Talk:Violin Concerto No. 1 (Shostakovich)

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[edit] Diffrences between opus 77 and opus 99

There actually is a very minor difference between the opus 77 and opus 99 versions. In the original opus 77, the opening of the Burlesca had the violin continuing to play without a stop over from the cadenza. During the rehearsals for the premiere, David Oistrakh asked Shostakovich to please give the violinist a rest between the cadenza and the Burlesca. Shostakovich happily complied and re-scored the opening of the finale for the winds and xylophone that we hear today. This became the "new" opus 99. This information is mentioned in Wilson's Shostakovich Remembered and Fay's Shostakovich: A Life.

[edit] Dear God, It's Plagiarism

Almost the entirety of this article was lifted directly from this source: [1].

I'll just repost the text, since that's exactly what's happened here.

Original version.

"The Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor, Opus 77, was originally written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1947 -1948. He was still working on the piece at the time of the Zhdanov decree, and in the period following the composer's denunciation the work could not be performed. In the period between the work's initial completion and the first performance on 29 October 1955, the composer and its dedicatee, David Oistrakh, worked on a number of revisions. The work was finally premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic under Yevgeny Mravinsky. It was well received, Oistrakh remarking on the "depth of its artistic content" and describing the violin part as a "pithy 'Shakespearian' role".

The work is scored for piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, double bassoon, four horns, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, xylophone, celesta, two harps and strings.

The concerto lasts around 35 minutes and has four movements, with a cadenza linking the final two:

1. Nocturne

2. Scherzo

3. Passacaglia

4. Burlesque

Oistrakh characterised the first movement as "a suppression of feelings", and the second as "demoniac". The scherzo is also notable for an appearance by the DSCH motif representing the composer himself. Boris Schwarz (Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia, 1972), commented on the passacaglia's "lapidary grandeur" and the burlesque's "devil-may-care abandonment". The beginning of the passacaglia is also notable for its juxtaposition of the invasion or Stalin theme from the Seventh Symphony and the fate motif from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony."

Your version.

"The Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Opus 77, was originally written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1947 - 1948. He was still working on the piece at the time of the Zhdanov decree, and in the period following the composer's denunciation the work could not be performed. In the period between the work's initial completion and the first performance on 29 October 1955, the composer and its dedicatee, David Oistrakh, worked on a number of revisions. The work was finally premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic under Yevgeny Mravinsky. It was well received, Oistrakh remarking on the "depth of its artistic content" and describing the violin part as a "pithy 'Shakespearian' role".

The work is scored for piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, xylophone, celesta, two harps and strings.

The concerto lasts around 35 minutes and has four movements, with a cadenza linking the final two:

1. Nocturne

2. Scherzo

3. Passacaglia

4. Burlesque

Oistrakh characterised the first movement as "a suppression of feelings", and the second as "demoniac". The scherzo is also notable for an appearance by the DSCH motif representing the composer himself. Boris Schwarz (Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia, 1972), commented on the passacaglia's "lapidary grandeur" and the burlesque's "devil-may-care abandonment". The beginning of the passacaglia is also notable for its juxtaposition of the invasion or Stalin theme from the Seventh Symphony and the fate motif from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony."

Isn't there supposed to be some citation of sources? Somewhere? In some fashion? I'd do it myself, but I don't know how to do it according to the Wikipedia format.

Just in case anyone notices the above, the site referred to (which now seems to have disappeared) actually took its content from as, as can be seen from the history. Good for a giggle, though. Henry^Flower 17:21, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Third movement

It's a shame we can't express our opinions and say that this is one of the most sublime pieces of music known to man. Oops, I just did! Seriously though, is there any way to work this into the main article? It seems very dry. Uncoolbob 16:14, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree about it being sublime. =) 152.23.196.162 02:24, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately our neutral point of view policy prevents us from adding such a statement, even if many people would agree with it :-) bdesham ★ 03:40, 11 December 2007 (UTC)