Shostakovich Symphony No. 11, "The Year 1905"
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
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The Palace Square
The first movement of the symphony is entitled the Palace Square. Shostakovich uses only harp and strings to create this remarkably icy atmosphere. He spreads out the orchestra into many octaves making it sound like an organ that can only move the pitch by shuffling forward through the ice. The music that the orchestra plays is distantly related to the Russian Orthodox hymn for the dead. No more than a few minutes go by in this symphony without Shostakvich quoting a Russian song .
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