Dimitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 54 London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult, Conductor

1 I. Largo 19:53

2 II. Allegro 05:40

3 III. Presto 07:16 SHOSTAKOVICH: At this writing Russia’s Dmitri Shostakovich oped a remarkable satirical style in his work Symphony No. 6, Op. 54 (b. 1906) has completed eleven symphonies, of definite cinematic character. There was Sir Adrian Boult conducting the which fall in the following chronological also a vein of hardboiled modernism compa- London Philharmonic Orchestra order: rable to the young Hindemith of the Kleine Kammermusik for woodwinds. The Golden Symphony No. 1 in F Minor (1924-25) Age ballet (1929-30) and the Piano Concerto Symphony No. 2 (“Dedication to October”) with strings and trumpet (1933) are the best (1927) known of Shostakovich’s works in this vein. Symphony No. 3 (“May Day”) (1930) Symphony No. 4 (1935-36) Sollertinsky also got the composer interested Symphony No. 5 (1937) in the work of Gustav Mahler, and at the same Symphony No. 6 (1939) time Shostakovich began to enrich his lyrical Symphony No. 7 (“Leningrad”) (1941-42) resources, gradually moving away from brit- Symphony No. 8 (1942) tle satire; but he was not allowed to develop Symphony No. 9 (1945) this wholly in his own way. His opera, Lady Symphony No. 10 (1953) Macbeth of Mzensk (1930-32) – the scenario Symphony No. 11 (“The Year 1905”) (1957) of which might be called a Russian counter- part to Erskine Caldwell – enjoyed a great The First stands as an incredibly brilliant success in its early performances, and even student piece, written as Shostakovich’s was played here in the United States under graduation piece from the Leningrad Artur Rodzinski’s baton. An end to freedom Conservatory. That the music still remains came in January of 1936, when the Central in the active concert repertoire is sufficient Committee of the Communist Party of the tribute to the composer’s essential creative U.S.S.R. began turning attention to what gift. The Second and Third symphonies are might be called “political coordination of strictly Communist Party propaganda pieces the arts.” “Lady Macbeth” was picked as the in outward content – both contain “agitprop” scapegoat for a blast in Pravda, the results of finales with chorus, but examination of the which held grave threats for Shostakovich’s Second Symphony reveals a strong pre- future professional standing. He was told occupation with the dissonant polyphonic in effect to layoff the smart-alec satire and techniques of Central European music of the dernier cri modernism. That Stalin had no period – a pre-occupation that was to be fos- love for the ultra-modern in the arts was no tered to an even greater degree during the great secret. ‘30s and ‘40s through his friendship with the brilliant Leningrad critic, musicologist and Shostakovich began work on a Fourth linguist, Ivan Sollertinsky. These were the Symphony, a work which marked a drastic days when creative art was relatively free transition from the terse and brittle qual- in the Soviet Union, so far as experimental ity of his early works to the sometimes all- techniques were concerned. Shostakovich too-expansive length of his Seventh and took full advantage of the situation – and, Eighth symphonies. The music was placed perhaps because of his years of having played in rehearsal in late 1936 by the Leningrad piano in the Leningrad movie houses, devel- Philharmonic, but was withdrawn after hos- tile reactions from the orchestra. Though the of fact, it is the Violin Concerto (1955) and composer never allowed the full score to be the Trio in E Minor (1944) dedicated to the performed, a 2-piano score was published in memory of Ivan Sollertinsky, which remain 1946 and this shows the three movements to Shostakovich’s most truly perfect and inte- take a good hour-and-a-quarter in perform- grated mature efforts. ance. The earlier satirical vein is blatantly evident in places, but there is also clear indi- The Sixth Symphony holds a special place in cation of the powerful lyric manner of his Shostakovich’s oeuvre because it established best later work, but with no harmonic water- a pattern which he carried out on several ing down to please the politicians. From here later occasions – that of beginning a large- on it seems clear that Shostakovich’s future scale score with a long slow movement (the work would fall into two categories – music Eighth Symphony being the most striking written to please himself with as bold an later instance in point). In this case we have idiom as could be gotten away with, and an intensely lyrical and meditative Largo, music for public and quasi-political occa- whose main theme is established clearly at sions. the very outset. The characteristic ascend- ing interval of its first two notes establish The Fifth Symphony is a mixed affair in this the groundwork for the brooding second respect – very conservative, and yet possess- theme which is developed at length over a ing a genuine lyricism that makes the slow continuous background of trills from various movement convincingly impressive. The sections of the orchestra. The whole casts a scherzo is straight out of Mahler (the First brooding spell both poignant and hypnotic. Symphony). The Seventh and Eight sym- The remaining two movements are together phonies are gigantic war frescoes – the last shorter than the opening movement. There two movements of the Seventh and the first, is a scherzo Allegro, stunningly scored, which third and fourth of the Eighth worthy to comes to a raucous but not vulgar climax. stand with the best Russian or international Its final pages are worthy of a 20th century 20th century music. Both works require Mendelssohn. The finale is straight “public more than an hour in performance. square” Shostakovitch, trivial but enjoyable for all that, winding up with a marching The Ninth is Haydnesque in scale, almost tune that might well accompany a Komsomol a throwback to the early Piano Concerto in parade down Red Square. some respects, but offering also elements of quasi-Mahlerian lyricism. It is not, nor Original Liner Notes by DAVID HALL was it meant to be “important” music. The Tenth Symphony is something else again, for here Shostakovich has attempted to inte- grate the terseness of his First Symphony with the expansive lyrical quality of the best of his later work. The result is not wholly successful in some respects - one suspects more manner than inspiration. As a matter Some notes on the history of Everest …from the original LP release: system, but naturally will be most appreci- Records and the digital remastering ated by the audiophile with the very finest hi-fi “This Everest Recording is a Product of equipment. When EVEREST recordings are When Everest Records was founded by Harry Belock Recording, a division of the Belock played in the Belock studio through top quality Belock in 1958 as a division of Belock Instru- Instrument Corp. An EVEREST recording hi-fi equipment similar to that found in home ment Corp., the aim was to produce a cata- represents a new peak of achievement in the use, the resulting sound is indistinguishable logue of stereo recordings of the highest pos- recording art. As a product of Belock Instru- from the master tape. Since Belock Record- sible technical standard, with interesting and ment Corp. this recording enjoys unique advan- ing unconditionally guarantees that their tapes innovative classical repertoire played by some tages shared by few, if any other record com- and stereo disks are genuine stereophonic of the best artists and orchestras. pany. The parent company is considered one of recordings, they are designated as CERTI- the world’s finest precision electronic facilities FIED STEREO-MASTER RECORDINGS. The For the first Everest recording sessions in and is engaged chiefly in the development and frequency range of EVEREST recordings is 1958, an Ampex 300-3 half-inch three-chan- production of ultra-secret military devices. 20 to 20,000 cycles. It is important to note, nel recorder was used. Later on the label The company was one of the earliest involved that many companies specify wide frequency moved to use a Westrex 35mm 3-track mag- in the electronics aspects of ballistic missiles response, and while this is an important part netic film recorder, which had a wider possible and is pre-eminent in the fields of radar, and of hi-fi recording, the distortion content of the dynamic range, less print-through, less tape fire-power computers and stabilization- sys recording is, if anything, even more important. stretch and less ‘wow and flutter’, and which tems. Harry Belock, founder of the company, All EVEREST recordings are free of audible was the basis for the highly acclaimed typical is an international authority on sound, and distortion throughout the entire frequency “Everest-sound”. has designed magnetic film recorders which range. Carefully wipe surface with soft damp are in use throughout the world. To EVEREST cloth. Return to wrapper after each play.” For the process of digital remastering of the ½ he brings all his talents and the vast techni- inch master tapes an Otari MX-5050 machine cal resources of his company. This recording was used for analog playback. The output was was made in the new Belock Recording studio, captured in highest digital resolution of 192 which is constructed along the most advanced kHz sampling rate and 24 bit word length ideas in acoustics for recording. The very latest using state-of-the-art converters. In the digital Telefunken, AKG and Neumann microphones domain the recording was carefully restored were utilized, feeding into the new Ampex 300 Executive Producer: Mark Jenkins for Countdown and remastered using top-quality mastering self-sync stereo recorders on half inch tape. Media/Everest • Project Coordinator: Helge Jürgens and restoration equipment. A specially-designed Ampex with low-noise for Countdown Media • Digital Transfers and Remastering: Lutz Rippe at Countdown Media using amplifiers is used to produce the dubbing mas- the original master tapes • Artwork preparation: ter. Tape duplication is accomplished on modi- Eckhard Volk at Countdown Media • Digital Booklet: fied Ampex machines in the Belock studios, so Dirk Böing, Martina Grüthling • Original Producer: that maximum quality control is exercised at Bert Whyte for Everest Records • Original Recording all times. For stereo disc, the tape is fed into Engineer: Aaron Nathanson • Original Cover modified Westrex stereo cutterhead, mounted Artwork: Alex Steinweiss • Recording Location and on Scully lathes. A former Westrex design engi- Date: Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London (August 1958) • Original Recording on 3-track, half-inch neer is on the Belock Recording stuff to insure tape, originally released in December 1958 as optimum quality in stereo disc operations. The SDBR 3007 • Analog playback of original master results of all this painstaking care are to be tapes on an Otari MX5050 • Digital restoration and heard on any EVEREST recording. The record- remastering using Algorithmix software products ings will give superb sound on any playback ℗ & © Countdown Media GmbH Below is a listing of the currently available Everest albums in this series. For more information and an updated listing please visit www.everestrecords.com

SDBR-3001 Prokofiev : Chout (“The Buffoon”), Ballet Suite, Op. 21a SDBR-3022 Kodály: Psalmus Hungaricus - Bartók: Dance Suite London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, London Philharmonic Orchestra & János Ferencsik, Conductor Conductor

SDBR-3003 Antill: Corroboree - Ginastera: Panambi SDBR-3023 Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel / Salome / Don Juan London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York & Leopold Conductor Stokowski, Conductor

SDBR-3005 Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Titan” SDBR-3025 Waltz Masterpieces London Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult, Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York & Raoul Conductor Poliakin, Conductor

SDBR-3006 A Memorial Tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams: SDBR-3026 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade Symphony No. 9 in E Minor London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult, Conductor Conductor SDBR-3027 Raymond Paige’s Classical Spice Shelf SDBR-3007 Shostakovitch: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 54 Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York & Raymond London Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult, Paige, Conductor Conductor SDBR-3028 Strauss: A Night in Venice SDBR-3008 Hindemith: Symphony in E-flat Original Cast & Thomas Martin, Conductor London Philharmonic Orchestra & Sir Adrian Boult, Conductor SDBR-3031 Wagner: Parsifal - Good Friday Spell “Karfreitagszauber” & Symphonic Synthesis Act 3 SDBR-3009 Stravinsky: Ebony Concerto & Symphony in Houston Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Stokowski, 3 Movements Conductor Woody Herman and his Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, Conductor SDBR-3032 Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy - Amirov: Azerbaijan Mugam SDBR-3011 Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini & Hamlet Houston Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Stokowski, Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York & Leopold Conductor Stokowski, Conductor SDBR-3033 Stravinsky: Petrouchka SDBR-3012 Charles K. L. Davis sings Romantic Arias from Favorite London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, Operas Conductor Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York, Wilfred Pelletier, Conductor & Charles K. L. Davis, Tenor SDBR-3034 Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, SDBR-3015 Copland: Billy The Kid & Statements for Orchestra Conductor London Symphony Orchestra & Aaron Copland, Conductor SDBR-3035 Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony SDBR-3018 Copland: Symphony No. 3 London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, London Symphony Orchestra & Aaron Copland, Conductor Conductor

SDBR-3021 Arnold: 4 Scottish Dances / Symphony No. 3 SDBR-3036 Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 & Franck: London Philharmonic Orchestra & Malcolm Arnold, Variations Symphoniques Conductor London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Eugene Goossens, Conductor & Peter Katin, Piano SDBR-3037 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique SDBR-3051 Respighi: The Fountains of Rome & The Pines of London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, Rome Conductor London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, Conductor SDBR-3038 Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben London Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Ludwig, SDBR-3052 Khatchaturian: Gayne (Ballet Suite) Conductor London Symphony Orchestra & Anatole Fistoulari, Conductor SDBR-3039 Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E Major, Op. 64 London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, SDBR-3053 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition & Night on Conductor Bald Mountain London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, SDBR-3040 Hindemith: Violin Concerto & Mozart: Violin Concerto Conductor No. 3 London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Eugene Goossens, SDBR-3054 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 / Lieutenant Kijé Suite Conductor & Joseph Fuchs, Violin London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Malcolm Sargent, Conductor SDBR-3041 Villa-Lobos: The Little Train of the Caipira (from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2) SDBR-3055 Khatchaturian: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in Ginastera: Estancia & Panambi (Ballet Suites) D-flat Major London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, London Symphony Orchestra, Hugo Rignold, Conductor & Conductor Peter Katin, Piano

SDBR-3044 Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite & Concerto for Piano and SDBR-3056 Dvoˇrák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 “From the Orchestra in D Minor New World” Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra & Ferde Grofé, London Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Ludwig, Conductor Conductor

SDBR-3045 Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor & Tapiola, SDBR-3057 De Falla: The Three Cornered Hat (Complete Ballet) Tone Poem, Op. 112 London Symphony Orchestra & Enrique Jordá, Conductor London Symphony Orchestra, Tauno Hannikainen, Conductor & Tossy Spivakovsky, Violin SDBR-3058 Irving Berlin: Great Man of American Music - A New Interpretation SDBR-3046 Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D 759 Raoul Poliakin and his orchestra “Unfinished” - Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550 SDBR-3059 Works of Lili Boulanger: Du fond de l’abîme London Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Ludwig, (Psaume 130), Psaume 24, Psaume 129, Vieille Prière Conductor Bouddhique & Pie Jesu Lamoureux Concert Association Orchestra, Elisabeth SDBR-3047 Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (“Le Sacre du Brasseur Choir & Igor Markevitch, Conductor Printemps”) London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Eugene Goossens, SDBR-3060 Debussy: Iberia - Ravel: La Valse & Rhapsodie Conductor Espagnol Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra & Theodore Bloomfield, SDBR-3049 Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 & Conductor Melody, Op. 42/3 London Symphony Orchestra, Walter Goehr, Conductor & SDBR-3061 A Memorial Album: Ernst von Dohnányi Plays His Own Tossy Spivakovsky, Violin Music for Piano Ernst von Dohnányi, Piano SDBR-3050 Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor London Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Ludwig, SDBR-3062 Jorge Bolet playing the music of Franz Liszt: Piano Conductor Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major & Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Symphony of the Air, Robert Irving, Conductor & Jorge Bolet, Piano SDBR-3063 Bennett: A Commemoration Symphony to Stephen Foster & A Symphonic Story of Jerome Kern Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh & William Steinberg, Conductor

SDBR-3064 A Liszt Recital: Piano Sonata in B Minor / Funerailles / Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Jorge Bolet, Piano

SDBR-3067 Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & An American in Paris Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, Conductor & Jesus Maria Sanroma, Piano

SDBR-3068 Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 82 & Finlandia, Op. 26 Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra & Theodore Bloomfield, Conductor

SDBR-3069 Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra Houston Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Stokowski, Conductor

SDBR-3070 Wagner: Magic Fire Music & Wotan’s Farewell – Chopin: Mazurka, Op. 17/4, Prelude, Op. 28/24 & Waltz, Op. 64/2 – Canning: Fantasy on a Hymn Tune by Justin Morgan Houston Symphony Orchestra & Leopold Stokowski, Conductor

SDBR-3074 Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastoral” London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3079 A Chopin Piano Recital Jorge Bolet, Piano

SDBR-3086 Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3087 Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3088 Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3089 Beethoven: Symphonies No. 1 & 8 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3110 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral” London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor

SDBR-3113 Beethoven: Symphonies No. 2 & 4 London Symphony Orchestra & Josef Krips, Conductor