Symphony No. 5 in D Minor

It says a great deal about Shostakovich that, after the trauma of his official denunciation in 1936, and during the period of terrible isolation that followed, he was able to compose one of his finest and most widely loved works, the Fifth Symphony (1937). Shostakovich faced a difficult balancing act here: If he was to survive, he must compose a symphony in keeping with the Soviet authorities’ demands for accessible, affirmative music, yet he could not bear the thought of sacrificing his integrity. The Fifth Symphony is certainly more approachable, more lyrical, less manic and acerbically dissonant than the wisely withdrawn Fourth, and its blazing, fanfare-enhanced major-key ending does seem to have convinced the Kremlin spokesmen that expression of tragic emotions was acceptable, provided it was shown to have a politically correct resolution. Controversy has raged about that ending in recent years: Is it triumphant or grimly ironic? Shostakovich was certainly a master of irony and ambiguity, but might he not at least have felt an element of personal pride in bringing off such a magnificent achievement? Whatever the case, many of his fellow Russians were quick to respond to the tragic elements, especially in the beautiful slow movement. The premiere, in Leningrad, was greeted by a half-hour ovation, with the conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky raising the score aloft to thunderous applause.