Carnegie Hall

One moment a Soviet darling, the next a persona non grata, writing music was often a life-or-death matter for Dmitri Shostakovich. The Russian composer and his works are deeply linked with the USSR’s turbulent history. Even without the context, the music’s emotional intensity still draws in listeners. These 15 symphonies include some of the most famous in the orchestral canon and span from Shostakovich’s student days to just a few years before his death.

Symphony No. 1

Shostakovich immediately made a name for himself with his First Symphony—the graduation project heard around the world. His teachers at the Petrograd Conservatory were so impressed by the 19-year-old’s work that they recommended it for public performance. You can already hear the humor and wit that would define his personal voice, especially in the opening bassoon and trumpet duet.

Symphony No. 2

Have you ever heard a factory whistle used as an instrument? You will in Shostakovich’s Second Symphony, where the whistle symbolizes Russian industrialization. It also announces the chorus, whose lyrics commemorate the October Revolution of 1917. Subtitled “To October,” this follow-up to the composer’s breakout success is only one movement long and blends tradition with a whirlwind of modern sounds.

Symphony No. 3

“It would be interesting to write a symphony where not a single theme would be repeated,” Shostakovich mused while he wrote his Third Symphony. This work also celebrated a major Soviet holiday: May Day, “The First of May.” You might hear marches, or singing crowds, in this musical equivalent of a parade. (As with some of his other symphonies, how much the composer actually agreed with this patriotic messaging remains up for debate.)

Symphony No. 4

As the Stalin regime began to crack down on “formalism”—essentially a blanket term for music that was dissonant, pessimistic, or critical of the state—a public denouncement of Shostakovich put the composer in real danger. With plans for his Fourth Symphony thrown into disarray, he eventually withdrew the piece before the first performance.

This brooding work premiered almost 30 years later, only after Stalin’s death, and it’s not for the faint of heart. It also requires the largest orchestra of any of his symphonies, with more than 100 musicians.

Symphony No. 5

A fearful, now-blacklisted Shostakovich began sleeping in stairwells and packing suitcases for his inevitable arrest. His Fifth Symphony was a chance to restore himself in the eyes of the party, and it became an instant critical hit. Whether you interpret the bombastic finale as a Communist triumph or a satirical jab at the Stalin regime, the music’s drama and intense emotions have helped it remain his most famous symphony to this day.

Symphony No. 6

A new Shostakovich symphony would always be compared to the one before, and especially so after the runaway success of his Fifth. The composer surprised critics by responding with a more abstract work, with no references to politics or folk songs. The three movements of lopsided lengths are pretty mysterious, and while it’s not a bad work, the Sixth is often ranked near the bottom.

Symphony No. 7

With Leningrad under siege by German forces in the early 1940s, Shostakovich had to evacuate. He penned his Seventh Symphony in a flurry, sending it to the city for a performance. Though the musicians were exhausted and malnourished, they pushed through, using speakers to broadcast the music all over the city. The score to this defiant work was then smuggled out to the West, making Shostakovich a symbol of resiliency worldwide.

Symphony No. 8

The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth are Shostakovich’s wartime trilogy of symphonies, and the middle one is the darkest. Equal parts grim, ferocious, and brutal, the Eighth Symphony is often interpreted as Shostakovich’s attempt to process the human catastrophe. The Soviet Composers’ Union blasted its “pessimism” and promptly buried it.

Symphony No. 9

“It is a merry little piece,” Shostakovich said of his Ninth Symphony. “Musicians will love to play it, and critics will delight in blasting it.” After promising a momentous victory symphony to celebrate the end of the war, he instead produced this short, cheery piece that lasts less than half an hour. The first movement pays tribute to classical forms of the 18th century, while the last is notable for its mournful bassoon solo.

Symphony No. 10

If you enjoy cracking codes, look no further than Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony. The repeated note sequence of D, E-flat, C, and B is the composer’s own musical cryptogram, roughly spelling out his initials in German (D-S-C-H). Using another system of musical syllables called solfège, the triumphant horn calls in the third movement translate to “E, La, Mi, Re, A”—aka Elmira Nazirova, the composer’s pupil and rumored lover.

Symphony No. 11

Subtitled “The Year 1905,” this symphony is chock full of references to Russian history and folk song that may easily fly over the head of a non-Russian listener. Symphony No. 11 memorializes “Bloody Sunday,” an event that sparked the Russian Revolution, by painting a picture of the massacre, mourning, and angry resistance.

Symphony No. 12

Often one to subvert expectations in the media, Shostakovich had promised a symphony about Vladimir Lenin as far back as his Sixth. But only when he had written double that number would he fulfill that promise. “The Year 1917”—his Twelfth Symphony—is one of the composer’s less frequently performed works today. While it celebrates the Communist Revolution with movements named for important events in Lenin’s life, the West reacted coldly to the work and its overtly political music and themes.

Symphony No. 13

Shostakovich finally returned to setting text in his symphonies with his Thirteenth, “Babi Yar.” He turned to the words of dissident Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, who memorialized the Jewish victims of a Nazi massacre while denouncing Russian anti-Semitism. This daringly anti-Soviet messaging is encased in an unconventional symphonic form, and the cinematic elements reflect Shostakovich’s work in opera and film scores.

Symphony No. 14

Later in life, Shostakovich nurtured a deep friendship with Benjamin Britten, eventually dedicating his penultimate Fourteenth Symphony to the British composer. In their letters, both men spoke of the work as “our symphony.” The text links multiple poems centered around the theme of death, and this melancholy piece is scored for an unusually small combination of soprano and bass soloists, string orchestra, and percussion.

Symphony No. 15

Given that Shostakovich was a film buff, composing more than 30 movie scores, he’d likely be happy to learn that his music inspired future filmmakers. Director David Lynch listened to the Fifteenth Symphony incessantly while writing the mystery thriller Blue Velvet. This final symphony tips over into the surreal, beginning with solo glockenspiel and quoting fellow composers like Rossini and Wagner. Why? The answer remains as enigmatic as Shostakovich himself.