Symphony No. 11 (Myaskovsky)

• I Lento
• II Andante
• III Precipitato

The Symphony in B flat minor, Op 34 is the eleventh symphony the composer Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky.

Genesis

1929 invited Sergei Prokofiev Mjaskowski one at a car tour of France. Despite repeated efforts, but he failed to persuade his friend to a trip. Mjaskowski rather concentrated on his work as a composer and teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. In the Soviet Union, meanwhile, announced a change in the cultural essence, in the resolution of the CPSU "On the restructuring literary- artistic organizations " culminated in 1932. As early as 1931 Myaskovsky was leaked along with other composers of the Association for Contemporary Music (ASM ), whereupon the organization had disbanded a short time later. In the period following the composer dedicated to the genre of the mass song, in which he quickly became very successful, too: Its Liedermarsch vocals ( on texts by A. Surkov ) and as the poplars flowered ( to words by S. Ostrowoi ) received the 1934 Award " Best Komsomolzenlieder " the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. During this time he also worked extensively with the writings of Communist authors, his student Dmitri Kabalevsky later said: "We [ were ] in the late twenties to Mjaskowskis table more frequently books of Marx, Engels, Plekhanov and Lenin look [ ... ] ".

After emerging from the ASM Myaskovsky and others, including many of his students, the " New artistic association" founded. In their declaration said: " The aims in their artistic work on instrumental and vocal works for the masses, both in the small ( mass song, soviet Estradenlied ) as well as in the large forms (opera, symphony ), where it considers the creation of the latter as their main task. " Shortly afterwards published Mjaskowski for the first time works from the genre of the string quartet, his string Quartets Nos. 1-4, Op 33 for those new plants Mjaskowski also earned criticism, his new way of composing was understood by some as a desperate attempt yet to find an access to the public. Myaskovsky was also very angry and wrote to Prokofiev: " You'd think I would have today and in the past composed nothing but string quartets ... ". But you can not deny that he had difficulties at this time to bring his musical ideas with the audience and also the party in line. It is also doubtful whether Mjaskowski this change in his music voluntarily took place, relevant supporting documents, however, are hardly to be found in existing sources. This conflict had an impact on his next two great works, the eleventh and the twelfth symphony from. Myaskovsky was the beginning of the collectivization of agriculture, the idea to add sound to this event. But before he composed nor the eleventh symphony, which according to him has no program. With these works, a new section in the work of composers began which was to lead him back to a more traditional and more romantic tonal language.

Analysis

Although the three-movement work is in a minor key, but has a total of more optimistic on trains. He is not a program to reason, and it should cause no particular associations in the listener. The typical Mjaskowski exchange between lyrical and suspenseful passages even humorous points are compared here; this is reminiscent in many respects to former chamber works such as the Serenade in E flat major, Op 31, No. 1, or the Lyric Concertino in G major Op 31 No 3

The first movement opens with a lengthy introduction in E major in the style of a recitative. It goes beyond a chromatic line over into the main part in sonata form, the two issues are already known from the first string quartet. A brief allusion to the beginning leads us to the coda in B flat major. The second movement begins with a prologue, which prepared for the new Key E flat major. After the main theme of the movement follows a kind of wind - fugal on a melody, the first part consists of the main theme of the first movement and the second part represents an anticipation of a part of the finale. The finale consists of a theme and variations, which is a novelty in the symphonic Mjaskowskis. The theme is strongly reminiscent of Dvořák's Symphonic Variations, Op 78, possibly based Mjaskowskis set on the same folk song that is Dvořák's work is based. The set is mostly in B flat major, just a variation is in B-flat minor. In the end, the music changes unexpectedly in a fast pace and ends up with a B- major chord, then play the bass sounds Ges, It, Of, Ces. The piece ends with a short B in the low strings, brass and percussion.

Reception and criticism

Myaskovsky was, as so often dissatisfied with his work. He certified him a certain "dryness " and " unnecessary simplicity ". This was probably mainly because the symphony represents a first attempt at a new musical language and so awkwardly looked at many places on the audience and critics. After Myaskovsky had heard the symphony in a piano version, he worked at it, he resolved by including a " defect " in the final by expanding the implementation. The premiere of the so- fashioned Symphony took place on 16 January 1933, after the premiere of the twelfth symphony. Both concerts took place only after the resolution of the CPSU, and it is likely that Mjaskowski be prepared with these two works to potential and already emerging changes.