Shostakovich: Motherland, Op. 63

Description

For Native Country, the composer wrote four short items forming a short suite Native Leningrad for orchestra, choir and soloists to words by Sergei Alymov (the suite was assigned as, Op. 63):

• "Overture"
• "Song of the Victorious October"
• "Youth Dance" (orchestral piece)
• "Ode to Leningrad"

The music of the suite blended harmoniously into the show's folk and patriotic atmosphere. Shostakovich included fragments of the revolutionary songs "Varshavyanka (The Warsaw March)" and "Boldly, Friends, On We March!" in the first item of the suite (the latter is also symphonically developed somewhat in the same way as a coda in sonata form). The choral part of the final "Ode to Leningrad" also has a revolutionary march rhythm. The second item, "Song of the Victorious October", was written in the spirit of a stirring full-blooded folk song, which is emphasised not only by the characteristic melodic idioms, but also by the presence of balalaika and tambourine in the orchestra. The third item, "Youth Dance," which harkens back to the style of Shostakovich's ballet music, later became extremely popular as a separate piece (primarily under the title "Folk Dance") in different arrangements.

Volume 76, Vocal Score, also includes 3 songs & anthems:

Anthem of the Soviet Union for Choir and Symphony Orchestra - The manuscripts of several versions of the anthem are kept in Dmitri Shostakovich's archive. Some of them are titled Anthem of the Soviet Union; the others have no names.The first stage of the work on the anthem began in the summer of 1942, when the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 was in full swing, and continued until may 1943. Out of the 27 texts offered by the poets for the national anthem, Shostakovich chose Yevgeni Dolmatovsky's.

Hymn of the RSFSR for Chorus and Orchestra - The anthem of the RSFSR based on lyrics by Stepan Shchipachev was penned in October 1945. The archive documents at RSALA show that the Anthem of the RSFSR was written for a poetry and music contest. in particular, the commission minutes for the hearing of the music for the National Anthem of the RSFSR, the list of composers who took part in composing the anthem's music, and the anthem's lyrics have survived in the depository of the Art Committee under the RSFSR Council of Ministers. A part from Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Anatoli Aleksandrov, Boris Aleksandrov, Aleksandr Mosolov, Boris Asafyev and other well-known composers took part in this contest

Anthem of Moscow for Choir and Piano -Shostakovich's surviving anthem manuscripts also include the Anthem of Moscow to words by Ilya Frenkel (1948), written for a poety and music contest.