Shostakovich's 7th Symphony in besieged Leningrad history. Leningrad Symphony by Dmitry Shostakovich

70 years ago, on August 9, 1942, Dmitri Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony in C major was performed in besieged Leningrad, later called the "Leningrad Symphony".

“With pain and pride, I looked at my beloved city. And he stood, scorched by fires, hardened in battles, experienced the deep suffering of a fighter, and was even more beautiful in his severe grandeur. the world about its glory, about the courage of its defenders... Music was my weapon", - the composer later wrote.

In May 1942, the score was delivered to the besieged city by plane. At the concert at the Leningrad Philharmonic Symphony No. 7 was performed by the Grand Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Radio Committee under the baton of conductor Carl Eliasberg. Some of the musicians starved to death and were replaced by musicians recalled from the front.

"The circumstances under which the Seventh was created were announced around the world: the first three parts were written in about a month in Leningrad, under fire from the Germans, who reached this city in September 1941. The symphony was thus considered a direct reflection of the events of the first days of the war. No one took into account the manner of the composer's work. Shostakovich wrote very quickly, but only after the music was fully formed in his mind. The tragic Seventh was a reflection of the pre-war fate of both the composer and Leningrad."

From "Evidence"

"The first listeners did not associate the famous "march" from the first part of the Seventh with the German invasion, this is the result of later propaganda. Conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, a friend of the composer of those years (the Eighth Symphony is dedicated to him), recalled that, having heard the march from the Seventh on the radio in March 1942, he thought that the composer had created a comprehensive picture of stupidity and stupid vulgarity.

The popularity of the march episode concealed obvious fact that the first movement—and indeed the work as a whole—is full of mourning in the style of a requiem. Shostakovich, at every opportunity, emphasized that for him the central place in this music was occupied by the intonation of the requiem. But the words of the composer were deliberately ignored. The pre-war years, in fact, full of hunger, fear and massacres of innocent people during the period of Stalinist terror, were now portrayed in official propaganda as a bright and carefree idyll. So why not present the symphony as a "symbol of the struggle" against the Germans?"

From the book "Evidence. Memoirs of Dmitry Shostakovich,
recorded and edited by Solomon Volkov".

RIA News. Boris Kudoyarov

Residents of besieged Leningrad leave the bomb shelter after the end of the alarm

Shaken by the music of Shostakovich, Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy wrote about this work:

"... The Seventh Symphony is dedicated to the triumph of the human in man.<…>

The Seventh Symphony arose from the conscience of the Russian people, who accepted without hesitation a mortal battle with black forces. Written in Leningrad, it has grown to the size of a great world art, understandable at all latitudes and meridians, because it tells the truth about a person in an unprecedented time of his disasters and trials. The symphony is transparent in its enormous complexity, it is both severe and lyrical in a manly way, and all flies into the future, which is revealed beyond the borders of the victory of man over the beast.<…>

The theme of war arises remotely and at first looks like some kind of simple and eerie dance, like the dancing of learned rats to the tune of a rat-catcher. Like an intensifying wind, this theme begins to shake the orchestra, it takes possession of it, grows, grows stronger. The rat-catcher with his iron rats rises from behind the hill ... It is the war that is moving. She triumphs in timpani and drums, the violins answer with a cry of pain and despair. And to you, clutching the oak railing with your fingers, it seems: is it really, is it really all crumpled and torn to pieces? In the orchestra - confusion, chaos.<…>

No, man is stronger than the elements. The stringed instruments begin to struggle. The harmony of the violins and the human voices of the bassoons are more powerful than the roar of the donkey skin stretched over the drums. With a desperate beating of your heart, you help the triumph of harmony. And violins harmonize the chaos of war, silence its cave roar.

The damned rat-catcher is no more, he has been carried away into the black abyss of time. The bows are lowered - the violinists, many, have tears in their eyes. All that is heard is the thoughtful and stern, after so many losses and disasters, the human voice of the bassoon. There is no return to the stormless happiness. Before the gaze of man, wise in suffering, is the path traveled, where he is looking for justification for life.

The concert in besieged Leningrad became a kind of symbol of the resistance of the city and its inhabitants, but the music itself inspired everyone who heard it. Here is how she wrote poetess about one of the first performances of a work by Shostakovich:

"And on March 29, 1942, the combined orchestra The Bolshoi Theater and the All-Union Radio Committee performed the Seventh Symphony, which the composer dedicated to Leningrad, called the Leningrad.

V Hall of Columns Pilots, writers, and Stakhanovites known throughout the country came to the Houses of the Unions. There were a lot of veterans here - with Western front, from the South, from the North - they came to Moscow on business, for a few days, in order to go back to the battlefields tomorrow, and still snatched time to come and listen to the Seventh - Leningrad - symphony. They put on all their orders, granted to them by the Republic, and all were in their best dresses, festive, beautiful, smart. And in the Hall of Columns it was very warm, everyone was without a coat, electricity was burning, and even smelled of perfume.

RIA News. Boris Kudoyarov

Leningrad during the blockade during the Great Patriotic War. Fighters air defense early in the morning on one of the streets of the city

The first sounds of the Seventh Symphony are pure and gratifying. You listen to them eagerly and with surprise - so this is how we once lived, before the war, how happy we were, how free, how much space and silence there was around. One wants to listen to this wise, sweet music of the world without end. But suddenly and very quietly there is a dry crackle, a dry drumbeat - the whisper of a drum. It's still a whisper, but it's getting more persistent, more and more importunate. With a short musical phrase - sad, monotonous and at the same time some kind of defiantly cheerful - the instruments of the orchestra begin to echo. The dry beat of the drum is louder. War. The drums are already beating. A short, monotonous and disturbing musical phrase takes possession of the entire orchestra and becomes scary. The music is so loud it's hard to breathe. There is no getting away from it... This is the enemy advancing on Leningrad. He threatens death, the pipes growl and whistle. Doom? Well, we are not afraid, we will not retreat, we will not surrender ourselves to the enemy. The music is raging furiously... Comrades, this is about us, this is about the September days of Leningrad, full of anger and challenge. The orchestra thunders furiously - the fanfares ring in the same monotonous phrase and irresistibly carry the soul towards the mortal battle ... And when there is no longer anything to breathe from the thunder and roar of the orchestra, suddenly everything breaks off, and the theme of war passes into a majestic requiem. A lone bassoon, covering the raging orchestra, raises its low, tragic voice. And then he sings alone, alone in the ensuing silence ...

“I don’t know how to characterize this music,” the composer himself says, “maybe it contains tears of a mother or even a feeling when grief is so great that there are no more tears.”

Comrades, this is about us, this is our great tearless grief for our relatives and friends - the defenders of Leningrad, who died in battles on the outskirts of the city, who fell on its streets, who died in its half-blind houses ...

We have not cried for a long time, because our grief is greater than tears. But, having killed the tears that lighten the soul, grief did not kill the life in us. And the Seventh Symphony talks about it. Its second and third parts, also written in Leningrad, are transparent, joyful music, full of rapture with life and admiration for nature. And this is also about us, about people who have learned to love and appreciate life in a new way! And it is clear why the third part merges with the fourth: in the fourth part the theme of the war, excitedly and defiantly repeated, bravely turns into the theme of the coming victory, and the music rages freely again, and its solemn, formidable, almost cruel jubilation, physically shaking the vaults, reaches unimaginable strength. building.

We will defeat the Germans.

Comrades, we will definitely defeat them!

We are ready for all trials that still await us, ready for the triumph of life. This celebration is evidenced by " Leningrad Symphony", a work of world sound, created in our besieged, starving, devoid of light and heat city - in a city fighting for the happiness and freedom of all mankind.

And the people who came to listen to the "Leningrad Symphony" stood up and applauded the composer, the son and defender of Leningrad, while standing. And I looked at him, small, fragile, with big glasses, and thought: "This man is stronger than Hitler ..."

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

The path to the goal

The virtuoso was born on September 25, 1906 in a family where music was respected and loved. The passion of the parents was passed on to the son. At the age of 9, after watching N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, the boy announced that he intended to seriously study music. The first teacher was the mother, who taught to play the piano. She later gave the boy to music school, the director of which was the famous teacher I. A. Glyasser.

Later, misunderstandings arose between the student and the teacher regarding the choice of direction. The mentor saw the guy as a pianist, the young man dreamed of becoming a composer. Therefore, in 1918, Dmitry left the school. Perhaps if the talent had stayed to study there, the world today would not know such a work as Shostakovich's 7th symphony. The history of the creation of the composition is a significant part of the musician's biography.

Melodist of the future

The following summer, Dmitry went to audition at the Petrograd Conservatory. There he was noticed by the famous professor and composer A. K. Glazunov. History mentions that this man turned to Maxim Gorky with a request to help with a scholarship for a young talent. When asked if he was good at music, the professor honestly answered that Shostakovich's style was alien and incomprehensible to him, but this is a topic for the future. So, in the fall, the guy entered the conservatory.

But it was not until 1941 that Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony was written. The history of the creation of this work - ups and downs.

Universal love and hate

While still studying, Dmitry created significant melodies, but only after completing the conservatory did he write his First Symphony. The work has become thesis. Newspapers called him a revolutionary in the world of music. Along with the fame young man received a lot of negative criticism. Nevertheless, Shostakovich did not stop working.

Despite his amazing talent, he was not lucky. Every job failed miserably. Many ill-wishers sharply condemned the composer even before Shostakovich's 7th symphony was released. The history of the creation of the composition is interesting - the virtuoso composed it already at the peak of his popularity. But before that, in 1936, the Pravda newspaper severely condemned the ballets and operas of the new format. Ironically, unusual music from productions, the author of which was Dmitry Dmitrievich, also fell under the hot hand.

Terrible Muse of the Seventh Symphony

The composer was persecuted, the works were banned. The fourth symphony became pain. For some time he slept dressed and with a suitcase near the bed - the musician was afraid of arrest at any moment.

However, he did not pause. In 1937 he released the Fifth Symphony, which surpassed previous compositions and rehabilitated him.

But another work opened the world of experiences and feelings in music. Tragic and dramatic was the history of the creation of Shostakovich's 7th symphony.

In 1937, he taught composition classes at the Leningrad Conservatory, and later received the title of professor.

In this city, he is caught by the Second World War. Dmitry Dmitrievich met her in the blockade (the city was surrounded on September 8), then he, like other artists of that time, was taken out of the cultural capital of Russia. The composer and his family were evacuated first to Moscow, and then, on October 1, to Kuibyshev (since 1991 - Samara).

Start of work

It is worth noting that the author began to work on this music even before the Great Patriotic War. In 1939-1940, the history of the creation of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 began. The first to hear her excerpts were students and colleagues. It was originally simple theme, which developed with the sound of the snare drum. Already in the summer of 1941, this part became a separate emotional episode of the work. The symphony officially started on July 19. After the author admitted that he had never written so actively. Interestingly, the composer made an appeal to the people of Leningrad on the radio, where he announced his creative plans.

In September, he worked on the second and third parts. On December 27, the master wrote the final part. On March 5, 1942, Shostakovich's 7th Symphony was performed for the first time in Kuibyshev. The history of the creation of the work in the blockade is no less exciting than the premiere itself. It was played by the evacuated orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater. Conducted by Samuil Samosuda.

Main concert

The master's dream was to perform in Leningrad. Great forces were spent in order for the music to sound. The task of organizing the concert fell to the only orchestra that remained in besieged Leningrad. The battered city gathered drops into a bunch of musicians. They accepted everyone who could stand on their feet. Many front-line soldiers participated in the speech. Only musical notes were delivered to the city. Then they painted the parties and put up posters. On August 9, 1942, Shostakovich's 7th symphony sounded. The history of the creation of the work is also unique in that it was on this day that the Nazi troops planned to break through the defenses.

The conductor was Carl Eliasberg. An order was given: "While the concert is going on, the enemy must be silent." Soviet artillery ensured calm and actually covered all the artists. They broadcast music on the radio.

It was real holiday for the weary residents. People cried and gave a standing ovation. In August, the symphony was played 6 times.

World recognition

Four months after the premiere, the work sounded in Novosibirsk. In the summer, residents of the UK and the USA heard it. The author has become popular. People from all over the world were captivated by the blockade story of the creation of Shostakovich's 7th symphony. During the first few months, more than 60 times sounded Her first broadcast was listened to by more than 20 million people of this continent.

There were also envious people who claimed that the work would not have received such popularity if it were not for the drama of Leningrad. But, despite this, even the most daring critic did not dare to say that the work of the author is mediocrity.

There were also changes in the territory of the Soviet Union. As was called the Beethoven of the 20th century. The man received The composer S. Rachmaninov spoke negatively about the genius, who said: “All the artists have been forgotten, only Shostakovich remains.” Symphony 7 "Leningradskaya", the history of which is worth respect, won the hearts of millions.

Music of the Heart

Tragic events are heard in music. The author wanted to show all the pain that leads not only to the war, but He loved his people, but despised the power that governs them. His goal was to convey the feelings of millions Soviet people. The master suffered along with the city and the inhabitants and protected the walls with notes. Anger, love, suffering were embodied in such a work as Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony. The history of creation covers the period of the first months of the war and the start of the blockade.

The theme itself is a grand struggle between good and evil, peace and slavery. If you close your eyes and turn on the melody, you can hear the sky humming from enemy aircraft, like native land moaning from dirty boots occupiers, as a mother cries, who escorts her son to death.

The famous Leningradka, as the poetess Anna Akhmatova called it, became a symbol of freedom. On one side of the wall stood enemies, injustice, on the other - art, Shostakovich, 7th symphony. The history of creation briefly reflects the first stage of the war and the role of art in the struggle for freedom!

But with special impatience they waited for "their" Seventh Symphony in besieged Leningrad.

Back in August 1941, on the 21st, when the appeal of the Leningrad City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the City Council and the Military Council of the Leningrad Front “The Enemy at the Gates” was published, Shostakovich spoke on the city radio:

And now, when it sounded in Kuibyshev, Moscow, Tashkent, Novosibirsk, New York, London, Stockholm, Leningraders were waiting for her in their city, the city where she was born...

On July 2, 1942, a twenty-year-old pilot, Lieutenant Litvinov, under continuous fire from German anti-aircraft guns, broke through the ring of fire, delivered to besieged city medicines and four voluminous music notebooks with the score of the Seventh Symphony. They were already waiting for them at the airport and they were taken away like the greatest treasure.

The next day, a brief piece of information appeared in Leningradskaya Pravda: “The score of Dmitri Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony was delivered to Leningrad by plane. Its public performance will take place in Great Hall Philharmonic.

But when chief conductor Big symphony orchestra Karl Eliasberg of the Leningrad Radio Committee opened the first of the four notebooks of the score, he became gloomy: instead of the usual three trumpets, three trombones and four horns, Shostakovich had twice as much. Plus added drums! Moreover, on the score by Shostakovich's hand it is written: "The participation of these instruments in the performance of the symphony is obligatory". AND "necessarily" boldly underlined. It became clear that with those few musicians who still remained in the orchestra, the symphony could not be played. Yes, and they are last concert played 7 December 1941.

Frosts then stood fierce. The Philharmonic hall was not heated - nothing.

But people still came. Come listen to music. Hungry, exhausted, wrapped up in everything, so it was impossible to make out where the women were, where the men were - only one face sticks out. And the orchestra played, although it was terrible to touch the brass horns, trumpets, trombones - they burned their fingers, the mouthpieces froze to the lips. And after this concert there were no more rehearsals. Music in Leningrad froze, as if frozen. Even the radio did not broadcast it. And this is in Leningrad, one of the musical capitals of the world! And there was no one to play. Of the one hundred and five orchestra members, several people were evacuated, twenty-seven died of starvation, the rest became dystrophic, unable even to move.

When rehearsals resumed in March 1942, only 15 weakened musicians could play. 15 out of 105! Now, in July, it is true, there are more, but even those few who are able to play were collected with such difficulty! What to do?

From the memoirs of Olga Berggolts.

“The only orchestra of the Radio Committee that remained then in Leningrad was reduced by hunger during the tragic first winter of our siege by almost half. I will never forget how, on a dark winter morning, the then artistic director of the Radio Committee, Yakov Babushkin (died at the front in 1943), dictated to the typist another summary of the state of the orchestra: - The first violin is dying, the drum died on the way to work, the horn is dying ... And yet, these surviving, terribly emaciated musicians and the leadership of the Radio Committee set about trying to perform the Seventh in Leningrad at all costs ... Yasha Babushkin, through the city party committee, got our musicians an additional ration, but still there were not enough people to perform the Seventh Symphony. Then, in Leningrad, a call was announced through the radio to all musicians in the city to come to the Radio Committee to work in the orchestra..

Musicians were searched all over the city. Eliasberg, staggering from weakness, went around the hospitals. He found drummer Zhaudat Aidarov in the dead room, where he noticed that the musician's fingers moved slightly. "Yes, he's alive!" - exclaimed the conductor, and this moment was the second birth of Zhaudat. Without him, the performance of the Seventh would have been impossible - after all, he had to beat out the drum roll in the "invasion theme". string group picked up, but a problem arose with the wind: people simply physically could not blow into wind instruments. Some fainted right at the rehearsals. Later, the musicians were attached to the dining room of the City Council - once a day they received a hot lunch. But there were still not enough musicians. They decided to ask for help from the military command: many musicians were in the trenches - they defended the city with weapons in their hands. The request was granted. By order of the head of the Political Directorate of the Leningrad Front, Major General Dmitry Kholostov, the musicians who were in the army and navy received an order to arrive in the city, at the Radio House, having with them musical instruments. And they stretched. In their documents it was stated: “He is in command of the Eliasberg Orchestra.” The trombonist came from the machine-gun company, the violist escaped from the hospital. The horn player was sent to the orchestra by an anti-aircraft regiment, the flutist was brought on a sled - his legs were paralyzed. The trumpeter stomped in his felt boots, despite the spring: his feet, swollen from hunger, did not fit into other shoes. The conductor himself was like his own shadow.

Rehearsals have begun. They lasted for five or six hours in the morning and evening, sometimes ending late at night. The artists were given special passes that allowed them to walk around Leningrad at night. And the traffic police even gave the conductor a bicycle-pedo, and on Nevsky Prospekt one could see a tall, extremely emaciated man, diligently pedaling - hurrying to a rehearsal or to Smolny, or to the Polytechnic Institute - to the Political Department of the Front. In the intervals between rehearsals, the conductor was in a hurry to settle many other matters of the orchestra. The needles flashed merrily. An army bowler hat on the steering wheel tinkled thinly. The city followed closely the course of the rehearsals.

A few days later, posters appeared in the city, pasted next to the proclamation "The Enemy at the Gates." They announced that on August 9, 1942, the premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony would take place in the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic. The Big Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Radio Committee plays. Conducted by K. I. Eliasberg. Sometimes right there, under the poster, there was a light table, on which lay packs with the program of the concert printed in the printing house. Behind him sat a warmly dressed, pale woman, evidently still unable to warm herself after the harsh winter. People stopped near her, and she handed them the program of the concert, printed very simply, unpretentiously, with only black ink.

On the first page of it is an epigraph: “To our struggle against fascism, to our coming victory over the enemy, to my native city - Leningrad, I dedicate my Seventh Symphony. Dmitri Shostakovich. Larger lower: DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH'S SEVENTH SYMPHONY. And at the very bottom, finely: "Leningrad, 194 2". This program served entrance ticket for the first performance in Leningrad of the Seventh Symphony on August 9, 1942. Tickets sold out very quickly - everyone who could walk wanted to get to this unusual concert.

One of the participants in the legendary performance of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony in besieged Leningrad, oboist Xenia Matus recalled:

“When I came to the radio, I was scared at first. I saw people, musicians, whom I knew well... Some were covered in soot, some were completely exhausted, no one knows what they were wearing. Didn't recognize people. For the first rehearsal, the orchestra as a whole could not yet gather. Many simply could not afford to climb to the fourth floor, where the studio was located. Those who had more strength or a stronger character took the rest under their arms and carried them upstairs. We rehearsed for only 15 minutes at first. And if not for Karl Ilyich Eliasberg, not for his assertive, heroic character, there would be no orchestra, no symphony in Leningrad. Although he was also a dystrophic, like us. He was brought to rehearsals by his wife on a sled. I remember how at the first rehearsal he said: "Well, let's ...", raised his hands, and they were trembling ... So this image remained in front of my eyes for the rest of my life, this shot bird, these wings that are here -they will fall, and he will fall ...

This is how we started working. Little by little they gained strength.

And on April 5, 1942, our first concert took place at the Pushkin Theater. Men put on quilted jackets first, and then jackets. We also put on everything under the dresses, so as not to freeze. And the public?

It was impossible to make out where the women were, where the men were, all wrapped up, packed, in mittens, collars turned up, only one face sticking out ... And suddenly Karl Ilyich came out - in a white shirt-front, a clean collar, in general, like a first-class conductor. At first, his hands trembled again, but then it started ... We played a concert in one part very decently, there were no “kiks”, there were no hitches. But we didn’t hear applause - we were still wearing mittens, we only saw that the whole hall stirred, perked up ...

After this concert, we somehow perked up at once, pulled ourselves up: “Guys! Our life begins! Real rehearsals began, we were even given additional food, and suddenly - the news that on an airplane, under bombing, the score of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony was flying towards us. They organized everything instantly: the parts were painted, more musicians were recruited from military orchestras. And now, finally, we have the parties on the consoles and we begin to practice. Of course, something did not work out for someone, people were exhausted, their hands were frostbitten ... Our men worked in gloves with cut off fingers ... And so, rehearsal after rehearsal ... We took the parts home to learn. For everything to be flawless. People from the Committee for Art Affairs came to us, some commissions constantly listened to us. And we worked a lot, because in parallel we had to learn other programs. I remember such a case. Some fragment was played, where the trumpet has a solo. And the trumpeter has an instrument on his knee. Karl Ilyich addresses him:

- First trumpet, why don't you play?
"Karl Ilyich, I don't have the strength to blow!" No forces.
“What do you think, we have the power?! Let's work!

These are the phrases that made the whole orchestra work. There were also group rehearsals at which Eliasberg approached everyone: play it for me, like this, like this, like this ... That is, if it were not for him, I repeat, there would be no symphony.

…August 9 is finally coming, the day of the concert. In the city, at least in the center, there were posters. And here is another unforgettable picture: the transport did not go, people walked, women - in elegant dresses, but these dresses hung, as if on braces, great for everyone, men - in suits, also as if from someone else's shoulder ... Military vehicles with soldiers drove up to the Philharmonic - to the concert ... In general, there were quite a lot of people in the hall, and we felt an incredible upsurge , because we understood that today we are holding a big exam.

Before the concert (the hall had not been heated all winter, it was icy), floodlights were installed upstairs to warm the stage, so that the air was warmer. When we went to our consoles, the searchlights went out. As soon as Karl Ilyich appeared, there was deafening applause, the whole hall stood up to greet him ... And when we played, they also gave us a standing ovation. From somewhere, a girl suddenly appeared with a bouquet of fresh flowers. It was so amazing!.. Behind the scenes, everyone rushed to hug each other, kiss. It was great holiday. Still, we did a miracle.

This is how our life began to go on. We have risen. Shostakovich sent a telegram congratulating us all.»

Prepared for the concert and at the forefront. One day, when the musicians were just writing the score of the symphony, the commander of the Leningrad Front, Lieutenant-General Leonid Alexandrovich Govorov, invited the artillery commanders to his place. The task was set briefly: During the performance of the Seventh Symphony by the composer Shostakovich, not a single enemy shell should explode in Leningrad!

And the gunners sat down for their "scores". As usual, the first step was to calculate the timing. The performance of the symphony lasts 80 minutes. Spectators will begin to gather at the Philharmonic in advance. So, plus another thirty minutes. Plus the same amount for the departure of the public from the theater. 2 hours and 20 minutes Hitler's guns must be silent. And consequently, our cannons should speak for 2 hours and 20 minutes - to perform their "fiery symphony". How many shells will it take? What calibers? Everything had to be considered in advance. And finally, which enemy batteries should be suppressed first? Have they changed their positions? Have they brought new guns? It was up to intelligence to answer these questions. The scouts did their job well. Not only enemy batteries were marked on the maps, but also his observation posts, headquarters, communication centers. Cannons with cannons, but the enemy artillery should also have been "blinded" by destroying observation posts, "stunned" by interrupting communication lines, "decapitated" by defeating headquarters. Of course, in order to perform this "fiery symphony", the gunners had to determine the composition of their "orchestra". It included many long-range guns, experienced artillerymen, who had been conducting counter-battery combat for many days. The "bass" group of the "orchestra" was made up of the guns of the main caliber of the naval artillery of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. For artillery escort musical symphony the front allocated three thousand large-caliber shells. Major General Mikhail Semyonovich Mikhalkin, Commander of the 42nd Army Artillery, was appointed "conductor" of the artillery "orchestra".

So there were two rehearsals side by side.

One sounded with the voice of violins, horns, trombones, the other was carried out silently and even secretly for the time being. The Nazis, of course, knew about the first rehearsal. And no doubt they were preparing to disrupt the concert. After all, the squares of the central sections of the city had long been pri-relyany by their gunners. Fascist shells rumbled more than once on the tram ring opposite the entrance to the Philharmonic building. But they knew nothing about the second rehearsal.

And the day came on August 9, 1942. 355th day of the Leningrad blockade.

Half an hour before the start of the concert, General Govorov went out to his car, but did not get into it, but froze, listening intently to the distant rumble. He glanced at his watch again and remarked to the artillery generals standing nearby: “Our 'symphony' has already begun.

And on the Pulkovo Heights, Private Nikolai Savkov took his place at the gun. He did not know any of the musicians of the orchestra, but he understood that now they would work together with him, at the same time. The German guns were silent. Such a flurry of fire and metal fell on the heads of their gunners that it was no longer up to firing: they would have to hide somewhere! Burrow into the earth!

The Philharmonic Hall was filled with listeners. The leaders of the Leningrad party organization arrived: A. A. Kuznetsov, P. S. Popkov, Ya. F. Kapustin, A. I. Manakhov, G. F. Badaev. General D. I. Kholostov sat next to L. A. Govorov. Writers prepared to listen: Nikolai Tikhonov, Vera Inber, Vsevolod Vishnevsky, Lyudmila Popova...

And Karl Ilyich Eliasberg waved his conductor's baton. He later recalled:

“It is not for me to judge the success of that memorable concert. I can only say that we have never played with such enthusiasm. And there is nothing surprising in this: the majestic theme of the Motherland, on which an ominous shadow of invasion finds, a pathetic requiem in honor of the fallen heroes - all this was close, dear to every orchestra member, everyone who listened to us that evening. And when the crowded hall exploded with applause, it seemed to me that I was again in peaceful Leningrad, that the most cruel of all the wars that had ever raged on the planet was already behind us, that the forces of reason, kindness and humanity had won.

And the soldier Nikolai Savkov, the performer of another “fiery symphony”, after its completion, suddenly writes poetry:

... And when, as a sign of the beginning
The conductor's baton is raised
Above the edge of the front, like thunder, majestically
Another symphony has begun
Symphony of our guards guns,
So that the enemy does not hit the city,
So that the city listens to the Seventh Symphony. ...
And in the hall - a flurry,
And on the front - a flurry. ...
And when people went to their apartments,
Full of lofty and proud feelings,
The soldiers lowered the barrels of guns,
Defending Arts Square from shelling.

This operation was called "Squall". Not a single shell fell on the streets of the city, not a single plane was able to take off from enemy airfields at a time when the audience went to a concert in the Great Philharmonic Hall, while the concert was going on, and when the audience, after the end of the concert, returned home or to their military parts. Transport did not go, and people went to the Philharmonic on foot. The women are in fancy dresses. They hung on emaciated Leningrad girls like on a hanger. Men - in suits, also as if from someone else's shoulder ... Military vehicles drove up to the Philharmonic building right from the front line. Soldiers, officers...

The concert has begun! And under the roar of the cannonade - She, as usual, thundered around - The invisible announcer said to Leningrad: "Attention! The blockade orchestra is playing! .. " .

Those who could not get into the Philharmonic listened to the concert on the street at loudspeakers, in apartments, in dugouts and pancake-dazhes of the front line. When the last sounds ceased, an ovation erupted. The audience gave the orchestra a standing ovation. And suddenly a girl got up from the stalls, went up to the conductor and handed him a huge bouquet of dahlias, asters, gladioli. For many, this was some kind of miracle, and they looked at the girl with some kind of joyful amazement - flowers in a city dying of hunger ...

The poet Nikolai Tikhonov, returning from the concert, wrote in his diary:

“Shostakovich's symphony ... was not played in the same way, perhaps grandiosely, as in Moscow or New York, but in Leningrad performance it had its own - Leningrad, something that merged the musical storm with the combat storm rushing over the city. She was born in this city, and perhaps only in it could she have been born. This is her special strength."

The symphony, which was broadcast on the radio and loudspeakers of the city network, was listened to not only by the inhabitants of Leningrad, but also by the German troops besieging the city. As they later said, the Germans simply went crazy when they heard this music. They thought that the city was almost dead. After all, a year ago, Hitler promised that on August 9, German troops would march along the Palace Square, and a solemn banquet will be held at the Astoria Hotel!!! A few years after the war, two tourists from the GDR, who sought out Karl Eliasberg, confessed to him: “Then, on August 9, 1942, we realized that we would lose the war. We felt your strength, capable of overcoming hunger, fear and even death ... "

The work of the conductor was equated with a feat, awarded the Order of the Red Star "for the fight against the Nazi invaders" and awarded the title "Honored Artist of the RSFSR".

And for Leningraders, August 9, 1942 was, in the words of Olga Berggolts, "Victory Day in the midst of the war." And the Seventh Leningrad Symphony by Dmitry Shostakovich became a symbol of this Victory, a symbol of the triumph of Man over obscurantism.

Years will pass, and the poet Yuri Voronov, who survived the blockade as a boy, will write about this in his poems: “... And the music rose above the gloom of the ruins, Crushed the silence of the dark apartments. And the stunned world listened to her ... Would you be able to do this if you were dying? ..».

« 30 years later, on August 9, 1972, our orchestra, -recalls Ksenia Markyanovna Matus, -
again received a telegram from Shostakovich, who was already seriously ill and therefore did not come to the performance:
“Today, like 30 years ago, I am with you with all my heart. This day lives in my memory, and I will forever keep a feeling of deepest gratitude to you, admiration for your devotion to art, your artistic and civil feat. Together with you, I honor the memory of those participants and eyewitnesses of this concert who did not survive to this day. And to those who have gathered here today to mark this date, I send my heartfelt greetings. Dmitri Shostakovich.

Symphony No. 7 "Leningradskaya"

15 symphonies by Shostakovich constitute one of the greatest phenomena musical literature XX century. Several of them carry a specific "program" related to history or war. The idea of ​​"Leningradskaya" arose from personal experience.

"Our victory over fascism, our coming victory over the enemy,
to my beloved city of Leningrad, I dedicate my seventh symphony"
(D. Shostakovich)

I speak for everyone who died here.
In my lines their deaf steps,
Their eternal and hot breath.
I speak for everyone who lives here
Who passed fire, and death, and ice.
I speak like your flesh, people
By right of shared suffering...
(Olga Bergholz)

In June 1941 Nazi Germany invaded Soviet Union and, soon, Leningrad found itself in a blockade that lasted 18 months and entailed countless hardships and deaths. In addition to those who died during the bombing, more than 600,000 Soviet citizens died of starvation. Many froze or died due to lack of medical care- the number of victims of the blockade is estimated at almost a million. In the besieged city, enduring terrible hardships along with thousands of other people, Shostakovich began work on his Symphony No. 7. He had never dedicated his major works, but this symphony became an offering to Leningrad and its inhabitants. The composer was driven by love for his native city and these truly heroic times of struggle.
Work on this symphony began at the very beginning of the war. From the first days of the war, Shostakovich, like many of his countrymen, began to work for the needs of the front. He dug trenches, was on duty at night during air raids.

He made arrangements for concert teams going to the front. But, as always, this unique musician-publicist already had a major symphonic idea in his head, dedicated to everything that was happening. He began to write the Seventh Symphony. The first part was completed in the summer. He wrote the second in September already in besieged Leningrad.

In October, Shostakovich and his family were evacuated to Kuibyshev. Unlike the first three parts, created literally in one breath, the work on the final was moving poorly. It is not surprising that the last part did not work out for a long time. The composer understood that from a symphony, devoted to war, will expect a solemn victorious finale. But there were no grounds for this yet, and he wrote as his heart prompted.

On December 27, 1941, the symphony was completed. Beginning with the Fifth Symphony, almost all of the composer's works in this genre were performed by his favorite orchestra - the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by E. Mravinsky.

But, unfortunately, Mravinsky's orchestra was far away, in Novosibirsk, and the authorities insisted on an urgent premiere. After all, the symphony was dedicated by the author to the feat hometown. She was given political importance. The premiere took place in Kuibyshev, performed by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra conducted by S. Samosud. After that, the symphony was performed in Moscow and Novosibirsk. But the most remarkable premiere took place in besieged Leningrad. Musicians for its performance were collected from everywhere. Many of them were exhausted. I had to put them in the hospital before the start of rehearsals - feed them, treat them. On the day of the performance of the symphony, all artillery forces were sent to suppress enemy firing points. Nothing should have interfered with this premiere.

The Philharmonic hall was full. The audience was very diverse. The concert was attended by sailors, armed infantrymen, air defense fighters dressed in jerseys, emaciated patrons of the Philharmonic. The performance of the symphony lasted 80 minutes. All this time, the enemy's guns were silent: the artillerymen defending the city received an order to suppress the fire of German guns at all costs.

The new work of Shostakovich shocked the listeners: many of them cried, not hiding their tears. great music she managed to express what united people at that difficult time: faith in victory, sacrifice, boundless love for her city and country.

During the performance, the symphony was broadcast on the radio, as well as on the loudspeakers of the city network. She was heard not only by the inhabitants of the city, but also by the German troops besieging Leningrad.

On July 19, 1942, the symphony was performed in New York, and after that its victorious march around the world began.

The first part begins with a broad, sing-song epic melody. It develops, grows, is filled with more and more power. Recalling the process of creating the symphony, Shostakovich said: “While working on the symphony, I thought about the greatness of our people, about its heroism, about the best ideals of mankind, about the wonderful qualities of a person ...” All this is embodied in the theme of the main party, which is related to the Russians heroic themes sweeping intonations, bold wide melodic moves, heavy unisons.

The side part is also song. She looks like a calm lullaby. Her melody seems to dissolve into silence. Everything breathes the tranquility of peaceful life.

But from somewhere far away a drum beat is heard, and then a melody appears: primitive, similar to couplets - an expression of everyday life and vulgarity. It's like puppets are moving. Thus begins the "episode of invasion" - a stunning picture of the invasion of a destructive force.

At first, the sound seems harmless. But the theme is repeated 11 times, more and more intensifying. Its melody does not change, it only gradually acquires the sound of more and more new instruments, turning into powerful chordal complexes. So this topic, which at first seemed not threatening, but stupid and vulgar, turns into a colossal monster - a grinding machine of destruction. It seems that she will grind into powder all living things in her path.

The writer A. Tolstoy called this music "the dance of learned rats to the tune of a rat-catcher." It seems that the learned rats, obedient to the will of the rat-catcher, are entering the fray.

The episode of the invasion is written in the form of variations on an unchanging theme - the passacaglia.

Even before the start of the Great Patriotic War, Shostakovich wrote variations on an unchanging theme, similar in concept to Ravel's Bolero. He showed it to his students. The theme is simple, as if dancing, which is accompanied by the beat of the snare drum. She grew to great power. At first it sounded harmless, even frivolous, but grew into a terrible symbol of suppression. The composer postponed this composition without performing or publishing it. It turns out that this episode was written earlier. So what did the composer want to portray to them? The terrible march of fascism across Europe or the offensive of totalitarianism on the individual? (Note: A totalitarian regime is called a regime in which the state dominates all aspects of the life of society, in which there is violence, destruction democratic freedoms and human rights).

At that moment, when it seems that the iron colossus is moving with a roar straight at the listener, the unexpected happens. The opposition begins. A dramatic motive appears, which is commonly called the motive of resistance. Moans and screams are heard in the music. It's like a grand symphonic battle is being played out.

After a powerful climax, the reprise sounds gloomy and gloomy. The theme of the main party in it sounds like a passionate speech addressed to all mankind, full great power protest against evil. Particularly expressive is the melody of the side part, which has become dreary and lonely. Here comes the expressive bassoon solo.

It's no longer a lullaby, but more of a weeping punctuated by excruciating spasms. Only in code main party sounds in a major, as if asserting the overcoming of the forces of evil. But from afar, the beat of a drum is heard. The war is still going on.

The next two parts are designed to show the spiritual wealth of a person, the strength of his will.

The second movement is a scherzo in soft tones. Many critics in this music saw a picture of Leningrad as transparent white nights. This music combines smile and sadness, light humor and introspection, creating an attractive and bright image.

The third movement is a majestic and soulful adagio. It opens with a chorale - a kind of requiem for the dead. It is followed by the pathetic utterance of the violins. The second theme, according to the composer, conveys "rapture with life, admiration for nature." The dramatic middle part is perceived as a memory of the past, a reaction to the tragic events of the first part.

The finale begins with a barely audible timpani tremolo. It's like the strength is gradually gathering. So prepared main topic, full of indomitable energy. This is an image of struggle, popular anger. It is replaced by an episode in the rhythm of the sarabande - again a memory of the fallen. And then begins a slow ascent to the triumph of the completion of the symphony, where the main theme of the first movement is played by trumpets and trombones as a symbol of peace and future victory.

No matter how wide the variety of genres in Shostakovich's work, in terms of his talent, he is, first of all, a composer-symphonist. His work is characterized by a huge scale of content, a tendency to generalized thinking, the severity of conflicts, dynamism and a strict logic of development. These features are especially pronounced in his symphonies. Shostakovich's Peru owns fifteen symphonies. Each of them is a page in the history of the life of the people. The composer was not in vain called the musical chronicler of his era. And not a dispassionate observer, as if surveying everything that happens from above, but a person who subtly reacts to the upheavals of his era, living the life of his contemporaries, involved in everything that happens around. He could say about himself in the words of the great Goethe:

- I'm not an outsider,
A participant in earthly affairs!

Like no one else, he was distinguished by responsiveness to everything that happened with him. home country and its people, and even more broadly - with all of humanity. Thanks to this susceptibility, he was able to capture the features characteristic of that era and reproduce them in highly artistic images. And in this regard, the composer's symphonies - unique monument the history of mankind.

August 9, 1942. On this day, in the besieged Leningrad, the famous performance of the Seventh (“Leningrad”) Symphony by Dmitry Shostakovich took place.

The organizer and conductor was Karl Ilyich Eliasberg, chief conductor of the Leningrad Radio Orchestra. While the symphony was being performed, not a single enemy shell fell on the city: by order of the commander of the Leningrad Front, Marshal Govorov, all enemy points were suppressed in advance. The guns were silent while Shostakovich's music was playing. She was heard not only by the inhabitants of the city, but also by the German troops besieging Leningrad. Many years after the war, the Germans said: “Then, on August 9, 1942, we realized that we would lose the war. We felt your strength, capable of overcoming hunger, fear and even death ... "

Starting with the performance in besieged Leningrad, the symphony had for the Soviet and Russian authorities great promotional and political significance.

On August 21, 2008, a fragment of the first part of the symphony was performed in the South Ossetian city of Tskhinval, destroyed by Georgian troops, by an orchestra Mariinsky Theater directed by Valery Gergiev.

"This symphony is a reminder to the world that the horror of the blockade and bombing of Leningrad must not be repeated..."
(V. A. Gergiev)

Presentation

Included:
1. Presentation 18 slides, ppsx;
2. Sounds of music:
Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad", Op. 60, 1 part, mp3;
3. Article, docx.

The Seventh Leningrad Symphony is one of the greatest scores of the 20th century. The history of its creation and first performances, the strength and scale of the influence of this music on contemporaries are truly unique. The very name of Shostakovich for a wide audience turned out to be forever soldered to the "famous Leningrad woman", - this is how Anna Akhmatova called the symphony.

The composer spent the first months of the war in Leningrad. Here on July 19 he began to work on the Seventh Symphony. “I never composed as fast as I do now,” Shostakovich admitted. Before the evacuation in October, the first three parts of the symphony were written (during the work on the second part, the blockade closed around Leningrad). The finale was completed in December in Kuibyshev, where on March 5, 1942, the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra conducted by Samuil Samosud performed the Seventh Symphony for the first time. Four months later, in Novosibirsk, it was performed by the Honored Collective of the Republic under the direction of Evgeny Mravinsky. The symphony began to be performed abroad - in June the premiere took place in the UK, in July - in the USA. But back in February 1942, the Izvestia newspaper published the words of Shostakovich: “My dream is that the Seventh Symphony in the near future be performed in Leningrad, in my native city, which inspired me to create it.” The blockade premiere of the symphony is akin to the events about which old days legends were made and passed down from generation to generation.

Chief " actor The concert was the Grand Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Radio Committee - that was the name of the current Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic during the war years. It was he who had the honor of being the first to play Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony in Leningrad. However, there was no alternative - after the beginning of the blockade, this group turned out to be the only symphony orchestra that remained in the city. For the performance of the symphony, an expanded composition was required - front-line musicians were seconded to the team. They were able to deliver only the score of the symphony to Leningrad - they painted the parts on the spot. Posters appeared in the city.

On August 9, 1942, the day previously announced by the German command as the date of entry into Leningrad, the Leningrad premiere of the Leningrad Symphony took place under the baton of Karl Eliasberg in the Great Philharmonic Hall. The concert took place, according to the conductor, "with a completely overcrowded hall" (safety was provided by the fire of Soviet artillery), and was broadcast on the radio. “Before the concert… floodlights were installed upstairs to warm the stage, so that the air was warmer. When we went to our consoles, the searchlights went out. As soon as Karl Ilyich appeared, there was a deafening applause, the whole hall stood up to greet him ... And when we played, they gave us a standing ovation too ... Suddenly a girl appeared from somewhere with a bouquet of fresh flowers. It was so amazing!.. Behind the scenes, everyone rushed to hug each other, kiss. It was a great holiday. Still, we did a miracle. This is how our life began to go on. We are resurrected,” recalled Ksenia Matus, a participant in the premiere. In August 1942, the orchestra performed the symphony 6 times, four times in the Great Hall of the Philharmonic.

“This day lives in my memory, and I will forever preserve a feeling of deepest gratitude to you, admiration for your devotion to art, your artistic and civil feat,” Shostakovich wrote to the orchestra on the 30th anniversary blockade execution Seventh Symphony. In 1942, in a telegram to Karl Eliasberg, the composer was more concise, but no less eloquent: “Dear friend. Many thanks. Please convey my heartfelt gratitude to all the musicians of the orchestra. I wish you health, happiness. Hello. Shostakovich.

“An unprecedented thing happened, not appearing either in the history of wars or in the history of art - a “duet” of a symphony orchestra and an artillery symphony. Formidable counter-battery guns covered up a no less formidable weapon - the music of Shostakovich. Not a single shell fell on the Square of Arts, but on the enemy's heads from radio receivers, loudspeakers, an avalanche of sounds fell in a stunning all-conquering stream, proving that the spirit is primary. These were the first volleys at the Reichstag!”

E. Lind, creator of the Museum of the Seventh Symphony,

about the day of the blockade premiere