Parlando Breakdown #3: Shostakovich Symphony No. 11, "The Year 1905"

Shostakovich Symphony No. 11, titled “The Year 1905,” performed by Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s music is famously politically ambiguous. He spent his entire life in the Soviet Union, musically walking the line between propaganda and satire. One day he would be praised by the government and given a country house, the next he would be denounced and have his income cut off.

The 11th Symphony is a prime example of this ambiguity. The premiere was met with instant success, and it won him a Lenin Prize. It was Shostakovich’s first triumph since being denounced by Central Committee Secretary Andrei Zhdanov 10 years prior.

The symphony premiered in 1957 for the 40th anniversary of the October (or Bolshevik) Revolution, and Western critics largely dismissed the piece as a piece of Soviet propaganda. But the question to think about is: why did Shostakovich pick the failed 1905 revolution as the subject of a symphony commemorating the successful 1917 Revolution?

The 1905 Revolution began on January 9th, or “bloody Sunday,” when Tsar Nicholas II’s army fired on unarmed pro-democracy, anti-Tsarist demonstrators, led by Father Georgy Gapon. Vladimir Lenin, the future head of the Soviet Union, called the 1905 Revolution “The Great Dress Rehearsal” for the October Revolution. It’s an incredibly vivid moment in Russian history, yet it’s possible that Shostakovich was thinking of a different failed revolution — one that had just happened as he wrote his 11th Symphony.

The 1956 Hungarian Revolution began when pro-democracy, anti-Communist student protesters were fired upon by the State Security Police, the Hungarian extension of the Soviet Union’s secret police force. This led to a mass uprising and the fall of the Soviet government in Hungry.

However, less than two weeks later, the Soviet Union sent tanks into Hungary, re-established the Communist government, and executed the leaders of the revolution. Hungary remained under Soviet control until 1989.

So back to the 11th Symphony. It was written to commemorate the revolution which established the Soviet government that had just suppressed the Hungarian Revolution. Why does Shostakovich pick the failed 1905 Revolution as the subject of his symphony?

To answer that, let’s listen. This is the climax of the second movement — it’s the moment on Bloody Sunday when the Tsar’s army opens fire on the unarmed protestors.

It’s incredibly intense music. How often do you hear a full percussion section solo? That melody you hear is called “Bare Your Heads,” one of nine Russian revolutionary songs which Shostakovich quotes in this symphony. He’s actually quoting himself — Shostakovich wrote a choral setting of this melody 6 years prior, in his 10 Songs by Revolutionary Poets. The “Bare your heads” melody is from the 6th song, entitled “The 9th of January,” words by Arkady Kots.

“Bare your heads!/Bare your heads!/On this bitter day the shadow of a long night trembled over the earth/Hey you, father Tsar!/Look around you/We have nothing to live on/your servants give us no help.”

He brings this melody back for the conclusion of the symphony. This is a quintessential Shostakovich finale. It teeters on the edge between anxiety and triumph. It’s declamatory, but there’s something deeply sinister about it. Take a listen.

It’s such a powerful, evocative ending to a truly cinematic symphony. Check out a full recording here — it’s worth it.