Dmitri Shostakovich

Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 in C major "Leningrad"

A work played by starving musicians in a besieged city

Key: C major
Composed: 1941
Premiere: 1942 Kuibyshev (now Samara)
Duration: About 78 min
Movements: 4 movements
Instrumentation: Woodwinds 3·3·4·3 (doubling piccolo, alto flute, English horn, E♭ clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabassoon) · Brass 4·3·3·1 (+ separate brass group: 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones) · Timpani · Percussion (triangle, tambourine, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, xylophone) · 2 harps · Keyboard (piano) · Strings

The story behind this piece

When German troops besieged Leningrad in 1941, Shostakovich began writing this symphony inside the city. He then evacuated to Kuibyshev, finished it in December, and it premiered there on March 5, 1942 under Samosud.

The score was put on microfilm and carried west by way of Tehran, and on July 19, 1942, a performance by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Toscanini was broadcast in the United States. Shostakovich even appeared on the cover of Time magazine.

The most famous performance was in besieged Leningrad on August 9, 1942. The full score was flown in, and the starving musicians of the Leningrad Radio Orchestra were given extra food rations. To prevent German shelling during the performance, the Soviet army shelled the enemy batteries first, and the concert was broadcast by loudspeakers across the whole city and even to the German positions.

What to listen for

First movement "invasion" episode: A march theme that begins small and far away repeats over the same rhythm and grows ever larger and more frightening.
End of the fourth movement: It ends as the first movement's opening theme returns in a grand C major.

Listen · Score

Hear the full piece on YouTube · hr-Sinfonieorchester · Klaus Mäkelä

Credits