Musical Contexts

Abstract Chapter 2 draws out the influences on the Fifth Symphony through a detailed examination of the score. Beethoven and Tchaikovsky are by far the most prominent, and this demonstrates that Shostakovich was now engaging with more conservative models, as required by Socialist Realist aesthetics. After these are the undesirable influences of Mahler and Hindemith. Mahler’s presence is still strong, although not as open or pervasive as it was in the unperformed Fourth Symphony. Shostakovich openly admitted to Hindemith’s formative influence, and Chapter 2 uncovers connections with the Mathis der Maler Symphony, one of the last of Hindemith’s works to be performed in the Soviet Union before cultural isolation set in. The chapter concludes with a more general discussion of Shostakovich’s eclecticism.