Dmitri Shostakovich

20th Century · 1906–1975

Dmitri Shostakovich spent his whole life in the Soviet Union, writing music under a government that could end his career, or worse, at any moment. Born in St. Petersburg in 1906, he was a star by his early twenties. Then in 1936 the state newspaper Pravda attacked his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, and he fell overnight from favorite to suspect. His Symphony no. 5, premiered the following year, won back official approval while sounding, to many listeners, like private grief in public dress.

That double meaning became his signature. Across fifteen symphonies and fifteen string quartets, the public works speak to crowds while the chamber music seems to confide in you alone. He wrote the Leningrad symphony during the wartime siege of his home city, and it was performed there by starving musicians.

Start with the Symphony no. 5 in D minor, then the String Quartet no. 8 in C minor, the most personal thing he ever wrote.

164 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.

Chamber

Piano Quintet in G minor, op. 57
Piano Trio no. 2 in E minor, op. 67
String Quartet no. 8 in C minor, op. 110
2 Pieces for Double String Quartet, op. 11
2 Pieces for String Quartet
5 Pieces for 2 Violins and Piano
Adagio and Allegretto, for string quartet
Cello Sonata, op. 40
Piano Trio no. 1 in C minor, op. 8
String Quartet no. 1 in C major, op. 49
String Quartet no. 2 in A major, op. 68
String Quartet no. 3 in F major, op. 73
String Quartet no. 4 in D major, op. 83
String Quartet no. 5 in B flat major, op. 92
String Quartet no. 6 in G major, op. 101
String Quartet no. 7 in F sharp minor, op. 108
String Quartet no. 9 in E flat major, op. 117
String Quartet no. 10 in A flat major, op. 118
String Quartet no. 11 in F minor, op. 122
String Quartet no. 12 in D flat major, op. 133
String Quartet no. 13 in B flat minor, op. 138
String Quartet no. 14 in F sharp major, op. 142
String Quartet no. 15 in E flat minor, op. 144
Two Pieces by D.Scarlatti for wind orchestra, op. 17
Viola Sonata, op. 147
Violin Sonata, op. 134

Keyboard

24 Preludes and Fugues, op. 87
3 Danses fantastiques, op. 5
3 Early Piano Pieces
8 Preludes, op. 2
24 Preludes, op. 34
A Child's Excercise Book, op. 69
Aphorisms, op. 13
Concertino for 2 Pianos, op. 94
Merry March, for 2 pianos
Murzilka
Piano Sonata no. 1, op. 12
Piano Sonata no. 2 in B minor, op. 61
Suite for 2 Pianos in F sharp minor, op. 6

Orchestral

Cello Concerto no. 1 in E flat major, op. 107
Piano Concerto no. 1 in C minor, for piano, trumpet, and strings, op. 35
Symphony no. 5 in D minor, op. 47
Symphony no. 7 in C major, op. 60, "Leningrad"
Symphony no. 8 in C minor, op. 65, "Stalingrad"
Symphony no. 10 in E minor, op. 93
Symphony no. 14, for soprano, bass, string orchestra, and percussion, op. 135
Violin Concerto no. 1 in A minor, op. 77
2 Pieces for E. Dressel's 'Kolumbus', op. 23
Ballet Suite no. 1
Ballet Suite no. 2
Ballet Suite no. 3
Ballet Suite no. 4
Cello Concerto no. 2 in G major, op. 126
Chamber Symphony, op. 110b
Cherry Trees, op. 105 Suite from the operetta
Festive Overture, op. 96
Five Days - Five Nights Op.111a
Hamlet, incidental music, op. 32
Hamlet, op. 32a
Jazz Suite no. 1
Jazz Suite no. 2
Katerina Izmaylova, op. 114a Suite from the opera
King Lear, incidental music, op. 58a
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, op. 29a Suite from the opera
March of the Soviet Militia, for wind band, op. 139
Maxim Suite, op. 50a
Mournful-Triumphal Prelude in Memory of the Heroes of Stalingrad, op. 130
Native Leningrad, suite, op. 63
Novorossisk Chimes
October, op. 131
Overture on Russian and Khirghiz Folksongs, op. 115
Piano Concerto no. 2 in F major, op. 102
Pirogov, op. 76a
Prelude in E flat minor, for orchestra
Rule, Britannia!, incidental music, op. 28
Russian River, incidental music to spectacle, op. 66
Salute to Spain, incidental music, op. 44
Symphony no. 1 in F minor, op. 10
Symphony no. 2 in B flat major, op. 14, "To October"
Symphony no. 3 in E flat major, op. 20, "The First of May"
Symphony no. 4 in C minor, op. 43
Symphony no. 6 in B minor, op. 54
Symphony no. 9 in E flat major, op. 70
Symphony no. 11 in G minor, op. 103, "The Year 1905"
Symphony no. 12 in D minor, op. 112, "The Year 1917"
Symphony no. 13 in B flat minor, op. 113, "Babi Yar"
Symphony no. 15 in A major, op. 141
The Adventures of Korzinkina, op. 59a
The Age of Gold, op. 22a Suite from the ballet
The Bolt, op. 27a Suite from the ballet
The First Echelon, op. 99a Suite from the film score
The Flea, incidental music, op. 19
The Flea, op. 19a
The Gadfly, op. 97a
The Golden Hills, op. 30a
The Nose Op.15a Suite from the opera
The Second Waltz, for orchestra
The Tale of the Priest and His Servant Balda, op. 36a
The Unforgettable Year 1919 Op.89a
Violin Concerto no. 1 in A minor, op. 77
Violin Concerto no. 2 in C sharp minor, op. 129

Stage

Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, op. 29 Opera
Alone, op. 26
Antiformal Rayok, for 4 basses, speaker, chorus and piano
Conditionally Killed, music hall revue
Counterplan, op. 33
Encounter at the Elbe, op. 80
Five Days - Five Nights, op. 111
Hamlet, op. 116
Katerina Izmaylova, op. 114 Opera
King Lear, film score, op. 137
Michurin, op. 78, "Life in Bloom"
Moscow, Cheryomushki, op. 105
New Babylon, film score for live performance with silent film, op. 18
Pirogov, op. 76
Prologue to Orango
Sofia Perovskaya, op. 132
Song of the Great Rivers, op. 95
The Age of Gold, op.22 Ballet
The Big Lightning
The Bolt, op. 27 Ballet
The Fall of Berlin, op. 82
The First Echelon, op. 99
The First Train
The Gadfly, op. 97
The Gamblers, for 6 male voices and orchestra Opera
The Girl Friends, for trumpet, string quartet and piano, op. 41ii
The Golden Hills, op. 30
The Great Citizen, Part 2, op. 55
The Limpid Stream, op. 39 Ballet
The Man with a Gun, op. 53
The Nose Op.15 Opera
The Return of Maxim, op. 45
The Silly Little Mouse, op. 56
The Tale of the Priest and His Servant Balda, op. 36
The Vyborg District, op. 50
The Youth of Maxim, op. 41i
Volochayevka Days, op. 48
Zoya

Vocal

2 Fables, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, op. 4
2 Ritual Russian Folk Songs
2 Romances, for voice and piano, op. 84
4 Monologues, for voice and piano, op. 91
4 Romances on Poems by Pushkin, op. 46
4 Songs on verses by Dolmatovsky, for voice, wordless chorus and piano, op. 86
4 Verses of Captain Lebyadkin, op. 146
5 Songs from the Journal 'Krokodil', op. 121
6 Poems of Marina Tsvetayeva, for contralto and orchestra, op. 143
6 Romances on Verses by English Poets, for bass and small orchestra, op. 140
6 Romances to verses by English poets, for bass and piano, op. 62
6 Songs on Verses by Japanese Poets, op. 21
6 Spanish Songs, for soprano and piano, op. 100
10 Poems on Texts by Revolutionary Poets, for chorus and boys' chorus a cappella, op. 88
Brave New World, for chorus
From Jewish Folk Poetry, op. 79
Greek Songs, for voice and piano
Preface to the Complete Collection of My Work and Thoughts, op. 123
Spring, Spring, song for bass and piano, op. 128
Suite on Finnish Themes, for soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble
Suite on Verses of Michelangelo, for bass and piano, op. 145
The Sun Shines on Our Motherland, for child chorus, chorus and orchestra, op. 90 Cantata
United Nations on the March, song
Victorious Spring, incidental music, op. 72
We Had Kisses, romance for voice and piano

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