Wednesday 8 June 2016

Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony


Dmitri Shostakovich ( 1906-1975 ) was a Russian music composer.

In December 1941 he composed his famous Seventh Symphony, after the siege of Leningrad by the German army began in the Second World War.

 This siege lasted from September 1941 to January 1944. The German army surrounded Leningrad, except for a narrow corridor from Lake Ladoga to Leningrad ( called the Ladoga lifeline ), intending to wipe out Leningrad from the face of the earth, on Hitler's express order.

 The siege caused immense human suffering and destruction. 1.5 million Russian soldiers and civilians died, including many by starvation, and 1.4 million were evacuated.during the siege.

 During the siege, Shostakovich composed his Seventh Symphony, urging the Russians to fight the German invaders. It was a call for patriotism and nationalism. It became so popular that thousands of starving Leningraders flocked to hear it, and it spread all over Russia as well as the Western world.

Here it is :
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 Op. 60 "Leningrad" (1942)

No comments:

Post a Comment