Scherzo from Symphony No. 5

Description

The second movement of Shostakovich’s masterful and subversive Fifth Symphony, written as his career as a composer in communist Russia teetered in the balance, could suggest a barely literate composer from the “Bureau of Artists” coming to the great Shostakovich to demonstrate, through a most grotesque dance, how simple it is to compose great music under the Soviet System. This transcription of the Scherzo movement was produced by Mark Rogers, who also transcribed the complete symphony. In the transcription of the complete work, all of the music remains in the original key, while in this publication, the second movement is transposed down a whole tone to G minor. Other than the transposition and the removal of some of the more rarely found instruments (E flat clarinet, contrabassoon and harp), the music is intact, and represents the composer’s intentions in every way. Conductors who choose to perform this piece will introduce their players to this important voice in Twentieth Century music and bring major issues about political life and its impact on creative life to their students in the most relevant fashion.

Grade: 4
Duration: 4’00”