Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony: Alain Altinoglu and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony
Composed during the war-torn summer of 1943, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8 in C minor attempts to take a journey from tragedy to triumph. It is the same C minor to C major trajectory we encounter in Beethoven’s Fifth, Brahms’ First, Bruckner’s Eighth, and Mahler’s Second. Yet for many listeners, the victory feels hollow. Perhaps there is even a hint of sarcasm. Shostakovich described his Seventh and Eighth Symphonies as “requiems,” written amid …