Shostakovich: Symphony No. 2, Op. 14 "October"

[@WilliamScharf]

Wonderful effort performing a symphony that is probably difficult even for talented musicians to digest and perform. Even in early Shostakovich, one can hear threads of his developing musical personality. One must view this Symphony in context with his other works. Many would say that Shostakovich is one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. I would say he "IS" the greatest composer of the 20th century.

[@quetiomasbueno]

Of course, he is!

[@alexuturgaidze5722]

After 2nd viennese school.

[@sebastianmuromusak]

Yeah, it really depends on taste. But i agree, Shosta is my favorite

[@pravemet4427]

if you haven't yet done so, read Elizabeth Wilson's biog of his life ... unputdownable ..

[@wkehl2011]

He is certainly very good :-)

[@commbir5148]

I believe I am alone among commenters, I came here when I took a deep dive on Wikipedia on 'industrial' music. Normally associated with discordant instruments, electronic percussion, and provocative imagery, the term nonetheless seemed to be first applied to this very symphony in 1942 by The Musical Quarterly. I am absolutely fascinated by the continuity and discontinuity in music that would much later be called industrial. And I very much enjoyed this performance and this piece of art.

[@marijapaskeviciute365]

Thank you for sharing! I never made the connection :)

[@user-sf3lg5xy6i]

That's how I got here, too. :)

[@bolonya2264]

This music reminds me of later video game music. Specifically of Nobuo Uematsu, especially the music from Final Fantasy VII.

[@Circumradius]

Hey! Same with me actually. It's interesting to see that others had the same curiosity.

[@yvnak415]

bruh wth thats how i got here...

[@ProtMan96]

Briliant ! Im amazed of how thoughtfull Shostakovich really was. He had the touch, and it can be easily heard in many parts that lead on onto another perfectly. Just beautiful...

[@rodrirom305]

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (25 September 1906 - 9 August 1975)
Symphony No. 2 in B major op. 14 "To October", with chorus (1927)
For the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution.
1. Largo
2. Quarter note=152
3. Poco meno mosso. Allegro molto.
4. Chorus: "To October" Text by Alexander Bezymensky (1898 - 1973)

[@mark19441944]

Extraordinary performance!! Thank you!

[@AndresPerez-kr5ce]

Magnifique!!

[@aurahyel4700]

Quite a fine performance. Note the use of a 'factory' siren, which opens the choral section, in the orchestration. At times the music recalls Ives to a degree. DSCH later remarked that of his 15 symphonies, the 2nd and 3rd were his least favourite.

[@christianspillemose4074]

I don't hear the siren, in Gergiev's rendition I hear it loud and clear. Maybe they've run out od sirens in Pomona

[@wkehl2011]

@@christianspillemose4074 That siren is not always used.

[@haraldgeiger7769]

fantastic Interpretation ❤

[@yonggok1081503]

훌룡한 연주 고맙습니다...

[@user-lp5me8wb3g]

tank you polo gonzalez by you music

[@remember9097]

I got the lyrics, if anyone wants to read them, ´cause I found it interesting (I don't know how legit they are, though):
We marched, we asked for work and bread.
Our hearts were gripped in a vice of anguish.
Factory chimneys towered up towards the sky
Like hands, powerless to clench a fist.
Terrible were the names of our shackles:
Silence, suffering, oppression.
But louder than gunfire there burst into the silence
Words of our torment, words of our suffering.
Oh, Lenin! You forged freedom through suffering,
You forged freedom from our toil-hardened hands.
We knew, Lenin, that our fate
Bears a name: Struggle.
Struggle! You led us to the final battle.
Struggle! You gave us the victory of Labour.
And this victory over oppression and darkness
None can ever take away from us!
Let all in the struggle be young and bold:
The name of this victory is October!
October! The messenger of the awaited dawn.
October! The freedom of rebellious ages.
October! Labour, joy and song.
October! Happiness in the fields and at the work benches,
This is the slogan and this is the name of living generations:
October, the Commune and Lenin.

[@harryhagan5937]

I'm pretty sure that by ca. 1950 he had had way too much of that "victory." That had to be the most bitter victory ever endured by any people. Millions dying of willful starvation, hundreds of thousands of others eliminated for saying the wrong things; self denunciations. 70 years of abject misery. But CA would vote it in in a heartbeat because of the lies they've been told by people they have trusted.

[@Jc-yu2ot]

@@harryhagan5937 fucking lib

@@harryhagan5937 Do you know what is a civil war? Nobody says the same about the civil war on the U.S. because it was not communist. Come on...

[@sergiospacca9042]

Bellissima 🇮🇹☀️

[@teresatomaselli5747]

very beautiful! Explendoroso!

[@pepgug2156]

nahhh

[@sneddypie]

lmao the entrance of the choir was so epic

[@ligetisspaghetti5763]

It makes me patriotic towards the USSR

[@Discovery_and_Change]

6:26 build up | 7:40 scary | 10:17 goofy | 14:16 bang | 14:22 choir begins |

[@user-qz3lh6nx1g]

Rertoire is very good!

[@ianw1976]

r/PieceoftheDay featured this piece today, October 1st, 2021.

[@davidparrish2534]

Bottom of the barrel for Shost. Symphonies!!

[@juancamachodelrio3366]

8:30 very good the filmation because you can see both the violinist and the clarinetist (puedes ver a la vez a la violinista y al clarinetista)

[@UlrichGlaubitz]

"good filmation"? Da muss ich widersprechen. Die Bilder waren durchweg unscharf und das Zoomen auf die solistischen Einsätze war nicht optimal. Da gibt es technisch viel bessere Videos, wie dieses z.B.:

[@SamirAbadeer]

this symphony and BOLERO by Maurice Ravel were composed almost at the same time. In 1927, people had a very bad experience of the great war, at the same time, there was a revolution in the industrial field but there was no fear of another war at the gates, this time with a enhanced force of destructive weapons? ! Music and visual ARTS as well as literature should be a mirror that reflects the anxiety of consciences. Maurice Ravel's Bolero was an ascending repetition of a mechanical theme, it seems like a military call to come together to produce and progress in favor of humanity. If the ARTS do not express our humanity well, what is the point?

[@youngwoo5860]

It has the difficulty to answer.. owing to the theme is much profound and sophisticated...

[@juancamachodelrio3366]

Los primeros minutos, hasta el solo de trompeta, son inaudibles; en la versión de Gennadi Rozhdestvenski sí se escuchan

[@wkehl2011]

"To October" actually "-)

[@VDF13258]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@lifesoboring1]

how come this key (B major) is rarely used by composers?

[@MontoyaMatrix]

Good observation. B and Bb are transitional. C-natural is very grounded (red. the beginning of the color-spectrum). By the time you get to F and F# you get to green (the Pastoral music). A-flat moves into death, or solitude (blue). Bb-natural is Violet, and finally B is magenta, the color that disappears into infra-red. So B-natural is the note that ends the 12-tone cycle and returns to red. So, B major works, since October is fall---the end of the seasonal cycle. I also believe (or i'm guessing) that B is a pivotal point in Bell Canto singing. A subtle resister-shift in the voice. So, i think that's why the Classical Composers did not compose large-scale works in B. The mood is not grounded in anything substantial.

[@bellesuot]

cause it's hard to play ma dudes

[@wkehl2011]

Because you need to keep including those five sharps after the clef. That's quite a bit of work.

[@mozartmahler61]

Good question..beyond this one, i don't know any Bmajor Symphony...and not even piano or violin concertos...

[@wkehl2011]

Miquéias Sousa George Lloyd - Symphony No. 4 in B major, "Arctic."

[@RyanPower]

Score video here: ua-cam.com/video/MupXrzqYZpA/v-deo.html

[@Albremen]

Октябрь Коммунна и Ленин

[@edwardloechler3677]

Who is the man that comes up at 22:26?

[@APUSymphony]

+Edward Loechler That's John Sutton. He prepared the choir. Thanks for watching!

[@littlewishy6432]

7:58 is rehearsal 29, not 59

[@jackmccoy66]

19:06

[@philprever2302]

This is the slogan and this is the name of living generations:
October, the Commune and Lenin.
So how did that work out?

[@claudiezeh]

J'ai un problème d'oreille je n'entends plus rien au début

[@Marie-rd1se]

@claudiezeh , My guess is that the extreme quietness of the opening notes, and their relatively random nature, may have been intended by the composer to represent primordial stirrings of dissatisfaction in the oppressed proletariat which eventually, after much struggle, led to the glorious outcome, pronounced by the chorus. Or at least so it felt to me as I listened. BTW, beautiful lion - is it Aslan (I love CS Lewis’s books)

[@joseromero-ki6zm]

pet shop boys

[@miladirani4313]

Why?

[@1shaannn]

reminds me of tom and jerry music💀

[@jackinhamburg6555]

I am sorry that I can hear out some beautiful point from this Symphony, a little bid mess with talking between chicken and cow. I an so stupid cannot get the point which Shostakovich want to show to us.肖斯塔科维奇的这种写法，我看出来什么美感，倒是感觉到了嘈杂混乱，鸡同鸭讲的一些对话，我浮潜，我最过。

[@Marie-rd1se]

IMO, you are not stupid, just uninformed. Speaking for myself, I found the Wikipedia entry about Shostakovich’s second Symphony, to be very helpful in understanding what it was all about. Best wishes, Marie.

[@jgesselberty]

A shame that 2 & 3 were for the "party" and so political. There are many ideas that Shostakovich could have worked into 2 fine symphonies. Instead, these tainted stepchildren are relegated to being curiosities.

[@Marie-rd1se]

Personally, I did not care for the symphony whatsoever (but I loved how well these students performed it) in terms of musicality. However, I thought it was an excellent rendition of elements that went into the making of the times, and even a bit of the composer himself naturally. So I am very grateful I could hear it on UA-cam.(and will never listen to it again, voluntarily, in what is left of my life!)

[@phyrullaphyrulla8716]

I am so sorry, but this is not what Shostakovich meant. I truly appreciate the effort (I couldn't do better; I couldn't do this, not in the least), but why place this on UA-cam? There are so much better performances. I never heard the tension of a revolution of severly suppressed people. To honour Shostakovich please (also) listen to Kondrashin or Gjergjev aso..

[@pravemet4427]

oh, please .... this university symphony has done a great job ... naturally a Gergiev or any other Russian or descendant of the Soviet system is going to be able to "understand" this better ... they had better! if one follows your logic, then only the French can play Saint Saens, the Germans Beethoven, the Finns, Sibelius, etc ... this symphony orchestra deserves a great shoutout for not only attempting this symphony, but doing a great job ...at least for us non elites who have in fact heard and seen Gergiev in person ...Gergiev, by the way, would no doubt be proud of these young people

[@Vivek74914]

Please, I need a link to what you have mentioned.

[@Dobrovinskiy]

it is interesting that orchestra of christian university play symphony that have bald-faced communistic plot. but thanks for your playing :)

[@APUSymphony]

You are right that we are a Christian university and the text of the Symphony is questionable. However, looking at the basic message of the text, it is a message of hope for a brighter future which is something we can all hope for, even if, in this case, the hope is misplaced. Also as you know, the Symphony No.2 is an important historical document filled with some of Shostakovich's most fascinating music and it was well worth performing. Thank you for your comment and for watching us perform it!

[@swordsheldhigh7934]

In the beginning there was silence and darkness all across the earth.
Then came Lenin trough a hole in the sky.
Thunder and lighting came crashing down.
Workers with forks shook the ground.

[@petermartin2054]

Great observation and yet an outstanding Irony that what remains of communism is the art and craft they suppressed. Who is burying who ? His work stands in the face of the humiliation and fear that he experienced. We celebrate the uniqueness of every individual in the west, Russia has shown little concern for the individual, but genius can not be thwarted where free will exists, and unlike communism we can thank God for that. Even Stalin couldn't contain power of musical genius. Triumph over terror ! All Christians should celebrate this spirit. We are not prisoners to our God we are willing children serving each other willingly. The question is whether or not Shostakovich could have brought this level of rage, power and passion to his work had he lived in the west ? Only God knows now. Bless you.

[@timroebuck3458]

Shostakovich, like many of his fellow countrymen, was at first filled with hope but later became disillusioned by this system.

[@alexuturgaidze5722]

Shostakoviches music wasn't communist. His music was banned by the party. The proper word to describe his music would be "modernist".

[@Manaritzis88]

Pabtist church... Lol