# Favorites of Shostakovich Symphonies



## neoshredder

I see there was an old poll on here that didn't have all the choices or allow for multiple choices. I'd thought I'd update it to allow for more choices and selections. Since the poll allows 15, why not have them all up there? Preferably 3-7 selections at most.


----------



## oogabooha

Shostakovich is one of those composers where I really can't complain about any of their symphonies, so I think that choosing more than one for me will just lead to checking off every single one.

My absolute favorite has to be 10, though...it's such a lively, spontaneous piece, and I've come to be entranced by it on multiple occasions.


----------



## Sofronitsky

If you don't vote ten, *you don't have a soul.*


----------



## Olias

5 and 10, followed by 1.


----------



## Arsakes

3, 5, 7, 11, 13 .. though I haven't listened to all post-7s yet.


----------



## elgar's ghost

4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 15 but I actually like to listen to 4 through to 10 as a cycle because during this timeline (1936-1953) the composer himself was often under enormous pressure from Uncle Joe and his band of merry men - it's like a sonic chronicle of not just Shostakovich's woes and anxieties but also those of the USSR itself.


----------



## Art Rock

7, 10 and 14 stand out for me. Also voted for 1 and 5. But I like them all.


----------



## Il_Penseroso

Nos.7, 11 and 14 for me.

No.7, I love the beautiful recapitulation after the invasion section in the first movement most of all. The invasion ostinato is also very moving as well as the second movement, while the third movement is a real tragedy. 
No.11 was the first Shostakovich I heard when I was 13 or 14 years old. I love the entire work but the fuge section in the second movement is terrific, well-matched to the Odessa Steps sequence in Eisentein's Battleship Potemkin. Final is also great ! 
No.14 is one of the darkest works ever written, it's so effective, especially when soprano sings Three lilies, three lilies, lilies three grow on my grave, without a cross ... each time I listen to it, I can't sleep well for at least 2 or 3 nights after, seriously !


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I love no. 7. The first movement is like a better version of Bolero. :lol:


----------



## drpraetorus

#4 The finale is cataclysmic, crushing and ultimatly, cathartic


----------



## Carpenoctem

I actually haven't listened to all of them, so I won't vote, but I really liked the 5th.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

Why does everyone dislike the 12th? It's so beautiful and Glazunovian!! 

And the 6th and 9th are so humorous!


----------



## OpusEleven

I've only listened to Nos. 5 and 9, so I _had_ to vote for No. 5. I just love that third movement, _Largo_. Although, there's something about his compositions that just turns me off them. However, maybe this will change in the coming years.


----------



## powerbooks

For me, it has to be S13! I guess only when you have the experience under an oppressive government can you truly appreciate the powerful music!

BTW, S1 is really really excellent, so it is very tough choice!


----------



## drpraetorus

When you dig below the surface of the symphonies you find alot of protest and anger at the Soviet world and especially at Stahlin. He danced on the edge and almost ended up in the gulags or dead like many of his compatriots.


----------



## elgar's ghost

drpraetorus said:


> When you dig below the surface of the symphonies you find alot of protest and anger at the Soviet world and especially at Stahlin. He danced on the edge and almost ended up in the gulags or dead like many of his compatriots.


I like to think DSCH wouldn't have ended up dead - Stalin seemed to enjoy playing the carrot and stick game with him too much to consider having him done away with or even imprisoned. DSCH had been a bag of nerves since 1936 because of the uncertainty of his relationship with the Soviet hierarchy and I would suggest that for Uncle Joe it was enough just to keep him under surveillance on a regular basis, reward him with the odd Stalin Prize and then browbeat him again at the appropriate juncture. Also, even Uncle Joe might have baulked at sanctioning the execution of someone who by then had earned something of an international standing - it wouldn't have looked that good if the USSR gained a reputation for abruptly bumping off all of their leading cultural figures. A similar principle probably applied to the poet Anna Akhmatova but she was made of sterner stuff and there were times when she may have been in genuine danger - not least because Stalin was enraged when he heard she was in contact with egalitarian intellectuals such as Isaiah Berlin.


----------



## Wandering

I'm not familiar enough with Shostakovich to vote, so I didn't. I do really enjoy the opening of the 9th symphony, the way it surprisingly jumps into the rythmic march theme is extremely clever and lighthearted, impossible to forget.


----------



## neoshredder

Listening to Shostakovich's Symphony 4. Dark and disturbing. Love it. I guess we get the idea how he feels as he didn't release it until 30 years after he wrote it.


----------



## drpraetorus

elgars ghost said:


> I like to think DSCH wouldn't have ended up dead - Stalin seemed to enjoy playing the carrot and stick game with him too much to consider having him done away with or even imprisoned. DSCH had been a bag of nerves since 1936 because of the uncertainty of his relationship with the Soviet hierarchy and I would suggest that for Uncle Joe it was enough just to keep him under surveillance on a regular basis, reward him with the odd Stalin Prize and then browbeat him again at the appropriate juncture. Also, even Uncle Joe might have baulked at sanctioning the execution of someone who by then had earned something of an international standing - it wouldn't have looked that good if the USSR gained a reputation for abruptly bumping off all of their leading cultural figures. A similar principle probably applied to the poet Anna Akhmatova but she was made of sterner stuff and there were times when she may have been in genuine danger - not least because Stalin was enraged when he heard she was in contact with egalitarian intellectuals such as Isaiah Berlin.


I think Stahlin kept Dimitri around because he could be useful. If Shostakovitch had lost his utility, he would have met with a "tragic accident". I am personnaly convinced that his "Festive Overture" was a reaction to Stahlins death. Being as it was written for the party convention held after Stahlins death. He wrote it out in full score in about two hours. He must have had it in his head for a while before commiting it to paper.


----------



## Xaltotun

After some experience with all of them (I recently purchased the Barshai cycle), I think I'll pick 5, 10, 11 and 13. I'd love to love the 7th, but I need some help understanding the crazy ostinato of the 1st movement. I just can't fathom what it means, musicially or otherwise - it just sounds silly.


----------



## elgar's ghost

drpraetorus said:


> I think Stahlin kept Dimitri around because he could be useful. If Shostakovitch had lost his utility, he would have met with a "tragic accident". I am personnaly convinced that his "Festive Overture" was a reaction to Stahlins death. Being as it was written for the party convention held after Stahlins death. He wrote it out in full score in about two hours. He must have had it in his head for a while before commiting it to paper.


Although many people may have secretly rejoiced at Stalin's death I think experience taught DSCH to be careful what you wish for - after Stalin's death there was no way of knowing at the time whether or not his successor may have turned out even worse! Interesting that the Festive Overture may have been conceived before then, but I can believe that on this occasion DSCH composed it 'on the spot' as he often had this Mozartian gift for working quickly and spontaneously. One interesting comparison to supplement your idea is Symphony no. 7 - due to the enormity of the work many of DSCH's acquaintances reckon most of it must have mapped out BEFORE the invasion of the USSR by Germany, so it's possible that the premise for writing it was inspired by a brutal manifestation of an altogether different sort.


----------



## Arsakes

elgars ghost said:


> Although many people may have secretly rejoiced at Stalin's death I think experience taught DSCH to be careful what you wish for - after Stalin's death there was no way of knowing at the time whether or not his successor may have turned out even worse! Interesting that the Festive Overture may have been conceived before then, but I can believe that on this occasion DSCH composed it 'on the spot' as he often had this Mozartian gift for working quickly and spontaneously. One interesting comparison to supplement your idea is Symphony no. 7 - due to the enormity of the work many of DSCH's acquaintances reckon most of it must have mapped out BEFORE the invasion of the USSR by Germany, so it's possible that the premise for writing it was inspired by a brutal manifestation of an altogether different sort.


The only aspect Stalin's era could be better than his successor's is not much hostility toward the west... and that's not good enough; and that rebuilding the country after the war efforts which is done by German slaves.


----------



## neoshredder

Bump for more possible votes.


----------



## KenOC

Darn, voted for the favorite. Should have voted the 15th.


----------



## starthrower

Sofronitsky said:


> If you don't vote ten, *you don't have a soul.*


Does this mean I can sleep forever when I'm dead?


----------



## opus55

Voted 7 and 10 but several others are excellent as well. Just those two are the most memorable in my mind.


----------



## maestro267

I went for 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 15. Of these, No. 11 is my favourite.


----------



## Chi_townPhilly

*I plead extenuating circumstances*



neoshredder said:


> I see there was an old poll on here that didn't have all the choices or allow for multiple choices. I'd thought I'd update it to allow for more choices and selections. Since the poll allows 15, why not have them all up there? Preferably 3-7 selections at most.


At that time that earlier poll was made, there was a limit of ten (10) on the options.

In accordance with your 3-7 recommendation, I'll pick four-
1. The Tenth
2. The Fifth
3. The Eleventh
4. The Thirteenth.


----------



## Xisten267

My five faves at the moment are #5, #7, #9, #11 and #14.


----------



## Enthusiast

I know the symphonies quite well but it has been quite a while since I wanted to listen to most of them. I sometimes think I do and make a start but find myself abandoning the work and trying something else. But I do still enjoy 1, 5, 10 and (especially) 14 (and invariably in the Currentzis recording).


----------

