The Shostakovich Symphonies, Part 3

Perhaps one becomes attuned to things or maybe it's just that the later Shostakovich symphonies are of more interest. Certainly embarking and such large-scale music as this when used to a staple diet of mostly chamber music and solo piano made for quite a change.

During the night, Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys was on an old Desert Island Discs with an excellent selection that included the first movemrent of no. 5 but today I reached the end of my first run through with 14 and 15.

13 had included some muscular, austere bass voice but that was not much compared to 14 which is all vocal with soprano, bass, strings and percussion. The texts are poems about death and, yes, it is as grim as even Shostakovich gets and that is saying something. If classical music could be mapped onto pop, which it quite clearly can't, then Shostakovich symphonies occupy the darker end of heavy metal except 14 goes beyond that. Haydn wouldn't recognize it as a symphony. I'd have thought it was an oratorio but such titles are the choice of the artist. It is monumental, might not seem as bleak on further listening and will be hugely anticipated on the second run through. It has been the great 'discovery' of this project and has entirely justified it.

15 is no less weird in its way with its 'toyshop' first movement very explicitly quoting Rossini's William Tell Overture before long, spare Adagios lead towards a restrained ending on percussion which is a very unorthodox place to stop and it is most satisfying to listen to, the like of which I've not come across before.

So, as I knew already, the symphonies are a very different Shostakovich to the one I knew and loved from the String Quartets and other smaller ensembles. You'd think it was a different composer but whereas certain baroque and classical types are readily identifiable, the range from one end to the other with opera, jazz and lighter suites in between is comprehensive. If I've not said so before then perhaps only Errollyn Wallen is the only other I can think of with such an eclectic catalogue. I'm not at all against the idea but in poetry, for example, one does become accustomed to what some call a 'voice'. 

Like any good book that is worth re-reading, the Shostakovich symphonies are even more so and demand much further hearing and in the light of, and with the encouragement of, what is to come, I will go back to the start and listen again in the light of all that. Thus, this series might not be over yet.

These are excellent recordings and so the less than pristine condition of the box and cases can be overlooked considering the bargain secondhand price they came at. It was a 5-star buy if you like the music. I can't classify it yet, and wouldn't do such a thing anyway, but it was a good decision rather than only a dutiful one.