Festive Overture / Dmitri Shostakovich

Born in St. Petersburg, Dmitri Shostakovich was already playing piano and composing at an early age. In 1926, he graduated from the (then) Petrograd Conservatory at the age of 20 with his Symphony No. 1 serving as his thesis. As his compositional style matured, it was deemed “formalist”, a handy generic term of condemnation (and usually of ensuing punishment) affixed to nearly any work of art that was not considered to glorify the Soviet ideal adequately. Despite living under the artistic constraints of Soviet Russia, Shostakovich persevered and composed a substantial number of works, including 15 symphonies and string quartets. Shostakovich was formally condemned twice by Stalin for being too formalist, and consequently lived in fear of his life until after Stalin died in 1953.

Perhaps it was with a sense of relief that the Stalin era had ended, that Shostakovich wrote the carefree and brilliant Festive Overture in 1954. The piece was composed in a whirlwind just three days prior to a concert commemorating the 37th anniversary of the October Revolution at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Shostakovich’s friend and music critic Lev Lebedinsky commented on “the speed with which he wrote [which] was truly astounding. Moreover, when he wrote light music, he was able to talk, make jokes and compose simultaneously, like the legendary Mozart. He laughed and chuckled, and in the meanwhile, work was under way and the music was being written down.”

The overture begins with heralding trumpets and low brass followed by a much quicker tempo featuring long, running woodwind lines. The opening fanfare returns briefly toward the end and almost stops before an even quicker tempo than before brings us to the finish.


Recorded live in concert by the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, Dr. Matthew Westgate, Guest Conductor, in Lexington MA, on March 1, 2020.