October, Op. 131, is a symphonic poem composed by Dmitri Shostakovich to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution in 1967. He was spurred to compose the work after reencountering his score for the Vasilyev brothers' 1937 film , reusing its "Partisan Song" in October. Although Shostakovich completed the work quickly, the process of writing it fatigued him physically because of his deteriorating motor functions.
The world premiere of October was played on September 16, 1967, by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich, the composer's son. He had been vying to conduct the world premiere of the Violin Concerto No. 2, but was offered October instead. The American premiere took place on October 10, 1988, at Avery Fisher Hall, played by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Andrew Davis.
In spite of its populist aims, October was received tepidly in the Soviet Union. Western critics have also been muted and sometimes hostile to the work, but some have defended it; finding in it parallels to the Tenth and Eleventh Symphonies, and stating that it is unjustly ignored.
History
Composition
In a Pravda article published before the premiere of October, Shostakovich said:
I had long been intending to write a musical work for the fiftieth anniversary of the Revolution, but nothing had worked out. Then a few months ago I was at the Mosfilm Studios, where the Vasilyev brothers' old film , for which I wrote the music, was being prepared for re-release. On hearing it again, I felt that my "Partisan Song" had turned out not badly in those days. The picture reminded me of it, and quite unexpectedly I "heard" the whole of my future symphonic poem, and set about writing it. I composed the main theme afresh—it is marked by the intonations of revolutionary songs—and for the secondary theme I used my old "Partisan Song." I elaborated both themes considerably, and the result was a symphonic work of about 12 or 13 minutes' duration.
According to , Shostakovich complained that the physical effort of writing October was "very hard work." He completed the score on August 10 while vacationing with his family at Belovezhskaya State Reserve. The following day, Shostakovich announced the news in a letter to his friend Isaak Glikman, writing to him that he had "been working without a break for the past seven days" and felt exhausted as a result.
Marina Sabinina speculated that October may have emerged from Shostakovich's unrealized attempt to depict the Russian Civil War in the third movement of his Twelfth Symphony, citing its use of the "Partisan Song" and a comment by the composer saying that he had "been nurturing his new poem for a long time."
In response to a questionnaire submitted to him by Komsomolets Tajikistana, Shostakovich wrote:
I particularly enjoyed working on my symphonic poem October, which expresses my feelings of pride in my Motherland and admiration for her exploits.
Premieres
At the same time that Shostakovich was working on October, he was also rehearsing his newly composed Violin Concerto No. 2 with its dedicatee David Oistrakh. In the course of their discussions on the concerto's interpretation, Shostakovich informed Oistrakh that his son Maxim had expressed intense interest in conducting its world premiere. Shostakovich left it to Oistrakh to choose the conductor, but urged the violinist to speak with Maxim personally and explain to him the seriousness of the duties involved in conducting a world premiere. In a subsequent letter, the composer explicitly stated his preference for Kyril Kondrashin, but delegated to Oistrakh the responsibility of informing Maxim of the decision. Instead of the concerto, Shostakovich entrusted to Maxim the world premiere of October.
The world premiere of October took place on September 16, 1967, at the Large Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, performed by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich; the composer was hospitalized at the time and was unable to attend the concert. Further performances in Moscow and Leningrad soon followed during the plenum of the board of the RSFSR Union of Composers, the Music of Soviet Russia festival, and Week of Soviet Music; altogether these events lasted from September 21–October 24. In addition to the original performers, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kondrashin also performed October during these weeks.
Andrew Davis conducted the American premiere of October with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall on October 10, 1988.
Instrumentation
The instrumentation for October is as follows: