Symphony No. 5. Op. 47. Score.

Form:

1. Moderato
2. Allegretto (Scherzo)
3. Largo
4. Allegro non troppo

Instrumentation:

Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, E flat Clarinet, 2 Clarinets (A and B flat), 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon

4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba

Timpani, Triangle, Side drum, Cymbals, Bass drum, Gong

Glockenspiel, Xylophone

Celesta, 2 Harps, Piano

Strings

Duration:

Approx. 45 min.

Composed:

18 April–20 September 1937, at Leningrad.

This edition is based on the 1980 edition (Dmitri Shostakovich, Collected Works, Vol. 3, Muzyka Publishers, Moscow), which has been revised and collated with the earlier Russian editions. Since the whereabouts of the author’s manuscript of the score is unknown, all the lifetime editions published in the Soviet Union were used when preparing this edition. The score of the Fifth Symphony was published four times during Shostakovich’s lifetime: in 1939, 1947, 1956, and 1961. The texts of these editions have a significant number of discrepancies. The differences between the first three editions, on the one hand, and the 1961 edition, edited by Levon Atovmian, on the other, are particularly noticeable. The foreword “From the Editor” in the 1980 edition reports that the changes relating to unification of the dynamic designations and bowing were made in the 1961 edition by Shostakovich himself. However, it is unclear what this assertion is based on and the extent to which it is authentic. There is no indication of this in the 1961 edition itself. Not only does it retain several inaccuracies, misprints, and dubious places from the previous editions,but new ones have also appeared.