Symphony No. 2 (Shostakovich)
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The Symphony No. 2 in B major (Opus 14; subtitled To October) by Dmitri Shostakovich was written and first performed by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy Capella Choir under Nikolai Malko, on 5 November 1927.
It is a short, experimental work (under 20 minutes) with two sections, sometimes classed as a single movement:
- Largo
- My shili, my prosili raboty i khleba
The Largo itself has two parts: a polyphonic beginning and a meditative episode which Shostakovich described as the "death of a child" (letter to Boleslav Yavorsky). The choral finale of the work sets a text by Alexander Bezymensky praising Lenin and the revolution. The composer himself seems to have been dissatisfied with the work; he wrote (letter to Tatyana Glivenko, 28 May 1927) that he was tired of writing it and considered the Bezymensky text "abominable". Nonetheless, it stands as an important representation of Soviet music in the 1920s and in particular, the notion of "industrial" symphonies intended to inspire the proletariat - the choral section of the work is heralded within the score by way of a blast from a factory whistle. It was originally written as a cantata; the composer only later designated it his second symphony.
