New Music Albums: SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONIES NOS 1 AND 3 'THE FIRST OF MAY'; TWO SCHERZOS (John Storgårds, Hallé Choir & BBC Philharmonic)

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Artist:
John Storgårds
Hallé Choir
BBC Philharmonic

Genre:
Classical

Total Time:
74:57

Record Label:
Chandos

Purchase Album:
CD, MP3,
Apple Music

Release Date
August 15, 2025

Find out more about this album release after the jump.

Purchasing Links

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Product Description: For this, the fifth instalment of his Shostakovich symphony cycle, John Storgards turns to some of the earliest of the composer's orchestral output, works which Shostakovich largely wrote during his student years. The orchestral scherzo was a favourite task set by composition tutors of the time: the relatively simple form still demands that the student produce contrasting material for the outer and central sections, and manage the transitions effectively. Unsurprisingly, the form looms large in the early works of Shostakovich, as well as Stravinsky, Bartok, and many others. The two examples recorded here show the young composer's ability and style, although not yet perhaps a distinct compositional voice. They do both share links with the later First Symphony, however, which was composed as a graduation test in composition from the Petrograd Conservatoire. Shostakovich spent two years working on it, but the Symphony he eventually produced was an instant success, marking him out as a Boy Wonder among Soviet composers. Written four years later, the Third Symphony evidences not only the rapid development of Shostakovich as a composer, but the equally rapid change in the world he inhabited. He passed the newly required examination in Marxist ideology in December 1926, and managed to extend his registration as a postgraduate student at Leningrad Conservatoire until early 1930. He submitted the symphony with the explanation that it 'expresses the festive spirit of peaceful construction'. At this early stage of the first of Stalin's Five-Year Plans, he already demonstrated his realisation that political spin would be crucial to his creative survival.

TRACK LIST:

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1 . Scherzo in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1 . BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (05:01)

2 . Scherzo in E-Flat Major, Op. 7 . BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (04:03)

3 . Symphony No. 1 .in F Minor, Op. 10: I. Allegretto BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (09:14)

4 . Symphony No. 1 .in F Minor, Op. 10: II. Allegro BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (05:01)

5 . Symphony No. 1 .in F Minor, Op. 10: III. Lento BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (09:31)

6 . Symphony No. 1 .in F Minor, Op. 10: IV. Allegro molto BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (09:27)

7 . Symphony No. 3 .in E-Flat Major, Op. 20 ."The First of May": Ia. Allegretto - Più mosso BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (02:59)

8 . Symphony No. 3 .in E-Flat Major, Op. 20 ."The First of May": Ib. Allegro BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (02:05)

9 . Symphony No. 3 .in E-Flat Major, Op. 20 ."The First of May": Ic. Più mosso - Meno mosso BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (01:55)

10 . Symphony No. 3 .in E-Flat Major, Op. 20 ."The First of May": Id. Allegro BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (04:36)

11 . Symphony No. 3 .in E-Flat Major, Op. 20 ."The First of May": II. Andante - Meno mosso BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (05:31)

12 . Symphony No. 3 .in E-Flat Major, Op. 20 ."The First of May": IIIa. Allegro - Poco meno mosso BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (07:04)

13 . Symphony No. 3 .in E-Flat Major, Op. 20 ."The First of May": IIIb. Andante - Largo BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds (04:06)

14 .Symphony No. 3 .in E-Flat Major, Op. 20 ."The First of May": IV. Moderato (04:35)

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