Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 in E minor— performed by Pacific Symphony

Pacific Symphony's May 4, 2018 performance of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93, was conducted by the symphony’s long-tenured music director, Carl St.Clair, at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, California.

The modern-era piece was composed and completed approximately between 1951 and 1953 before its premiere at the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, just months after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. The events of Soviet Russia at the height of World War II were a major inspiration for Shostakovich’s themes that permeate throughout this composition.

The presence of woodwind instrumentation is especially evident through the symphony’s four movements: moderato, allegro, allegretto, and andante. The mood throughout each of the four movements is a suitable representation of the Stalinist era, often characterized by conflict and terror.

From the beginning of the first movement, the deep and slow theme in sonata form establishes the atmosphere throughout the rest of the piece. In this essence of suspense, the varying dynamics and tempo contrast between movements to further establish a feeling of conflict and unease. The opening theme is especially distinct and suspenseful, almost reminiscent of a popular theme from a twentieth-century horror film (e.g. American composer John Williams' main theme from “Jaws").

To further emphasize the low-toned contrast, brass instrumentation was implemented alongside a voice of strings just before the entrance of the clarinet theme. The highly-syncopated nature achieves a musical conflict shared with a feeling of sorrowful hope, which affirms its intended sociopolitical allegory.