Symphony No. 4 (1936) always stays in the shadow of Shostakovich‘s other more famous opuses, e.g. Nos. 5, 7, 10, and 15. He wrote the score in mid 1930s, and the tone was overwhelmingly different compared to what he had written in the late 1920s.
The premiere, however, had to be canceled, allegedly because of the pressure exercised on him after the article “Muddle Instead of Music” (Ru: “Сумбур вместо музыки”) published in the “Pravda” under direct orders from Stalin.
The texture is dense and nervous, no wonder Shostakovich did not dare to present it in December 1936. The world heard the score only in 1961.
From the very first gasps of the orchestra in the first movement one clearly understands: the music is nothing but the feeling of what was looming over the whole European continent at that time.
English title: Dmitry Shostakovich “Symphony No. 4”
Original title (Russian): Дмитрий Шостакович “Симфония No. 4”
First published in the Levinarium Telegram Channel (now closed and deleted)