Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony: 'Leningrad'
"Even before the war, in Leningrad there probably wasn't a single family who hadn't lost
someone, a father, a brother, or if not a relative, a close friend. Everyone had someone
to cry over, but you had to cry silently, under your blanket, so that no one would see.
Everyone feared everyone else, and the sorrow oppressed and suffocated us.
It suffocated me too. I had to write about it, I felt that it was my responsibility, my duty.
I had to write a requiem for all those who died, who had suffered. I had to describe the horrible
extermination machine and express protest against it. But how could I do it? I was constantly
under suspicion.
And then the war came and the sorrow became a common one. We
stopped fearing tears.[...] I came back to life after the Seventh." (Testimony, 135-136)
The Seventh Symphony (First Movement)
This sound clip from Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony was orchestrated by The New
York Philharmonic and conducted by Leonard Bernstein. The piece starts out very grand
and very forceful, but at the same time, the discord of the harmonies sets up a dilemma, that
of the destruction of St. Petersburg. In the middle of the piece, the large orchestrated sound
fades, leaving the flute with the melody. The flute gradually dies, ending very quietly, but
then fades back in, followed by the oboe. This light melodic combination expresses the mourning
of those that died in the Siege. The drums enter, signifying the approach of the Russian offensive.
The continuing discord symbolizes that the Germans are still a threat. The clarinet
takes the melody, again portraying a theme of mourning, then the violins enter, showing that
even though there is this horrible sadness and tragedy, life must continue on and Leningrad
will survive despite extensive suffering. At the end of the movement, the snare drums come
back in, giving hope to the citizens of the Siege that help is on the way.
Dmitri Shostakovich was always a Petersburger at heart. He truly loved the city and was
aghast at the steady decay of its culture, economy, and population. Shostakovich was
often considered the second yurodivy composer (Mussorgsky was the first) of Russia.
The yurodivy had the ability to see and hear things that others could not, and thus gives
this insight to the people, but does so in code. The yurodivy exposes injustice while
pretending to conform to the system. This is most evident in Shostakovich's Seventh
Symphony. At first listen, it seems to be a symphony that mourns the rape of Leningrad by
Hitler. Shostakovich was also subtly mourning what Stalin and Communism had done to
St. Petersburg. Once a capital full of grandeur and beauty, following the Russian Revolution,
St. Petersburg became a ghost capital, an industrial city that mourned the palaces of the past.
The government and mainstream culture moved back to Moscow. Shostakovich mourned the
death of his city and also mourned the trials endured by its citizens. During the purges, many
writers, artists, and musicians were killed. The worst of it was in St. Petersburg. It was as though
Stalin was making revenge on the 'capital of the bourgeois,' making sure that no one tried to
overrun his revolution."I wrote my Seventh Symphony, the 'Leningrad,' very quickly. Icouldn't
not write it. War was all around. I had to be with the people, I wanted to create the image
of our country at war, capture it in music.[...] I wanted to write about our time [...] I feel
eternal pain for those who were killed by Hitler, but I feel no less pain for those killed on
Stalin's orders. I suffer for everyone who was tortured, shot, or starved to death. There were
millions of them in our country before the war with Hitler began" (154-155).
The Seventh Symphony was premiered in St. Petersburg during the 900 Day Siege of Leningrad.
on March 5, 1942 by the Leningrad Philharmonic. When first asked to perform, only sixteen
members of the orchestra were left to perform. Many of the musicians were called back from
the front to perform the piece, which was meant to boost the morale of the besieged citizens
of Leningrad. Even with the recalled musicians, flyers went up around the city asking anyone
who could play an instrument to report to the Bolshoi Theatre. The premiere of the Seventh
Symphony was broadcast via radio all over Russia and was propagandized by Stalin, who
wanted his Western Allies to think the best of Soviet culture and marvel at what the USSR could
produce in times of war.
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See the sources I used.