Please DONATE to help with maintenance and upkeep of the Wind Repertory Project!

Symphony V, Finale (Shostakovich) (tr Bocook)

From Wind Repertory Project
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich (arr. Jay Bocook)


This work bears the designation Opus 47.


General Info

Year: 1937 / 1995
Duration: c. 11:10
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: G. Schirmer
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $135.00   |   Score Only (print) - $15.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tam-tam
  • Triangle
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Completed in 1937, this symphony is commonly subtitled A Soviet artist’s reply to just criticism after Stalin’s denouncement of Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of Mtensk for its degenerate and modernist tendencies. Any kind of adventurous music was banned. Shostakovich became a marked man and his Mahleresque Fourth Symphony was withdrawn not long after its premiere.

The Fifth Symphony follows the outline of a traditional symphony, providing safe music, following old formulas. It was a rousing success. Shostakovich reportedly said, “The idea behind my symphony is the making of a man. I saw him, with all his experience, at the centre of the work, which is lyrical from beginning to end. The Finale brings an optimistic solution to the tragic parts of the first movement.”

In his memoirs, smuggled from Russia after his death, he wrote: "What exultation could there be? I think it is clear to everyone what happens in the Fifth. The rejoicing is forced, created under threat...It’s as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, ‘Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing,’ and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering, ‘Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.’ What kind of apotheosis is that? You have to be a complete oaf not to hear that."

- Program Note by William V. Johnson for the San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra


The Symphony No. 5 was composed during the purges of Joseph Stalin during the 1930s. When he composed this work, Shostakovich was heavily scrutinized by the government. His subtitle is, A Soviet Artist’s Response to Just Criticism. Beethoven was the only composer to fully survive the ban on composers, and Shostakovich wrote the Fifth Symphony on the model pioneered by Beethoven. As required, the work displayed lyricism, a heroic tone, and inspiration from Russian literature. Many audiences hear a subtext of critical despair beneath the acceptable politics of the time.

- Program Note from Tara Winds concert program, 19 December 2015


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

  • Waltz No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (post 1956/2021)


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Shostakovich, D.; Bocook, J. (2005). Symphony No. 5: Finale, Opus 47 [score]. G. Schirmer: [New York].
Retrieved from "https://www.windrep.org/index.php?title=Symphony_V,_Finale_(Shostakovich)_(tr_Bocook)&oldid=358365"