shostakovich symphony no. 10

April 19, 2006 by randomguru

[mainly a note to myself]

I do need to listen to the other symphonies, but the symphony no. 10 is what’s on my iTunes right now. The first movement (20 plus minutes long) is sooooo depressing… reminds me of death and destruction… Nazism, The Holocaust… dread and ominous feelings. But, it is truly a work of art.

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7 Responses to “shostakovich symphony no. 10”

fishlamp on April 19th, 2006 6:35 pm

It really is truly a work of art. But you’re right, it elicits feelings of sadness and depression. I wonder what inspired this piece to be composed…
Tara-Chan on April 19th, 2006 9:22 pm

Twenty minutes long? And that’s only the first movement? Wow… and I thought the Tchaikovsky’s Piano concerto no. 1 in B-flat minor was long.
randomguru on April 19th, 2006 9:53 pm

fishlamp: ah, you know that one. it is a very depressing piece of art. i read somewhwere that shostakovich was always at odds with the russian government. like, they tried to censor his works because they depicted a reality of life in Russia.
randomguru on April 20th, 2006 5:53 am

Tara: i think that first movement is actually a bit longer too. 22 minutes and a few seconds. yes, it is long for a first movement of a symphony. now this was composed in 1958.
annie on April 21st, 2006 5:18 am

hehe shostakovich is all about the nazi/wwii era… that’s acutally the project that i was working on! the class i’m going to teach is: composers of the nazi era (8 composers). shostakovich’s music was banned in russia for the longest time because stalin thought it reflects too much on the war…. he wanted patriotic music but bahhhhh sorry i’m being nerdy!

oooh you already knew that. i just read your comments :) hehe he’s one of my fav composers cuz he has such a real passion and reflection to his music. it’s so honest…. depressing or not, it’s such honesty and i love that :)
Tara-Chan on April 21st, 2006 5:41 am

1958… Interesting. x_x;; So if the just the first movement is 22 minutes long, then how long is the whole symphony? Two hours long? XD That’s definitely an entire concert there.
randomguru on April 21st, 2006 9:32 am

Tara: omg, i’ll have to check the CD for the entire length of the symphony. the second movement is like, 4 plus minutes long and is very fast. reminds me of star wars. i’ll be john williams was inspired, maybe. ;o)

Annie: wow, that is cool! now it makes sense. thank you. that sounds like an excellent class to take.