Thursday, January 29, 2015

Shostakovic 5th Symphony: forced rejoycing

The composer said: "The rejoicing is forced, created under threat, as in Boris Godunov. It's as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, "Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing," and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering, "Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing."

This is symbolized by the continuously repeated "A"'s at the end of the final movement in the string and upper woodwind sections.

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