New Arrivals/Restock

Title: Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3; Two Scherzos
Artist: Halle Choir
Label: Chandos
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 0095115239827
Genre: Classical Artists
Release Date: 2025-08-15
Number of Discs: 1

For this, the fifth instalment of his Shostakovich symphony cycle, John Storgards turns to some of the earliest of the composer's orchestral output, works which Shostakovich largely wrote during his student years. The orchestral scherzo was a favourite task set by composition tutors of the time: the relatively simple form still demands that the student produce contrasting material for the outer and central sections, and manage the transitions effectively. Unsurprisingly, the form looms large in the early works of Shostakovich, as well as Stravinsky, Bartok, and many others. The two examples recorded here show the young composer's ability and style, although not yet perhaps a distinct compositional voice. They do both share links with the later First Symphony, however, which was composed as a graduation test in composition from the Petrograd Conservatoire. Shostakovich spent two years working on it, but the Symphony he eventually produced was an instant success, marking him out as a Boy Wonder among Soviet composers. Written four years later, the Third Symphony evidences not only the rapid development of Shostakovich as a composer, but the equally rapid change in the world he inhabited. He passed the newly required examination in Marxist ideology in December 1926, and managed to extend his registration as a postgraduate student at Leningrad Conservatoire until early 1930. He submitted the symphony with the explanation that it 'expresses the festive spirit of peaceful construction'. At this early stage of the first of Stalin's Five-Year Plans, he already demonstrated his realisation that political spin would be crucial to his creative survival.

Tracks:
1.1 Scherzo, Op. 1 in F sharp minor
1.2 Scherzo, Op. 7 in E flat major for Orchestra
1.3 Symphony No. 1, Op. 10 in F minor~I. Allegretto - Più mosso - Allegretto - Allegro non troppo
1.4 Symphony No. 1, Op. 10 in F minor~II. Allegro - Meno mosso - L'istesso tempo - Allegro - Meno mosso
1.5 Symphony No. 1, Op. 10 in F minor~III. Lento - Più mosso - Largo - [Lento] - Più mosso - [Lento] -
1.6 Symphony No. 1, Op. 10 in F minor~IV. Allegro molto - Lento - Allegro molto - Meno mosso - Allegro molto - Molto meno mosso - Adagio - Largo - Più mosso - Presto
1.7 Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 'The First of May' in E flat major~Allegretto Quarter note = 100 - Più mosso -
1.8 Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 'The First of May' in E flat major~Allegro Half note = 104 -
1.9 Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 'The First of May' in E flat major~Più mosso - Meno mosso Half note = 80 -
1.10 Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 'The First of May' in E flat major~Allegro Half note = 92 -
1.11 Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 'The First of May' in E flat major~Andante Quarter note = 138 - Meno mosso - Quarter note = 116 - Meno mosso Quarter note = 108 - Lento -
1.12 Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 'The First of May' in E flat major~Allegro Dotted Half note = 76 - Half note = 126 - Poco meno mosso - Allegro molto Half note = 160 -
1.13 Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 'The First of May' in E flat major~Andante Half note = 84 - Largo Quarter note = 96 -
1.14 Symphony No. 3, Op. 20 'The First of May' in E flat major~Moderato Quarter note = 88 - Quarter note = 100 - Quarter note = 132 - Quarter note = 108 - Quarter note = 132 - Quarter note = 100