The Long Line
The Symphony No. 14 in G minor, Op. 135, by Dmitri Shostakovich was completed in the spring of 1969, and was premiered later that year. It is a work for soprano, bass and a small string orchestra with percussion, consisting of eleven linked settings of poems by four authors. Most of the poems deal with the theme of death, particularly that of unjust or early death. They were set in Russian, although two other versions of the work exist with the texts all back-translated from Russian either into their original languages or into German. The symphony is dedicated to Benjamin Britten (who gave the UK premiere the following year at Aldeburgh).
Movements
- 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)