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 terror and suppression. In the words of the composer, the Second World War descended on the Soviet Union as “a horrible extermination machine.”
We explored the Eighth Symphony in a previous post. Now, let’s return to this music and listen to a concert performance, recorded on May 9, 2025, featuring French-Armenian conductor Alain Altinoglu and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. Altinoglu and the ensemble are currently in the process of recording all 15 of Shostakovich’s Symphonies.
Thank you Tim for this and the previous Listener’s Club feature of this jarringly beautiful work by DSCH. A few years ago I spent 18 months on a deep dive into Shostakovich’s life and work reading numerous biographies, listening to almost everything he wrote, and informing myself of the so-called Shostakovich Wars, a 30-year interpretive controversy over his life and music sparked by Volkov’s 1979 book, “Testimony.”
DSCH was a musical genius of the highest order. So many of his works like this 8th Symphony are unique artistic gems reflecting the life of an artist trapped in a brutal system that disappeared artists who produced art that wasn’t acceptable by authorities. Be sure to read Stephen Johnson’s fascinating short book “How Shostakovich Changed My Mind.”
Thanks for the tip, Blaine. I’m also a huge Shostakovich fan and never heard of this book, so I just ordered it. Excited to dive into it.