Dmitri Shostakovich
Shostakovich Symphony No. 6 in B minor
A strange symphony that starts with the slow movement
- Key
- B minor
- Composed
- 1939
- Premiere
- 1939 Leningrad
- Duration
- about 30 min
- Movements
- 3 movements
- Instrumentation
- Woodwinds 2·2·2·2 (+ piccolo, English horn, E♭ clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabassoon) · Brass 4·3·3·1 · Timpani · Percussion (snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam, xylophone) · Harp · Keyboard (celesta) · Strings
The story behind this piece
After the success of No. 5, Shostakovich announced he would write a grand "Lenin Symphony" with soloists and chorus, but what actually appeared was a purely instrumental piece in three movements, with no text and no political message. It premiered in November 1939 under Mravinsky. It has an unusual structure with uneven movement lengths: it opens with a long, dark slow movement and ends with two fast ones.
What to listen for
- Contrast between the first movement (Largo) and the last: After a long, silence-like slow movement comes a finale that races along gleefully like a circus.
Listen · Score
- Hear the full piece on YouTube · hr-Sinfonieorchester · Carlos Miguel Prieto
Credits