Shostakovich's Waltz

There is a certain sense of black humor about this music. It's impossible to take it seriously amidst all of the bitterness around it. But within the bitterness there are moments of tenderness and beauty. Out of nowhere the waltz becomes genuine only to be abruptly smashed away. In this combination of popular forms with sardonic bitterness, Shostakovich is really paying homage to molar. The elephants from the beginning now return on their tiptoes as the theme skitters along nervously. Another homage this time to the schertsos of Beethoven's fifth symphony.