Symphony No. 15 (Shostakovich)

The 15th Symphony in A major (Op. 141) Dmitri Shostakovich's last symphony and was written in 1971 in Repino. On 8 January 1972, the work was first performed under the direction of his son, Maxim Shostakovich. Often this symphony is regarded as the quintessence of his life, but that will not constitute an endpoint.

Construction

The symphony has the following levels:

Main key of the first movement is in A minor, the second in F minor and G minor third. The last sentence turns from A minor to A major.

Music

While Shostakovich for his last symphonies usually called a choir or vocal soloists, this includes a pure orchestra. What is striking about this symphony also the frequency of quotations; so come on motifs from Giacchino Rossini's Guillaume Tell and from Richard Wagner's operas, but also issues from their own earlier works. Overall, Shostakovich created the symphonic scenes both with serene as well as sad moments.

The first sentence quoted a loose body from Rossini's work. In the second set, the horn section reminiscent of a funeral march dar. The fourth movement is characterized mainly by polyrhythmic elements and percussive instrumentation, and processes the death announcement design from Die Walküre as well as quotations from Tristan und Isolde.