Symphony No. 7. Op. 60. Score.

Form:

Symphony, universally known as ‘The Leningrad Symphony’, for large
orchestra (with additional brass, 2 harps, and a piano) in four movements—
here given the initial descriptive titles later dropped by the composer:

1. Allegretto—‘War’
2. Moderato (poco allegretto)—‘Memories’
3. Adagio—‘Native Expanses’ or ‘My Native Fields’ attacca
4. Allegro non troppo—‘Victory’

Instrumentation:

Piccolo (= Flute III), 2 Flutes (II = Alto flute), 2 Oboes, Cor Anglais, E flat Clarinet (= Clarinet III B flat and A), 2 Clarinets (B flat and A), Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon

8 Horns, 6 Trumpets, 6 Trombones, Tuba

Timpani (5 drums), Triangle, Tambourine, Side drum, Cymbals, Bass drum, Gong

Xylophone, 2 Harps, Piano

1st Violins (16–20), 2nd Violins (16–18), Violas (12–16), Cellos (10–14), Double-basses (8–12).

It is desirable to have 2 Side drums from fig. 39 and, if possible, 3 Side drums from fig. 45 to 11th bar after fig. 51 in the first movement. The additional group of Brass (3 Trumpets, 4 Horns, and 3 Trombones) is required in first, third, and fourth movements; Harps in second and third; Piano in first, second, and fourth movements.

Composed:

19 July–27 December 1941. The first three movements composed in besieged Leningrad; first finished on 3 September, second written in 14 days, and third completed in 12 days on 29 September; fourth movement completed at Kuibyshev (reverted to its pre-revolutionary name of Samara in autumn 1991).

Duration:

Approx. 80 min.

Dedication:

‘To my native city, Leningrad’.

When preparing this volume, we used the lifetime editions of the symphony, the facsimile edition of the author’s manuscript of the score (D. Shostakovich, Symphony #7 “Leningrad”, Op. 60: Facsimile Edition of the Manuscript with a Commentary by Manashir Yakubov, Zen-on Music Company Limited, Tokyo, 1992.), and the edition of the score in Vol. 4 of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Collected Works (Muzyka Publishers, Moscow, 1981), in which the author’s corrections in the hand-written copy of the symphony and the author’s notes on the proof-read sheets were taken into account.