Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
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CD Details

Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
Conductor: André Previn
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-02-12
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
  1. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): 1. Adagio - Allegro non troppo
  2. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): 2. Allegretto
  3. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): 3. Allegro non troppo -
  4. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): 4. Largo -
  5. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): 5. Allegretto

Music reviews of Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8

Music Review: Courage
Rating: 5 Stars

I just listened to this, and my only reaction is Wow. No wonder this almost got Shostakovich sent to the gulags. Stalin's reaction to this symphony was, "Why such a depressing symphony in 1944, when we're on our way to victory?" (Especially after Stalin had hailed the "victorious" movements in the 7th symphony of 1942, when it looked like the USSR was going to get creamed!) What Shostakovich knew, by 1944, was that most of the "victorious" soldiers who had come back from fighting in Poland/Germany/Austria/Hungary--and even from the POW camps in those countries--were being taken off the troop trains and sent straight to the gulags. Some weren't even taken off the trains: Their troop trains went straight to the gulags without stopping. Why? Because they had seen eastern Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, and knew that the Communists had been lying to them all along about what a great life they had in the USSR, and how horrible things were in the West. (Remember: Eastern Germany etc. were not Communist yet, in 1944, and so were quite prosperous compared with the USSR.) For example: The Russian soldiers in the German POW camps were the only ones who never got their packages from home; so they knew exactly what awaited them when they got back to the USSR. They committed suicide in droves.

This is just one example of the horrors Shostakovich was aware of, and which he had to build into a symphony, yet still somehow stay out of the gulags himself.

So I was very moved, especially by the later movements, after Shostakovich has stopped portraying the war, and started portraying the emptiness of victory, the utter wasteland of victory in the USSR. (Remember: Huge portions of the Soviet army had offered to switch and fight for Hitler, and Hitler had not accepted. Even so, some parts of the Soviet army fought for Germany anyway. The German army was hailed in western Russia, and especially in The Ukraine--which Stalin had tried to starve out of existence in the 30s--in much the same way as the liberating Allied army was hailed throughout France: as deliverers. That's how deeply hatred for the Soviet regime was ingrained, how deep their desperation was.) Shostakovich came closer to being sent to the gulags for this symphony than he ever did for anything else, and now I see why. Victory was far more apocalyptic for the Russians than defeat ever could have been. Shostakovich portrays this, and Previn brings it out wonderfully!
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