Movements
The work has eleven linked movements, each a setting of a poem:
- Adagio. "De profundis" (Federico García Lorca)
- Allegretto. "Malagueña" (Federico García Lorca)
- Allegro molto. "Loreley" (Guillaume Apollinaire)
- Adagio. "Le Suicidé" (Guillaume Apollinaire)
- Allegretto. "Les Attentives I" (On watch) (Guillaume Apollinaire)
- Adagio. "Les Attentives II" (Madam, look!) (Guillaume Apollinaire)
- Adagio. "À la Santé" (Guillaume Apollinaire)
- Allegro. "Réponse des Cosaques Zaporogues au Sultan de Constantinople" (Guillaume Apollinaire)
- Andante. "O, Del'vig, Del'vig!" (Wilhelm Küchelbecker)
- Largo. "Der Tod des Dichters" (Rainer Maria Rilke)
- Moderato. "Schlußstück" (Rainer Maria Rilke)
The first movement begins with the violins playing a theme reminiscent of the Dies irae, which plays a prominent role in the history of Russian music. Fragments of the theme are developed in various sections throughout the symphony; it recurs in its entirety in the climactic penultimate movement.
The work shows Shostakovich's willingness to adopt new techniques. All but two of the movements include themes using tone rows, which he uses to convey a sense of the abstract. He also makes dramatic use of tone clusters, such as the fortissimo chord illustrating the lily growing from the suicide's mouth in the fourth movement.
Read more about this topic: Symphony No. 14 (Shostakovich)
Famous quotes containing the word movements:
“Just as language has no longer anything in common with the thing it names, so the movements of most of the people who live in cities have lost their connexion with the earth; they hang, as it were, in the air, hover in all directions, and find no place where they can settle.”
—Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926)
“Justice begins with the recognition of the necessity of sharing. The oldest law is that which regulates it, and this is still the most important law today and, as such, has remained the basic concern of all movements which have at heart the community of human activities and of human existence in general.”
—Elias Canetti (b. 1905)
“He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)