Except

for some

repetition

of a

revolutionary song

motive and

the

recurrence

of first-section

material

in

the

finale,

Shostakovich

makes

no

attempt

to

unify

the sections.

The harmonic idiom

also differs

greatly

from that of the

First

Symphony,

for a

lack

of

tonality

often

predominates.

This

nontonal

style permeates

the first section

(measures 1-43)

where much

of

the dense

string

part

writing

utilizes

pitches

which insure the

highest

level

of dissonance

upon

realization.

This

heavy,

dissonant

type

of

texture

completely

negates

the

principles

inherent

in

the earlier

symphony.7

Other orchestral

effects, too,

seem

most

removed

from the earlier

work,

particular-

ly

the

angular

tuba solos.8

The

part

for

factory

hooter in

F-sharp

(with

alternate

parts

for

brass)

not

only

announces

the chorus

in the final

section,

but

symbolizes

Shostakovich's

turn

away

from

pure,

'abstract'

music,

and

may

be

5

Gerald

Abraham,

Eight

Soviet

Composers

London:

Oxford

University

Press,

1943),

p.

16.

6

Gcrald

Abrahan,

'Music in the Soviet Union'

in TheModem

Agy

189o-1960,

New Oxford

History

of

Music,

Vol.X

(Lonldon:

Oxford

University

Press,

1974),

p.655.

7

For

exanmple,

series

of brass entries

in measure

23

produces

a

succession

of

nlinor

ninth

intervals,

and

when combined

with

the

strings,

this

juxtaposition

creates

a tone cluster-like

effect.

8

See

measures

41-43

and

90-94.

viewed

in

part

as

a

reflection of the

changing

social and

political

conditions of the

period.

Yet,

aesthetically speaking,

could

the

composer's

forthcoming symphonies continue in the vein

of

Symphony

No.2?

Apparently

he felt

not,

because the ones which follow the rebellious

Second

begin

a trend back towards the

in-

corporation

of more conventional

symphonic

procedures.

Nevertheless,

similarities exist between the

Second and Third

Symphonies.

The Third

(I929),

subtitled The First

of May,

also

requires

a

chorus

in

its final

section,

incorporating

a

contemporary

text

by Semyon

Kirsanov.

Though it also has a single-movement form, its

internal

divisions

more

closely

resemble

the

movements

of a

traditional

sonata

cycle

(I.

Fast

2.

Slow

3.

Scherzo

4.

Introduction-Finale),

but

the

components

of sonata

form

do not

appear

n

any

of the Third

Symphony's

sections.9

Shostakovich

clearly

avoids thematic

manipula-

tions,

since

he

prefers

to

present

his material

in

an

episodic style,

one new idea after the

next.

However,

the

primarily

diatonic

idiom and

clearer extures contrast

greatly

with

Symphony

No.2, and more closely anticipate qualities

found in the Fifth.

Occasionally,

very large

melodic intervals

appear

in

Symphony

No.3

which seem

quite

novel and

appear

to have no

relationship

to

the

work's overall structure.

These

passages

foreshadow the second theme

in

the first movement

of

Shostakovich's

Fifth:

in

the

Third,

the

large

melodic

intervals have

no

underlying purpose,

but

in

movement

I

of the

Fifth,

Shostakovich

uses them

to function

in

contrast with

the smaller melodic intervals

of

the first theme. Though this type of balanceof

form and content

is not

present

in

the

Third,

it

most

clearly presents

the

prototype

of this

important

melodic

style.10

Another

technique

occurs

when the orchestra

boldly

states thematic

material

in octaves

(making

an 'orchestral

unison').

Though

in

the

Third,

this

technique

comes about

suddenly, seemingly

with

no

structural

ntentions,

it makes

for

an

important

precedent.

Shostakovich

ater

ntegrates

his

early

compositional

device

into

the Fifth

Symphony's

opening movement where it provides a sudden

contrast

o the double canon

in

the

development

section,

creating

one

of the most momentous

passages

in the

symphonic repertoire.

1

9

These sections

begin

at

measures

I,

346, 446, 654,

and 806.

'0

For

example,

see

measures

375-400

n the

Third

Symphony.

The second

thematic area in

the first movement of

the Fifth

Synlphony begins

at measure

50.

These

passages

are found

between measure

666-708

in

the

Third

Symphony,

and

measures

43-252

n

the Fifth

Symphony.



4/7

Shostakovich's

ifthSymphony:

A

Soviet Artist's

Reply...?

13

On

22

January

1934

the

premiere

of

Shostakovich's opera LadyMacbethoftheMtsensk

District

earned the

composer many

praises,

and

it was

quickly regarded

as a

grand

achievement

of

Soviet culture.

Shortly

after this

time,

the

composer

created the

Cello

Sonata

(1934),

op.40,

one of

the most

conservative works of

his

early period. Though

completed

about

one

year

prior

to the

composer's

initial work

upon

the

Fourth

Symphony,

it

anticipates

the

Fifth

Symphony

in

many ways.

Both utilize

a

four-

movement

structure;

both

are

in D

minor;

both

of the first movements strongly rely on sonata

form;

and each

contains a

movement with a

lucid

ternary

design.

The

opening

movement

ofthe.Cello Sonata

clearly provides

an

important

precedent

for

the

texture of the

second thematic

area in

the Fifth

Symphony's

opening

move-

ment.12

Moreover,

the

second

movement of

the Cello

Sonata

includes

rhythmic

patterns

much related to

those

present

in

the Fifth

Symphony's

second

movement,

and some of

the

melodic contours

similarly

foreshadow the

latter piece.13

One

should

bear

in

mind that the

Cello Sonata

was

completed

prior

to

Shostakovich's first

crisis

period,

which

began

when

his

opera Lady

12

Note

the

rhythmic

attern

a

quarter-note

ollowed

by

two

eighth-notes)

which

accompanies

he

lyrical

cello line in

measures

I35-146.

13

Almost

uncannily,

n

measures

5-57,

the

cello

melody

incorporates

glissando

which

trongly

uggests

measures

8-

9I

in

the

secondmovement f

the Fifth

Symphony.

Macbeth

of

the Mtsensk

District

was

severely

criticized by Pravda. The Pravda attack on

Shostakovich's

opera

occurred

on

28

January

1936,

about

midway through

the

composition

of

the Fourth

Symphony.

In the article

entitled

'Chaos

Instead

of

Music',

Shostakovich's

opera

was

criticized

vehemently:

Fromthe

first

moment,

the

listener

s

shocked

by

a

deliberately

issonant,

confused streamof

sound.

Fragments

f

melody, embryonic

phrases

appear

only

to

disappear

gain

n

the

din,

the

grinding,

and

the

screaming...

his music is

built on the

basis of

rejecting pera...whichcarriesntothetheatrend he

music the

most

negative

eatures

f'Meyerholdism'

infinitely

multiplied.

Here

we have

leftist'

onfusion

instead f

natural,

umanmusic...

The

danger

f

this

trendto

Soviet music

is

clear.

Leftistdistortion

n

painting, poetry,

teaching,

and

science.

Petty-

bourgeois

nnovations ead to a

breakwith

real

art,

real

science,

and real

iterature...All

this is

coarse,

primitive,

nd

vulgar.

The music

quacks,

grunts

and

growls,

and

suffocates

tself,

in

order o

express

he

amatory

ceneall over

the

opera

n the

most

vulgar

manner.

The merchant's

double bed

occupies

the

centralpositiononthestage.On itall'problems' re

solved...14

This

violent

review

may

well

have been

a

key

factor which

compelled

the

composer

to

with-

draw

the Fourth

Symphony

(1936)

from

performance

during

this

time. Boris

Schwarz

14

Pravda,

quoted

in

Schwarz,

Musicand

Musical

Lie,

p.

123.

Another

rticle ollowed

a

week

ater

on

6

February)

hich

criticized

hostakovich's

allet,

The

Limpid

tream.



5/7

14

Shostakovich's

ifth

Symphony:

A

Soviet Artist's

Reply...?

points

out that

Shostakovich could

have revised

it

in an

attempt

to insure its

acceptability

during

this

hostile

period,

or

he could

have

destroyed

it. Yet

the

composer

must

have

felt the Fourth

to

be of

some value as

originally

conceived,

for

he withheld

it

from

the

public

until its

premiere

on

30

December

I96.15s

The most

intriguing

formal structures

in

all

of

Shostakovich's

symphonies

exist

in

Symphony

No.4.

In

spite

of

Robert

Dearling's

statement that 'the Fourth

Symphony

does not

gain

from

too critical an

analysis any

more than

does a

ballet

score',16

much has

been written

about the

design

of this

work,

and

consequently

many interpretationshave been made regarding

its form. For

example, Hugh Ottaway

asserts:

The

successes,

ear-successesnd

ailuresn

theFourth

providemany pointers

o

the

work's

significance

or

Shostakovich's

evelopment.

While here s

in

it much

that s

indebted

o

the constructivist

iewpoint

and

to

the anti-Romanticmovement

n

general

there

s

also

a

deeply

human,

Mahler-like

xpression

hat

only

partially

ucceeds

n

formulating

tself.17

Despite

insinuations from

many

critics

that

the

form is

weak,

definite means are

employed

to

give structure to the Fourth Symphony. The

composer

returns to

multi-movement architec-

ture,

but

continues

to

experiment

with

his

organizational plans.

Indeed,

the

opening

movement seems to

represent

a

compromise

between

the

very

conservative Cello Sonata and

the formal

experiments

of

the earlier Second

and

Third

Symphonies.

This

hybrid

form makes

for a most

unusual

first

movement

design.

Shostakovich

freely

initially exposes

material,

develops

and

recapitulates

it,

yet

his

idiosyn-

cratic approach creates a structure far too

removed from convention to be

considered

'sonata

form'.

Therefore,

the term 'sectional'

most

aptly

describes

it. Even

so,

this

design

more

closely

approaches

a

traditional

symphonic

movement than do

any

of the sections in the

previous

two

symphonies.

The

gigantic

outer

movements

are

balanced

in

the central one

by

a

simple

ABAB-coda structure which

presents

another

major

turn

toward

a more conservative

symphonic

approach.

Yet the

final movement's

sectional nature has qualities remarkably in-

dependent

from

customary

designs,

though

it

does make reference

thematically

to the first

15

Schwarz,

MusicandMusical

Life,

pp.

170-72.

16

Robert

Dearling,

'The First Twelve

Symphonies:

Portrait

of

the

Artist as

Citizen-Composer',

in

Shostakovich:

he Man

aind His

Music,

ed.

Christopher

Norris

(Boston:

Marion

Boyars,

1982),

p.56.

17

Hugh

Ottaway,

'Looking Again

At

Shostakovich

4'

Tempo

115

(l)Deceber 1975):

24.

movement.18

This

attempt

to

unify

the overall

structure lacks

strength,

however,

because

it

alone does not

provide

the

necessary

reinforce-

ment needed to unite such a mammoth

symphony.

A

more traditional

treatment

of

thematic

material

appears

in

the Fourth

Symphony,

marking

another turn toward a more

conserva-

tive

style.

Thematic transformations nd motive

manipulations

feature

strongly

in this

work,

departing

from

the

thematic treatment of

Symphonies

2

and

3,

and

foreshadowing

the

intricate motivic

relationships

in

the

Fifth.

Yet

passages

not treated

n

a

developmental

manner

suggest that the composer was reluctanttotally

to

abandon the

through-composed

method of

the

Second and Third

Symphonies.

Ostinati

play

varying

roles in

Shostakovich's

first five

symphonies,

but

it

is

in

No.4

that

the

powerful

potential

of

the ostinato at

climactic

points

is first

fully

realized.

During

the first

culminating point

in the

third

movement,

the

repeated

semiquaver

figures

in

the

upper

woodwinds,

strings

and

xylophone

create a

rhythmic urgency,

making

the material

in

the

remaining parts of the orchestra all the more

intense.19 This

structural

employment

of the

ostinato

becomes even more

important

in the

Fifth

Symphony,

where in

the first movement

(measures

188-204)

the

beginning

of the ostinato

passage

releases

tension,

but as

the

passage

continues

it builds momentum.

Furthermore,

this

device

has an

expanded

role

in

the latter

work,

functioning

as a

unifying agent.

The

opening

of

the

development

section

(in

the first

movement)

presents

an

excellent

case

in

point.

This area begins with the piano stating an

ostinato

(derived

from the

closing

theme

of the

exposition)

which

serves to

conjoin

these

sections. When the horns enter in the

develop-

ment over the

continuing

pattern,

Shostakovich

integrates

the texture

and thematic content to

a

degree

unprecedented

n his

earlier

symphonies.20

Mahler's nfluence

predominates

n

the second

movement

of

the Fourth

Symphony.

The

meter,

rhythmic

structures nd

melodic

contours

resemble those

found

in

the

LAndlerecond

and

third movements of Mahler's Second Symph-

ony

(the

Resurrection,

894).

In

fact the first

themes

in

the third

movement

of

Mahler's

symphony

and in the second movement

of

Shostakovich's

begin

on

the final beat

of the

18

Measure

i61 in

the third movement marks the

beginning

of

a reference to a

passage

which

commences

at

measure

799

in

the first movement.

19

See

measures

48-57.

20

This

area includes measures I

17-125.



6/7

Shostakovich's

ifth

Symphony:

A Soviet Artist's

Reply...?

15

measure,

ontainmuch

egato tep-wise

writing,

and are

initially presentedby

a

string

section.

Both of these movements

also

have numerous

passages with incessantsemiquavermotion.

Members

of the clarinet

family

are the

first

non-string

nstruments o

present

irst hematic

areamaterial

n

each

of these

works;moreover,

a reference

to Mahler's

Second

Symphony

occurs

in

measures

IO8-I

2 of Shostakovich's

second movement.

The

timpani

and clarinet

writing

seem

to

be modelled

after the intro-

duction

o the thirdmovementofMahler'swork

(in

fact the

same

pitches

are

trilled

by

the

clarinets

n

both

works).

Not

only

do the above

areas nvoke a Mahlerianlavor,but the huge

orchestra

required

for Shostakovich'sFourth

suggests

on its

own

the earlier

omposer.

E-flat

clarinet

solos,

often

considered characteristic

of

Mahlerian

rchestration,

ppear

or the first

time

in

Shostakovich's

Fourth,

and

later

n

his

Fifth.

Indeed,

he

myriad

ffectsachieved

n

the

Fourth

Symphony

may

well

be viewed as

symbolic

of Shostakovich's nthusiasm

or

the

wide

variety

of

color and texture found

in

Mahler's cores.

The harmonic language also contributes

greatly

to

the varied

palette

used on the orch-

estral canvas.

Extremely

dissonant

passages,

often

independent

of

functional

relationships,

characterizeeveralareasof the

work,

and

yet

many

traditional adential

atterns

such

as

the

dominant

to

tonic)

abound. This

dichotomy

suggests

the

composer

attempted

o

integrate

the harmonic idioms of

the

first

three

sym-

phonies

into

a

single

framework. Not until

Shostakovich's

Fifth

Symphony,

however,

wouldhebe able o createasuccessfulynthesis

of

many

techniques

used

in

his

earliest

symphonies.

Though

one

may regard

Shosta-

kovich's Fifth as

merely

'takingup

where

the

First left

off,21

the

Second,

Third

and Fourth

Symphonies

must

be viewed

as

significant

works,

for

they

functionedas

compositional

experiments

which

therefore

helped

him

to

become a more skilful

composer

n his

latter

works.

The

Fifth

Symphony

of

I937

immediately

reinstated Shostakovich as the foremost

composer

of his

generation,

and

has been

acclaimedas

a

model of

SocialistRealism.This

assessment s

curiousbecausemuch

of thework

appears

ontrary

n

mood and

style

to

what the

Soviet

authorities elieveda

symphony

should

be. The

ideal

symphony

of the

period

should

have contained olk music

and

nationalisticdeas

21

Schwarz,

p.cit.,

p.

172.

lacking

in

Shostakovich's

Fifth.

Heroism,

too,

was

regarded

as

an

ideal;

perhaps

its initial

suc-

cess

resultedfrom its so-called 'heroic

finale'.22

For many years conductors have tended to

perform

the last movement much

faster

than

indicated. The

finale,

however,

does

not

sound

'heroic'

if

the

metronome

markings

of

the

composer

are followed.

A

major

misconception

poses

further

problems

when

considering

the

Fifth

Symphony,

for

many

musicians

believe

that the

composer

initially

referred

to it

as

'a

Soviet artist's creative

reply

to

justified

critic-

ism'. Boris Schwarz

points

out

that

it is

open

to

question

if

Shostakovich

actually

used the words

'justifiedcriticism', even though the quote has

appeared

in

numerous western

reports.

The

deletion

of

the

word

'justified'

does

not

imply

any

admission

of

guilt,

but

may

suggest

quite

the

contrary.23

Indeed,

the

above

problems

suggest

that other

factors

(aside

from

musical

ones)

hitherto

unaccounted

or,

may

have

helped

propel

the Fifth

Symphony

into

acclaim.24

On

the

other hand there can

be

no

doubt that the

Pravda

ttack

must

have

influenced

Shostakovich,

but

the extent of that

impact

cannot

be

deter-

mined. Nevertheless, one may ascertain that

after

Symphony

No.2 the

composer begins

to

incorporate

some

conservative

stylistic

traits in

his

symphonic

works,

and that

Symphony

No.5

represents

he

culmination of his

early

years.

A

four-movement

design,

incorporating

severaltraditional ormal

principles,distinguish-

es

the Fifth

Symphony's

architecture.

Here,

Shostakovich returns

to

nmany

f

the ideas used

in

his First

Symphony,

but

creates a work of

greater

originality

and

depth.

As in

Symphony

No.I, the opening movement utilizes sonata

principles,

but

key

relationships

occur more

freely

than in its

predecessor,

indicating

a

compromise

between

his

earlier tonal

and

nontonal

systems.

The

precise

point

of

recap-

itulation

is

ingeniously

made

ambiguous,

a

further

indication of its

flexibility.25

Shosta-

kovich also

handles

texture more

thoughtfully

in

22

Boris

Schwarz,

'Shostakovich,

Dmitry

(Dmitriyevich)',

The

New

Grove

Dictionary f

Musicand

Musicians,

d.

Stanley

Sadie

(London:

MacMillan,

I980),

Vol.

XVII, p.267.

23

Schwarz,

Music and

Musical

Life,

pp.

I70-72.

24

Indeed

nonmusical actors

appear

o have

createdmuch

ofthe

controversy

surrounding

Lady

Macbeth;

his

opera

also caused

some

agitation

in

Philadelphia.

See

Royal

S. Brown's 'The

Three

Faces of

Lady

Macbeth'

in

Essays

or

Boris

Schwarz,

Malcolm

Hamrick

Brown,

ed.

(Ann

Arbor:

UMI

Research

Press,

1984)

pp.245-252.

25

Strong

cases

may

be

made for

labelling

the

recapitulation

at

either

measure

243

or

259.

This author

prefers

the

latter,

for

the

tension created

by

the

development begins

to

release here

more

effectively.



7/7

16

Shostakovich's

ifth

Symphony:

A

Soviet

Artist's

Reply...?

the Fifth

Symphony,

where

a

polyphonic

treat-

ment of

the first

thematic

area of

the

opening

movement

helps

to

differentiate it from

the

monophonic second thematic area.Contrasting

textural

considerations,

vivid

in

earlier works

but

occasionally lacking

structural

ntegrity,

are

now

fully integrated

nto the

symphonic

fabric.26

Much of the Fifth

Symphony's

success

may

be attributed to the skilful manner in

which

Shostakovich uses

varying types

of thematic

treatment. The

great manipulation

of

motives

owes

much to

Symphony

No.

I,

but the

primary

themes of the Fifth's

various movements are

not derived from the

opening

of the

piece.

Rather, a greater coherence within each

movement makes

for

more effective contrasts

between movements.

For

example,

the brilliant

motivic

manipulations

in

the first movement

yield

to the new thematic material which

Shostakovich

presents

in

a

nondevelopmental

mnanner

n

the second

movement;

this

procedure

also

helps

to

balance

the

multi-movement

design,

recalling

similar

attempts

from

the Cello

Sonata,

First and

Fourth

Symphonies.

The

cogency

of Shostakovich's thematic treatment

would not have come to fruition in the Fifth had

he not evaluated and reacted

to the

thematic

features of

his

First

Symphony.

Those

angular

melodies

and motivic

peculiarities

which

characterize

areas of

Symphonies

2,

3

and

4

clearly

serve

as

catalysts

for

the

development

of

the mature

compositional

style

inherent

n

No.5.

Orchestration, too,

takes

on

great

structural

significance.

In the Fifth's

first

movement,

Shostakovich

saves the

piano, trumpets,

trombones, tuba,

timpani,

and

percussion

until

the development section. This inclusion of new

orchestral

colors

in the

development

makes

it

possible

to create

furthercontrasts which aid

the

tension-creating

process.

Indeed Shostakovich's

affinity

with

Mahler,

vividly

presented

in

the

Fourth

Symphony,

touches the Fifth as well.

The absence of the

brass

in the third

movement

allows these

instruments' entrance

at the

beginninlg

of the

fourth

movement

to

give

added

impact

to the new

material.27 Mahler

used a

similar

approach

in his Fifth

Symphony,

by

scoring

the fourth

movement

for

strings

and

harp

only,

prior

to its

rousing

finale.

In

essence,

Shostakovich's Fifth draws upon a variety of

tone colors used

in

his

earlier

works,

but

integrates

hese colors into its

design

in a manner

unprecedented

n his earlier

symphonies.

Principles

of

tonality fully govern

the

harmonic

processes

of

the Fifth

Symphony.

The

extreme

incorporation

of

dissonance,

which

characterizes everal sections

of

the

Second

and

Fourth

Symphonies,

acquiesces

in the

Fifth;

nevertheless,

Shostakovich

uses

tonality

most

skillfully

and

imaginatively. Perhaps

the

most

outstanding example of harmony occurs in the

second thematic area of the first

movement,

where

the vertical

sonorities

operate

within a

tonal

context;

yet

much

of this

region

defies

traditional 'Roman Numeral'

analysis

because

it

contains

chordal structures which extend

beyond

familiar

harmony.

In

effect,

Shosta-

kovich

tempers

the excessive dissonance

of his

earlier

symphonies

and

expands

his

harmonic

language,

so that the Fifth demonstrates

a

reconciliation

of

artistic

iberty

with traditional

form and content.

One must

conclude that the Fifth

Symphony

evolved

from the earlier

symphonies

and Cello

Sonata.

The First

Symphony,

the antithetical

reactions to

it,

and the

compositional

trends

present

in

the works

intervening

between

Symphonies

I

and

5

are

synthesized

in

the

Fifth.

An

analytical

review

of

these

pieces

reveals

that

the

composer

begins

to

treat

his musicalmaterials

in

a more conservative

manner after the

radical

Second

Symphony

and,

therefore,

each of these

compositions has an important role in Shosta-

kovich's

development

as a

symphonist.

Though

it would be a mistake

to assume that the Pravda

attack

on

Lady

Macbeth

f

theMtsenskDistrict

did

not force the

composer

to reconsider the

nature

of his musical

anguage,

the

effect of this incident

upon

Shostakovich's

Fifth

Symphony

has been

overemphasized.

Certainly,

it must be

regarded

not

only

as a reaction

to official

criticism,

but as

the result

of

a musical

evolution as well.

26

Malcolil Hamlrick

Brown,

in 'The

Symphonlies

of

Sergei

Prokofiev'

Ph.D.

dissertation,

The Florida State

Uliversity,

Tallahassee,

1967),

pp.435-37,

feels that the textural contrasts

within the

exposition

of Shostakovich

5

may

possibly

have

27

Schwarz

notes the

relationship

of the

Fifth

Symphony's

served Prokofiev

as

a

model

for the

opening

of

his

Fifth coda to that

of Mahler's First

Symphony

(movement

four).

Sylmpholny

1946).

See Musical

ndMusical

LJfe,

p.

172.

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