Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 - Dmitri Shostakovich

Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 by Dmitri Shostakovich

Shostakovich completed this symphony in 1937, with the premiere performance being given in November the same year in St Petersburg. In February of 1935, Shostakovich had been the target of what we might today call ‘Extreme Cancel Culture’. Multiple articles in the Pravda (the official newspaper Central Committee of the Communist Party) were written criticising the musical ability of Shostakovich, but more importantly alleging that Shostakovich was not able or willing to properly represent life on a collective peasant farm through music.

This prolonged campaign of state funded criticism resulted in Shostakovich losing commissions and having multiple performances of his work cancelled, leaving Shostakovich earning only about 20% of his usual fees.

The following year in 1936, the Great Purge of Russia began. During this time several friends, colleagues and family members of Shostakovich were either sent to gulags, or executed. This would include his brother-in-law and his mother-in-law, both of which were sent to labour camps in the South of the USSR (in what is today Kazakhstan).

Much was in the balance with the reception of the fifth symphony, potentially even the chance of death should the composition not satisfy the members of the USSR State Committee on Culture. The symphony was immediately popular at the premiere, with the conductor Mikhail Chulaki raising the score above his head after the performance to the applauding crowd. The reception to the work was almost too positive, with two officials of the State Committee being sent to subsequent performances to confirm if the members of the audience were genuine people or planted supporters of Shostakovich.

The ongoing warm reception of the work to audiences through Russia eventually saw the State Committee conclude the work was of significant talent, declaring that everything they had expected of the composer was restored by this symphony.

The work is comprised of four movements: I. Moderato – Allegro non troppo 00:00 II. Allegretto 17:49 III. Largo 23:15 IV. Allegro non troppo 39:18