Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony in Historical Context
An introductory paragraph followed by quotes from recent books
Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony was written between April 18 and July 20, 1937, in Leningrad. He was 30 years old and his first child (a daughter, Galina) had been born the previous year. On January 28, 1936, his widely performed opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, had been attacked in Pravda in an article that included an understood threat against his life ("This is playing with nonsensical things, which could end very badly."). The Soviet Union was in the midst of Stalin's "Great Terror" in 1936 and 1937. Millions were being arrested and tortured then summarily executed or exiled to Siberia and Central Asia. His sister Mariya was exiled to Central Asia in 1937 and several other relatives and friends were disappeared. Marshal Tukhachevsky, an important friend and early patron of Shostakovich, was arrested and executed at the time that Shostakovich was composing the Fifth Symphony (arrested on May 27, 1937; his execution was announced to the public on June 13).
http://www.shostakovich.org/symphony5.htm
