The first time I heard this symphony was in the early sixties when I was a young teenager. The recording was Bernstein and the NYP in Moscow. I never knew so much emotion could be put into a piece of music. I could hear all the gut wrenching emotions I was feeling as a young man. Pain, confusion, love, hate, despair, hope. It was all there. And now as an old man of 75 I am so grateful I survived it all. Thank you Dimitri
"The symphony was presented as the "Response to a Right Criticism" and it is said that the work was received with great emotion and general enthusiasm. Among the various movements of the symphony, the fourth was defined by the critics as a "triumphal-optimistic forcing" and "a desire for revenge on the part of the composer". According to Volkov, Shostakovich described the epic final movement of the Fifth as follows: «What should be celebrated. I think it is clear what really happens in the Fifth. The jubilation is forced, it is the fruit of construction [...]. It is as if someone were beating you with a stick and meanwhile repeating to you: "Your duty is to jubilee, your duty is to jubilee". And you get up trembling with broken bones and start walking again muttering: "Our duty is to jubilee, our duty is to jubilee [...]" » citation from wikipedia.
It's been my absolute pleasure to play this symphony as leader (concertmaster) twice in my life. It contains such tones of human existence, the best orchestral violin solo (outside of those quasi-concertos like Sheherezade/Lalo), magnificent flute and harp moments, a slow movement of infinite sadness, tunes of joy, and a triumphantly sarcastic climax. And this is a wonderful rendition
@conrad long story short, Shosty's symphony no.4 and his Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk were "disliked" by the Party for being too depressing, and not having a triumphant end. Shosty said "ask and ye shall receive" and the Party loved it, while the rest of the world saw it for what it was: a middle finger to Stalin.
@@GuruRasaVonWerder think about how triumphant movements usually end, then listen to the finish. Shostakovich starts the finale in classic triumphalism - the opening motif for the movement played by the brass and slowed way, way down with timpani accompaniment, feeling like for all the world to land in a Beethoven-esque power chord, but no, symphony's not done yet. Timpani tries again, still not finished. All the while, the violins' repeated eighth notes bring to mind being repeatedly poked with a spear. It's extraordinarily sarcastic.
If there ever were any doubts that Schostakovich was the supreme symphonic composer, this work dispels them. The third movement has to be one of the most sublime pieces of symphonic music ever written.
I agree with you Martin. I love the way Afkham conducts, always so parse in his movements. I prefer the 5th to the 7th. Some parts of the 5th can even be romantic, although I am pretty sure that this is not what Shostakovich had in mind.
I am constantly taking in Shosty's music during this pandemic. Music has always soothed me. But now I need the best of it constantly, like an i.v. in my arm.
@@yowzephyr I agree, Music Is a good and Deep medicine for mind and soul. It also help very much to create own music. It literally saved my Life during lockdown.
Is it strange that this piece makes me cry? I am probably a bit crazy. I'm 15, listening to this symphony as I study for my world history exam next week. I hear something mixed with hatred, love, despair, hope, and so much emotion. I see people crying and laughing for joy and madness...... I feel like this piece connects past with the present, or, in other words, untouchable and tragic darkness with the vivid human emotion. The only problem is that, thanks to this great music, I just can't concentrate on my studies at all :)
Fellow 15 year old here, It isn’t strange to cry, this symphony was Shostakovich’s fight against Stalin. Much of it is meant to criticize the Stalinist regime and to be satirical. But I think the best representation of Shostakovichs emotion is prob his quartet 8. I luckily have the pleasure of playing this symphony in the spring
Nowhere near strange! Be proud of your ability to feel such profound emotions and never lose your sensitivity. What truly valuable do we have as human beings and as a culture? We have a possibility to grow in loving all the good things, beauty, each other - and we have art, where we can meet every emotion from the darkest to those of the purest light, and transcend everything quotidian, see so much deeper than what we ever can reach in a single life. What a mystery there lies beyond our being, our lives, our universe! If we weren't able to feel, to experience strongly and think profoundly, how dull and mundane would life be? It's important to take the time for your studies, too, but I tell you, they can always wait listening to a Shostakovich symphony, I reckon your time with this symphony was more important this time!
On the contrary, you have understood this piece the way that most people do, and dare I say, in the manner the composer intended. As far as studies, listening to music is indeed studying, and what you will learn will stay with you for the rest of your life!
Listening to this after reading Symphony for the City of the Dead. Beautiful book which details Shoskatovich’s life from the revolution, through Stalin’s pogroms and the Siege of Leningrad during WW2. What an extraordinary life he’s led and what a magnificent piece of music this is.
In about 1967 I was a high school student working as an intern at KSPS public television in Spokane, Washington. We broadcast a live performance of #5, but we rehearsed our camera framing and moves for hours ahead as the orchestra rehearsed the score. It became etched in my mind from that time forward as a stunning, sophisticated, enchanting and captivating symphony. The mental images and the emotions it creates and conveys are so real. The piece never leaves me👍👍👍👍👍
A beautiful symphony and it's meaning (or at least the meaning I perceive in it) has never been more appropriate in 2022. Deep sadness and pain and ultimately an enforced, fake happiness. My heart for those who's lives this music could relate to.
Magnificently performed masterpiece. We are so fortunate to have such a performance in great audio and visual quality to see anytime on RUclips. Thank you!
16:08 Pulling up the pitch in order to return to the main theme is simply genious. Every performance should do that very audibly. Last part of the first movement is amongst the most mystical, spiritual experience made by Shostakovich, out of this world.
I. Moderato 00:25 two note outcry Clar and oboe - Build 3:17 trumpet's buried hope 4:12 suspended sorrow 4:51 brief outcry 7:02 brass agression 8:07 triumphant brutality 10:14 a massacre 11:53 return to the suspended sorrow in major for sorrowful remembrance 13:16 II. Allegretto 17:25 heavy and light waltz, scherzo light and playful dance, pure innocence, trio 19:13 now mixed with oppression 20:00 scherzo 21:06 III. Largo start: 23:24 flute theme: 26:01 first climatic build 26:59 oboe theme 28:37 the two bell notes/start of build 31:17 Melody in First violins and xylo/ Passionate cellos 32:37 quiet sorrow 35:12 the ending prayer 37:10 IV. Allegro non troppo Opening Abrasive Theme 38:15 world crumbling Trumpet solo 40:41 tranquil horn solo - string sorrow 42:02 slow march with opening theme 46:24 "triumphant" ending 48:57
Definitely one of my favorite symphonies. Just such a masterful balance of form, substance, emotional profundity and range while remaining relatively accessible and full of memorable musical moments. Absolute masterpiece.
“ACH DU LIEBER, ACH DU LIEBER, ACH DU LIEBER, MEIN SCHATZ”!!! There’s nothing much else to say! But I’ll say it anyway! At 81 years old, hearing such a fabulous piece of GREAT GREAT music as this, & such a wonderful performance by this tremendous orchestra, I’m “NUMB” with tears in my eyes & a lump in my throat!!! I once heard this music played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Grant Park Concerts by the Outer Drive (about 1964) at night, under a gorgeous Aegean sky!!! I STILL vaguely feel & hear that tremendous performance in the “marrow of my heart”! Awesome beyond belief!! WOW! I know what will be going through my head tonight as I try to sleep! The name is “SHOSTAKOVICH” & his PICTURE should have been displayed during this fantastic performance!!!!! “Gesundheit”!
Mr. Afkham's style of conducting reminds me of a young Zubin Mehta. In 1967, Zubin took the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Andre Watts to Tehran, Iran for two concerts. I was able to finagle a ticket to the second concert not knowing what to expect. I got the ticket at the gate from a Russian mother and daughter who had an extra one due to the father's illness that night. The young girl and I exchanged many many smiles during the concert at the end of which I couldn't decide whether I had fallen in love with the girl or the music. I never saw the girl again but nourished the love for classical music and have loved and enjoyed it ever since. That was 54 years ago.
In particular, I appreciate his tempi. Too many conductors/orchestras rush the pace, trying too hard to dazzle. Afkham gets it right in all the movements.
When my grandmother died , i was just 15 at that time and going through such overwhelming emotions was seldomly in my concerns , my situation was grim I took my headphones and walked in the fields listning to the 3rd movement of this symphony it seemed benign in a sea of sorrow , i was inundated by the dessonance and the timid silence throughout the movement i walked for hours until my path was interupted by a stream , It was an experience one cannot express in words but the sheer profoundity of one's sorrow could be eloquently understood by this Symphony
I first heard this symphony in my 26th anniversary. Instead of making a party, I went to the concert. So this is a special piece for me. Congratulations to the whole orchestra! (BTW the percussionist is so handsome haha). Bravo! Superbe!
the balance in high/low sound mixing is so good and particularly at 41:45 when the low brass comes in, that part always floors me but in this version especially so, god i love this symphony :^)!!
god yes so many orchestral recordings don't do any post work on the audio and it's such a tragedy that we lose quality that we would normally find in the hall because of it
I honestly believe this to be the greatest single piece of music ever written... technically, spiritually and musically. Some of the lines, forced harmonies etc are beyond the comprehension of a mere mortal like me... and I have a masters in composing.
I presume you state that you have a masters in composing to give some gravitas to your statement that you believe this is the greatest single piece of music ever written. Two years on, do you still believe that? Hopefully not. Many years ago I was wildly in love with this symphony and then one day, I was listening to the third movement with a classical music afficianado and friend and we looked at one and said, almost simultaneously, 'A storm in a teacup'. I love this symphony but it is not even his greatest symphony, let alone greatest piece of music ever. I also have no doubt whatsoever that Shostakovich himself would have agreed. It's certainly very moving, but doesn't begin to reach the depths of many other symphonies, by Shostakovich and by others.
@@sansovino4124 well, it is of course subjective and i could write a thesis to try and back up my opinion. Fortunately , it's not an Olympic sport , so no winner required ... but yes , it's still my opinion and I make no apology for it.
perfect...this music was the soundtrack of a Turkish movie series, adventures of a kind of historical hero, and whenever it comes out i was filled with emotions and chills when i was only 5 years old...now i'm 29 and still got goosebumps...I'm Turkish but I listened to this music when i was in Moscow, ironic, right. Ofc i didn't even know who the composer even was...Now I'm in love with the work of Shostakovich
Oh! This i a very emotional, very "Dark" work, but is fantastic live. Please support your local orchestra an hear live music. Looking forward to this being played the year by the WASO ! I would love to be the percussionist on the big drum at the finale!
Another inspiring performance with energy, drive, and gravity, as appropriate. The slow movement imparts profound grief. Wonderful. I'm amazed by the videography, which must involve a lot of very expensive cameras with masterful control, gradually moving focus from musician to musician as well as moving between cameras to show the appropriate instruments to each passage. Vibrant colors. The audio production, even on a YT stream, is really excellent with the full range of frequencies. The balances are great. I'm very impressed with the production as well as the musicality of the orchestra and its young conductor. Lastly, I'm glad to see a hall full of an attentive audience. Thanks for offering your music to the world.
The cello and bass entrance at 36:47 always gives me the chills. So glad I was able to play movements 3 and 4 in high school. I never liked going to orchestra class, but this was the only piece I fell in love with playing. Thank you Shosty 🙏🏻
So many comments with different time stamps for people’s favourite moments… it just proves this work is so incredible throughout! (If I had to pick my favourite moment it would be 30:36 - I have played this piece as a cellist and being in the string section at that point was magical)
I find myself listening to this piece over and over after I played it in my orchestra last almost two years ago now. It was very, very challenging, but I had a lot of fun. Although I was relieved when it was over, I find myself going back to play it on my own in my free time. A truly wonderful piece.
Fantastic performance. And kudos to conductor David Afkham for understanding the great sob at the climax of the slow movement, which so many miss, Paavo Järvi included. Nice to hear what seems to me what the composer would like to hear.
this made me realise how deep i actually fell in love with music... i have no words to describe how it makes me feel, cause it's a beautiful and sad and happy feeling at the same time and so much more. I love music
I think I know the feeling "hey hey" is referring to. I fell in love with this piece almost seventy years ago and must have heard it at least fifty times since then. I call the feeling "melancholy" but really there's no exact word for it in English. German "Sehnsucht" doesn't quiite do it, either. I guess that's one reason we need music to complement language.
Wonderful and powerful performance. I must comment on how exquisite the timpani performance is. Absolutely stunning playing. Immensely inspiring. I am so grateful for this page and their excellent recordings.
A consummate, extraordinary performance that impresses from the very first bars. This young conductor navigates the sinews of this symphony as though he were holding them all in his hands as he goes along.
War ein geniales Konzert. Das Beethoven Klavierkonzert, war ja in gewohnter Qualität (also auch schon super), aber das hat alle meine Erwartungen bei weitem übertroffen. Hut ab!
This is both a great performance and a great recording of a work that demands a strong, no holds-barred interpretation. Bravo to the conductor for tackling this piece, and to this wonderful Frankfurt crew who recorded it.
14:00 despite its shortness, easily one of the most beautiful clarinet excerpts in Symphonic works. I would kill for the opportunity to perform this excerpt with an orchestra.
Of all the classical pieces I've ever played, this stands head and shoulders above the rest. It's such a spectacular composition. As a musician, I found it an absolute joy to perform, and it was a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
Live muss das ein Hammer gewesen sein, grandios gespielt von allen! Innerlich musste ich mich immer wieder über diese schlechte Kammeraführung ärgern, filmten oft am eigentlichen musikalischen Geschehen vorbei. Aber die Freude über diese äußerst gelungene Aufführung überwiegt doch ganz deutlich!!
Beethoven wrote 'Pastoral', Schubert 'Unfinished', Shostakovich 'a Soviet artist's creative response to justified criticism'. And this was perhaps best answer expressed in a symphonic language in the whole 20th century. Thanks for publishing this great performance!
He looks so emotionally exhausted at the end. I can only imagine. Wonderful symphony. Darkly beautiful, innovative, and yet quite conventionally structured, which I think makes it more accessible.
Read Julian Barnes' excellent bio of the composer and see why this music is frightening, and what a frightening time 1937 was for Shostakovich. He set it all to music, the whole sordid, soul-killing, inhuman, desperate, ludicrous, angst-ridden lot.
Shostakovich's great symphonies have enormous emotional range, particularly with regard to capturing all sides of tragedy. The 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 13th are all excellent works.
Where is the twelfth in all of this? I mean I get that it was about the death of Lenin and not real tragedy but the chaos of the symphony is what makes it special to me.
Great referral to the iron curtain movie. Listening to the Russian composers with the movie as a backdrop was rewarding and coalesced history and music
I'm fairly conventional. Love Tchaikovsky's 5th, ditto Beethoven 5th, Saint Saens Organ Symphony etc, but this work was introduced to me as a child and still remains my favorite, despite its unconventionality and perhaps lack of the melodic themes of some of the aforementioned.
That’s just how Shostakovich worked, though. Lack of melody is kind of what he wanted. The first movement remains dissonant nearly its entire length. I’ve noticed that he avoids repetition of anything in his pieces like the plague.
@@arionthedeer7372 I think that's why you hear that theme come back in subtle ways in the fourth movement. It all represented his struggle with the Soviet government, and how they wanted something positive and recognizable; something that would tell the world "Yes, this is *wonderful* Russia." But you're right, Shostakovich avoided such things. He didn't like being told what he could write, because he saw all the potential there could be. He loved working with dissonance and atonal structures. Still, even if this Symphony was, in a way, to save face with the Soviets (especially with how he ended it), I still think he created a masterpiece
Yet there are some of the most beautiful melodies of all music in this piece and elsewhere in Shostakovitch. I don't find the first movement to be at all dissonant. I did when I first played it, but now it seems almost classical.
I played this symphony as a violinist with the Bergen Youth Orchestra with Gene Minor conducting in the late 70s/early 80s. This is the first interpretation of this symphony I've heard in many years that brings out the beautiful subtlety of this piece I learned to appreciate when we originally studied it. Bravo!
This is an interesting contribution. A friend of mine plays the saxophone and told me that all his wind colleagues are in awe of Shostakovich because those short and important moments that the wind players often have require so much concentration. None of them envy the violins, who sometimes work, work, work like ants. So he said.
Honestly I had never heard of Shostakovich until I watched the 1975 film Rollerball so thank you André Previn. This is one of my favorite renditions right here though.
Utterly fantastic symphony. I was working on a Novel tonight, and it helped my emotional transcendence in the dialog. Incredible genius in the composition of this music.
There are two pieces I always get goosebumps from the first bar onwards. Mozart's requiem, and this one. Never fails. Gorgeous, and in anticipation of the rest of the piece.
A ratos épica, a ratos melancólica y a ratos juguetona y alegre, como la misma vida, esta sinfonía nos retrata a todos desde lo más profundo. Y si pensamos en todas las presiones, reprimendas y abjuraciones que tuvo que soportar el genial autor bajo el estalinismo y, sobre todo, gracias a los serviciales y furibundos estalinistas de su época, esta sinfonía se vuelve incluso más entrañable. (At times epic, at times melancholic, and at times playful and joyful, like life it self, this symphony portrays us all from the depths. And if we think of all the pressures, reprimands and abjurations that this brilliant author had to to endure under stalinism and, above all, thanks to the myrmidons and furious stalinist of his time, this symphony becomes even more endearing).
I'm still not embarrassed to say that when I first saw 1975's Rollerball that one of the first things I did was seek out this symphony. Never heard of Shostakovich until that movie. Thank you Norman Jewison and André Previn.
11:53 Most of you dont know probably but this is an epic moment for turkish people cause we heard this melody for the first time Tarkan Movie intro. So here we say again together: Ben Altar'ın oğlu Tarkan!
The first time I heard this symphony was in the early sixties when I was a young teenager. The recording was Bernstein and the NYP in Moscow.
I never knew so much emotion could be put into a piece of music. I could hear all the gut wrenching emotions I was feeling as a young man. Pain, confusion, love, hate, despair, hope. It was all there. And now as an old man of 75 I am so grateful I survived it all. Thank you Dimitri
Yes, I grew up on the Bernstein recording too. He was a great champion of this piece, and his performance still is wonderful to listen to
You really describe the amazing gift of music!
Very Eloquently Stated
@@stoneazg8418 Thank you
"The symphony was presented as the "Response to a Right Criticism" and it is said that the work was received with great emotion and general enthusiasm. Among the various movements of the symphony, the fourth was defined by the critics as a "triumphal-optimistic forcing" and "a desire for revenge on the part of the composer". According to Volkov, Shostakovich described the epic final movement of the Fifth as follows:
«What should be celebrated. I think it is clear what really happens in the Fifth. The jubilation is forced, it is the fruit of construction [...]. It is as if someone were beating you with a stick and meanwhile repeating to you: "Your duty is to jubilee, your duty is to jubilee". And you get up trembling with broken bones and start walking again muttering: "Our duty is to jubilee, our duty is to jubilee [...]" » citation from wikipedia.
It's been my absolute pleasure to play this symphony as leader (concertmaster) twice in my life. It contains such tones of human existence, the best orchestral violin solo (outside of those quasi-concertos like Sheherezade/Lalo), magnificent flute and harp moments, a slow movement of infinite sadness, tunes of joy, and a triumphantly sarcastic climax. And this is a wonderful rendition
forgot to mention bad-ass piano bass
what on earth is a sarcastic climax?🙃🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨
@@GuruRasaVonWerder Shostakovich is taking the piss out of Stalin.
@conrad long story short, Shosty's symphony no.4 and his Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk were "disliked" by the Party for being too depressing, and not having a triumphant end.
Shosty said "ask and ye shall receive" and the Party loved it, while the rest of the world saw it for what it was: a middle finger to Stalin.
@@GuruRasaVonWerder think about how triumphant movements usually end, then listen to the finish. Shostakovich starts the finale in classic triumphalism - the opening motif for the movement played by the brass and slowed way, way down with timpani accompaniment, feeling like for all the world to land in a Beethoven-esque power chord, but no, symphony's not done yet. Timpani tries again, still not finished. All the while, the violins' repeated eighth notes bring to mind being repeatedly poked with a spear. It's extraordinarily sarcastic.
If there ever were any doubts that Schostakovich was the supreme symphonic composer, this work dispels them. The third movement has to be one of the most sublime pieces of symphonic music ever written.
Agreed about the third movement.
PROFOUND AND MESMERIZING
the first one too
The fourth also
I agree with you Martin. I love the way Afkham conducts, always so parse in his movements. I prefer the 5th to the 7th. Some parts of the 5th can even be romantic, although I am pretty sure that this is not what Shostakovich had in mind.
One of my dear-departed dad’s favorite pieces of music of all-time.
Thank you to whoever liked my comment!
may he rest in peace !!
Shostakovich's music is a terrific treasure for humankind.
I am constantly taking in Shosty's music during this pandemic. Music has always soothed me. But now I need the best of it constantly, like an i.v. in my arm.
@@yowzephyr I agree, Music Is a good and Deep medicine for mind and soul. It also help very much to create own music. It literally saved my Life during lockdown.
Tell putin.
@@ethanhill9460 I see you fell for the propaganda - Shostakovich didn't.
@@ethanhill9460 bruh....... Tell putin he stinks and schostakovich would run the country better
Is it strange that this piece makes me cry? I am probably a bit crazy.
I'm 15, listening to this symphony as I study for my world history exam next week.
I hear something mixed with hatred, love, despair, hope, and so much emotion. I see people crying and laughing for joy and madness......
I feel like this piece connects past with the present, or, in other words, untouchable and tragic darkness with the vivid human emotion.
The only problem is that, thanks to this great music, I just can't concentrate on my studies at all :)
Fellow 15 year old here, It isn’t strange to cry, this symphony was Shostakovich’s fight against Stalin. Much of it is meant to criticize the Stalinist regime and to be satirical. But I think the best representation of Shostakovichs emotion is prob his quartet 8. I luckily have the pleasure of playing this symphony in the spring
Nowhere near strange! Be proud of your ability to feel such profound emotions and never lose your sensitivity.
What truly valuable do we have as human beings and as a culture? We have a possibility to grow in loving all the good things, beauty, each other - and we have art, where we can meet every emotion from the darkest to those of the purest light, and transcend everything quotidian, see so much deeper than what we ever can reach in a single life. What a mystery there lies beyond our being, our lives, our universe! If we weren't able to feel, to experience strongly and think profoundly, how dull and mundane would life be?
It's important to take the time for your studies, too, but I tell you, they can always wait listening to a Shostakovich symphony, I reckon your time with this symphony was more important this time!
On the contrary, you have understood this piece the way that most people do, and dare I say, in the manner the composer intended. As far as studies, listening to music is indeed studying, and what you will learn will stay with you for the rest of your life!
Fellow 17 year old here
I am also reading history while listning 😁
DOIN HISTORY RNNN
Listening to this after reading Symphony for the City of the Dead. Beautiful book which details Shoskatovich’s life from the revolution, through Stalin’s pogroms and the Siege of Leningrad during WW2. What an extraordinary life he’s led and what a magnificent piece of music this is.
I'm going to look that up. Thanks for the recommendation.
have you heard his 7th Symphony, its about the Siege of Leningrad (kind of...).
@@zjschrage its nicknamed "Leningrad" And frankfurt radio symphony has a performance of it on youtube also
@@celloplaysmusic7330 yes lol I am familiar, the Makena interpretation is my favorite
@@zjschrage makela* 😃
In about 1967 I was a high school student working as an intern at KSPS public television in Spokane, Washington. We broadcast a live performance of #5, but we rehearsed our camera framing and moves for hours ahead as the orchestra rehearsed the score. It became etched in my mind from that time forward as a stunning, sophisticated, enchanting and captivating symphony. The mental images and the emotions it creates and
conveys are so real. The piece never leaves me👍👍👍👍👍
The camera work on this symphony is stunning! Must've been a privilege being able to work with this piece.
A beautiful symphony and it's meaning (or at least the meaning I perceive in it) has never been more appropriate in 2022. Deep sadness and pain and ultimately an enforced, fake happiness. My heart for those who's lives this music could relate to.
I fully agree with you, the “happy” parts really feel more like a fake smile while you’re deeply hurting inside.
M by
M by
This is a ridiculously great recording and performance. Bravo.
Listening to this modern performance, I really feel Shostakovich has completely become a classic in the 21st century.
Surely the most popular 20th-century composer today, and, in my opinion, the greatest symphonist ever alongside Sibelius.
Star wars soundtrack
@@tomy1830 In a meaning so.
@@tomy1830 no
Wrong
Magnificently performed masterpiece. We are so fortunate to have such a performance in great audio and visual quality to see anytime on RUclips. Thank you!
I agree completely
16:08 Pulling up the pitch in order to return to the main theme is simply genious. Every performance should do that very audibly. Last part of the first movement is amongst the most mystical, spiritual experience made by Shostakovich, out of this world.
Schostakowitsch gives me a warm lovely emotional burn. I feel things I so often don’t get to feel and am missing out on. Thank you!
Pero 1964 con que tocaban con bombo leguerp
I. Moderato 00:25
two note outcry
Clar and oboe - Build 3:17
trumpet's buried hope 4:12
suspended sorrow 4:51
brief outcry 7:02
brass agression 8:07
triumphant brutality 10:14
a massacre 11:53
return to the suspended sorrow in major for sorrowful remembrance 13:16
II. Allegretto 17:25
heavy and light waltz, scherzo
light and playful dance, pure innocence, trio 19:13
now mixed with oppression 20:00
scherzo 21:06
III. Largo
start: 23:24
flute theme: 26:01
first climatic build 26:59
oboe theme 28:37
the two bell notes/start of build 31:17
Melody in First violins and xylo/ Passionate cellos 32:37
quiet sorrow 35:12
the ending prayer 37:10
IV. Allegro non troppo
Opening Abrasive Theme 38:15
world crumbling Trumpet solo 40:41
tranquil horn solo - string sorrow 42:02
slow march with opening theme 46:24
"triumphant" ending 48:57
i love you
Definitely one of my favorite symphonies. Just such a masterful balance of form, substance, emotional profundity and range while remaining relatively accessible and full of memorable musical moments. Absolute masterpiece.
“ACH DU LIEBER, ACH DU LIEBER, ACH DU LIEBER, MEIN SCHATZ”!!! There’s nothing much else to say! But I’ll say it anyway! At 81 years old, hearing such a fabulous piece of GREAT GREAT music as this, & such a wonderful performance by this tremendous orchestra, I’m “NUMB” with tears in my eyes & a lump in my throat!!! I once heard this music played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Grant Park Concerts by the Outer Drive (about 1964) at night, under a gorgeous Aegean sky!!! I STILL vaguely feel & hear that tremendous performance in the “marrow of my heart”! Awesome beyond belief!! WOW! I know what will be going through my head tonight as I try to sleep! The name is “SHOSTAKOVICH” & his PICTURE should have been displayed during this fantastic performance!!!!! “Gesundheit”!
Worth living for, right?
I'm a fetus and I cried when I listened to this. We're also playing this at our 3rd grade recorder concert. I'm playing the first violin part.
i hope your piano audition went well!
Good luck with the drum solo! 😃😃
hahaahah
Mr. Afkham's style of conducting reminds me of a young Zubin Mehta. In 1967, Zubin took the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Andre Watts to Tehran, Iran for two concerts. I was able to finagle a ticket to the second concert not knowing what to expect. I got the ticket at the gate from a Russian mother and daughter who had an extra one due to the father's illness that night. The young girl and I exchanged many many smiles during the concert at the end of which I couldn't decide whether I had fallen in love with the girl or the music. I never saw the girl again but nourished the love for classical music and have loved and enjoyed it ever since. That was 54 years ago.
Lovely story
In particular, I appreciate his tempi. Too many conductors/orchestras rush the pace, trying too hard to dazzle. Afkham gets it right in all the movements.
And he puts power into the performance.
When my grandmother died , i was just 15 at that time and going through such overwhelming emotions was seldomly in my concerns , my situation was grim I took my headphones and walked in the fields listning to the 3rd movement of this symphony it seemed benign in a sea of sorrow , i was inundated by the dessonance and the timid silence throughout the movement i walked for hours until my path was interupted by a stream , It was an experience one cannot express in words but the sheer profoundity of one's sorrow could be eloquently understood by this Symphony
I first heard this symphony in my 26th anniversary. Instead of making a party, I went to the concert. So this is a special piece for me. Congratulations to the whole orchestra! (BTW the percussionist is so handsome haha). Bravo! Superbe!
the balance in high/low sound mixing is so good and particularly at 41:45 when the low brass comes in, that part always floors me but in this version especially so, god i love this symphony :^)!!
god yes so many orchestral recordings don't do any post work on the audio and it's such a tragedy that we lose quality that we would normally find in the hall because of it
Oh, this orchestra. And oh, this conductor! Wonderful performance. The Largo rips my heart out. So beautiful! Thank you, FRS.
I. Moderato 0:26
II. Allegretto 17:25
III. Largo 23:28
IV. Allegro non troppo 38:15
Thanks!
MANY THANKS FOR POSTING THIS SIR RIVERA. MUCH APPRECIATED.
I always come for your comment heje
I love you frankfurt symphony orchestra for sharing with us such incredible performance of such a masterpiece, and without any ads, god bless you !
THANK YOU for uploading this beautiful music and especially for sharing it free of adds. 🙌♥
I honestly believe this to be the greatest single piece of music ever written... technically, spiritually and musically. Some of the lines, forced harmonies etc are beyond the comprehension of a mere mortal like me... and I have a masters in composing.
"forced harmonies" is a perfect way to describe his use of dissonance. I am on the verge of tears throughout this whole piece. It's SO GOOD!
Historically too
I presume you state that you have a masters in composing to give some gravitas to your statement that you believe this is the greatest single piece of music ever written. Two years on, do you still believe that? Hopefully not.
Many years ago I was wildly in love with this symphony and then one day, I was listening to the third movement with a classical music afficianado and friend and we looked at one and said, almost simultaneously, 'A storm in a teacup'. I love this symphony but it is not even his greatest symphony, let alone greatest piece of music ever. I also have no doubt whatsoever that Shostakovich himself would have agreed.
It's certainly very moving, but doesn't begin to reach the depths of many other symphonies, by Shostakovich and by others.
@@sansovino4124 well, it is of course subjective and i could write a thesis to try and back up my opinion. Fortunately , it's not an Olympic sport , so no winner required ... but yes , it's still my opinion and I make no apology for it.
@TheLogicBeast That, of course, is absolutely fine as it is indeed subjective, and I respect your opinion even if I disagree with it.
perfect...this music was the soundtrack of a Turkish movie series, adventures of a kind of historical hero, and whenever it comes out i was filled with emotions and chills when i was only 5 years old...now i'm 29 and still got goosebumps...I'm Turkish but I listened to this music when i was in Moscow, ironic, right. Ofc i didn't even know who the composer even was...Now I'm in love with the work of Shostakovich
Absolut imponierend, und sehr passend für heute!
Fabulously good performance. The orchestra was flawless. String sections brilliantly together and the wind were just amazing.
The baby faced composer had a very calm attitude but inside his heart had a hurricaine of music thankyou Dimitry in your glory
Oh! This i a very emotional, very "Dark" work, but is fantastic live. Please support your local orchestra an hear live music. Looking forward to this being played the year by the WASO !
I would love to be the percussionist on the big drum at the finale!
Love the WASO, especially when they are conducted by Asher Fish
so would I !!!! It is great!
The big drum is called a timpani, and it's a perfect instrument in that movement aloneeee
Great interpretation, displays beauty, musical poetry and esthetic orchestral qualities of immense scholarship.
Another inspiring performance with energy, drive, and gravity, as appropriate. The slow movement imparts profound grief. Wonderful. I'm amazed by the videography, which must involve a lot of very expensive cameras with masterful control, gradually moving focus from musician to musician as well as moving between cameras to show the appropriate instruments to each passage. Vibrant colors. The audio production, even on a YT stream, is really excellent with the full range of frequencies. The balances are great. I'm very impressed with the production as well as the musicality of the orchestra and its young conductor. Lastly, I'm glad to see a hall full of an attentive audience. Thanks for offering your music to the world.
The cello and bass entrance at 36:47 always gives me the chills. So glad I was able to play movements 3 and 4 in high school. I never liked going to orchestra class, but this was the only piece I fell in love with playing. Thank you Shosty 🙏🏻
So many comments with different time stamps for people’s favourite moments… it just proves this work is so incredible throughout!
(If I had to pick my favourite moment it would be 30:36 - I have played this piece as a cellist and being in the string section at that point was magical)
I was in the percussion section myself! Every time we played this would bring me to tears aha
I find myself listening to this piece over and over after I played it in my orchestra last almost two years ago now. It was very, very challenging, but I had a lot of fun. Although I was relieved when it was over, I find myself going back to play it on my own in my free time. A truly wonderful piece.
Fantastic performance. And kudos to conductor David Afkham for understanding the great sob at the climax of the slow movement, which so many miss, Paavo Järvi included. Nice to hear what seems to me what the composer would like to hear.
Could you provide timestamp?
Yes please!
One the most profound symphonic pieces ever written! I love it!
this made me realise how deep i actually fell in love with music...
i have no words to describe how it makes me feel, cause it's a beautiful and sad and happy feeling at the same time and so much more. I love music
I think I know the feeling "hey hey" is referring to. I fell in love with this piece almost seventy years ago and must have heard it at least fifty times since then. I call the feeling "melancholy" but really there's no exact word for it in English. German "Sehnsucht" doesn't quiite do it, either. I guess that's one reason we need music to complement language.
The struggle of mankind heard in the form of music. Bravo!
Amazing music. Awesome performance. Excellent recording/videography. Thank you!
Fantastic!! All my favorite FRSO principles were front and center in this great video. The last movement was world-class and chill-worthy.
Wonderful and powerful performance. I must comment on how exquisite the timpani performance is. Absolutely stunning playing. Immensely inspiring. I am so grateful for this page and their excellent recordings.
Visible shuffle-applause in the orchestra for Marc Gruber after the flute duet at 14:00. Well deserved! Great performance overall!
what do you mean with shuffle-applause? I see nothing:)
Third clarinet shuffles her hand on her knee, second clarinet lifts his foot.
What is the significance of this? I am curious.
Orchestra members silently applauding their colleagues, in this case applauding an extremely tricky solo played well.
It is good to see that solidarity within an orchestra.
This symphony and its interpreters make me feel to reach universal joy.
A consummate, extraordinary performance that impresses from the very first bars. This young conductor
navigates the sinews of this symphony as though he were holding them all in his hands as he goes along.
War ein geniales Konzert. Das Beethoven Klavierkonzert, war ja in gewohnter Qualität (also auch schon super), aber das hat alle meine Erwartungen bei weitem übertroffen. Hut ab!
This is both a great performance and a great recording of a work that demands a strong, no holds-barred interpretation. Bravo to the conductor for tackling this piece, and to this wonderful Frankfurt crew who recorded it.
14:00 despite its shortness, easily one of the most beautiful clarinet excerpts in Symphonic works. I would kill for the opportunity to perform this excerpt with an orchestra.
It's literally SO good
Practice, practice, practice!
I wonder whether the guy at 29:18 went out of his way to do a Debussy cosplay.
What do you mean, that's Debussy!
Haha nice
Do you mean Sebastian Wittiber the solo flutist who at this instance is listening to be beautiful oboe solo?
Looks a lil like Mussorgsky as well?
Lmao
Большое спасибо Франкфуртскому оркестру за чудесную музыку!
Of all the classical pieces I've ever played, this stands head and shoulders above the rest. It's such a spectacular composition. As a musician, I found it an absolute joy to perform, and it was a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
Live muss das ein Hammer gewesen sein, grandios gespielt von allen!
Innerlich musste ich mich immer wieder über diese schlechte Kammeraführung ärgern, filmten oft am eigentlichen musikalischen Geschehen vorbei. Aber die Freude über diese äußerst gelungene Aufführung überwiegt doch ganz deutlich!!
Almost physical synchronicity when conductor squeeses his nose at 48:18 and two musicians do the same little later. Fantastic symphony btw.
42:10 Horn solo in the 4th movement accompanied by the strings and other instruments is just GOLDEN
Außergewöhnlich gute Leistung !
Herzlichen Glückwünsche 🎈🎊🍾🎉...
beautiful flute solo!!!
0:25 is a good place to start. Music ends at 50:08. (Total music time: 49 mins & 43 seconds.)
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@@tomascostero9962 Ñ ?
Beethoven wrote 'Pastoral', Schubert 'Unfinished', Shostakovich 'a Soviet artist's creative response to justified criticism'. And this was perhaps best answer expressed in a symphonic language in the whole 20th century. Thanks for publishing this great performance!
Al amigo Stan Obriek Beetohoven por la pastoral sinfonia 6 Biuriful
He looks so emotionally exhausted at the end. I can only imagine. Wonderful symphony. Darkly beautiful, innovative, and yet quite conventionally structured, which I think makes it more accessible.
The most beautiful music I have ever heard. PERIOD
Magnificently performed masterpiece, Thank you, Shostakovitch and this Orchestra and Conductor.
Really frightening music. What a great orchestra this is. Wow! Thanks so much. Such playing!
Read Julian Barnes' excellent bio of the composer and see why this music is frightening, and what a frightening time 1937 was for Shostakovich. He set it all to music, the whole sordid, soul-killing, inhuman, desperate, ludicrous, angst-ridden lot.
14:01 The most gorgeous melody EVER
(I´m saving this to myself jsjsjs)
oh wow
100%
Lovely!
Sehr schön wiedergegeben. Danke
!
Será para mí lo mejor de la cultura de los siglos anteriores dé mi vida 😮😮😮😮😮😮
Claro que sí , así es
⁰000⁰⁰0⁰⁰0⁰⁰ ⁷@@obscurerchen3146
Das ist richtig.
This conductor is excellent and he conducts as if his life depended on this performance. Terrific!
I've heard this before but this is the first time I've allowed it to speak to me. What an emotional journey.
This symphony, the 7th and the tenth make me cry. I do not know why, but there you have it.
The 7th was done in the heat of WW2 war among the most gruesome battles our civilization have faced...
Shostakovich's great symphonies have enormous emotional range, particularly with regard to capturing all sides of tragedy. The 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 13th are all excellent works.
Where is the twelfth in all of this? I mean I get that it was about the death of Lenin and not real tragedy but the chaos of the symphony is what makes it special to me.
@@LyubomirIko One in particular, the siege of Leningrad, of which he was born when it was still Petrograd.
Excellent conductor and orchestra!
Wonderful clear and so very well mastered. Great performance. BRAVO. BRAVO. APPLAUSE
IV. Allegro non troppo was used in movie "the Iron Curtain", which was filmed in 1950's, I looked for this music for times, thanks for sharing.
Great referral to the iron curtain movie. Listening to the Russian composers with the movie as a backdrop was rewarding and coalesced history and music
What an amazing performance - and beautifully filmed too! :)
Love listening to this piece! Power and gentleness in one!!!
BRAVI~! I love this orchestra! Bravo David Arkham💐💐💐
Wonderful rendition. I love the performance so much. Thanks.
I think this Conductor and Orchestra gave the best performance ever of this work. I hope Shostakovitch gets to hear this performance.
Eu amo as obras de concerto que vocês disponibilizam aqui. Um presente para a humanidade
Absolutely magnificent. One of the only symphonies Iisten to in it's entirety. Thank you.
I'm fairly conventional. Love Tchaikovsky's 5th, ditto Beethoven 5th, Saint Saens Organ Symphony etc, but this work was introduced to me as a child and still
remains my favorite, despite its unconventionality and perhaps lack of the melodic themes of some of the aforementioned.
That’s just how Shostakovich worked, though. Lack of melody is kind of what he wanted. The first movement remains dissonant nearly its entire length. I’ve noticed that he avoids repetition of anything in his pieces like the plague.
@@arionthedeer7372 I think that's why you hear that theme come back in subtle ways in the fourth movement. It all represented his struggle with the Soviet government, and how they wanted something positive and recognizable; something that would tell the world "Yes, this is *wonderful* Russia." But you're right, Shostakovich avoided such things. He didn't like being told what he could write, because he saw all the potential there could be. He loved working with dissonance and atonal structures. Still, even if this Symphony was, in a way, to save face with the Soviets (especially with how he ended it), I still think he created a masterpiece
Yet there are some of the most beautiful melodies of all music in this piece and elsewhere in Shostakovitch. I don't find the first movement to be at all dissonant. I did when I first played it, but now it seems almost classical.
I played this symphony as a violinist with the Bergen Youth Orchestra with Gene Minor conducting in the late 70s/early 80s. This is the first interpretation of this symphony I've heard in many years that brings out the beautiful subtlety of this piece I learned to appreciate when we originally studied it. Bravo!
This is an interesting contribution. A friend of mine plays the saxophone and told me that all his wind colleagues are in awe of Shostakovich because those short and important moments that the wind players often have require so much concentration. None of them envy the violins, who sometimes work, work, work like ants. So he said.
@@Altonahh10 Yes, I agree. The wind players in this piece are critical.
Honestly I had never heard of Shostakovich until I watched the 1975 film Rollerball so thank you André Previn. This is one of my favorite renditions right here though.
Utterly fantastic symphony. I was working on a Novel tonight, and it helped my emotional transcendence in the dialog. Incredible genius in the composition of this music.
This is glorious! Thank you, Shostakovitch and this Orchestra and Conductor.
Beautiful. One of my favourites. Cyra xxxx
beautiful performance!!! i always love to hear that piece again, it unlocks some beautiful memories.
Very lively rendition. Really brought it to modern life
これは稀にみる名演！！感動しました！！
ティンパニ最高！！
This is a rare performance! ! I was impressed! !
Timpani is the best! !
Bravo!!! Está Sinfonía es maravillosa, y esta es una bellísima interpretación 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Increíble!!
The Frankfurt Radio Symphony is as good as it gets.
There are two pieces I always get goosebumps from the first bar onwards. Mozart's requiem, and this one. Never fails. Gorgeous, and in anticipation of the rest of the piece.
A ratos épica, a ratos melancólica y a ratos juguetona y alegre, como la misma vida, esta sinfonía nos retrata a todos desde lo más profundo. Y si pensamos en todas las presiones, reprimendas y abjuraciones que tuvo que soportar el genial autor bajo el estalinismo y, sobre todo, gracias a los serviciales y furibundos estalinistas de su época, esta sinfonía se vuelve incluso más entrañable. (At times epic, at times melancholic, and at times playful and joyful, like life it self, this symphony portrays us all from the depths. And if we think of all the pressures, reprimands and abjurations that this brilliant author had to to endure under stalinism and, above all, thanks to the myrmidons and furious stalinist of his time, this symphony becomes even more endearing).
L am descoperit pe soldatul sostacovici. M a cucerit prin alternata, ritmul si bogatia sunetelor. Minunat!!!
integrating a variation of percussion types was a good evolution and the piano in a symphony wasn't traditional .. The Sound in its Total is GREAT
Огромное спасибо оркестр и дирижёру за исполнение великой музыки Д. Шостаковича ❤❤❤
i heard this semphony on the film it was turkish made that name is tarkan and i fell in love classical music love you shostakovic im glad to learn you
I'm still not embarrassed to say that when I first saw 1975's Rollerball that one of the first things I did was seek out this symphony. Never heard of Shostakovich until that movie. Thank you Norman Jewison and André Previn.
Thanks for uploading. Such great performance of a great piece
11:53 Most of you dont know probably but this is an epic moment for turkish people cause we heard this melody for the first time Tarkan Movie intro. So here we say again together: Ben Altar'ın oğlu Tarkan!