The siege of leningrad popularly known as the 900 dayslasted 872. Leningrad was under siege for nearly two and a half years by the wehrmacht. Siege and symphony is a magisterial and moving account of one of the most tragic periods in history. Siege and symphony, brian moynahan sets the composition of. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. The leningrad premiere of shostakovichs symphony no. The story of the great city terrorized by stalin, starved by hitler, immortalized by shostakovich kindle edition by moynahan.
The most magnificent, and certainly the most moving, moment ever to be found in music, according to brian moynahan, the symphony served as a requiem for a city beset by the twin monsters of the century and an act of defiance against inhumanity within leningrad and beyond its boundaries. A hidden history of world war ii brian moynahan interweaves three gripping stories in this compelling kaleidoscope of warravaged leningrad. It brought feelings of solidarity and hope to those who heard it. A year into the siege of leningrad, a haggard group of musicians defiantly and improbably performed dmitri shostakovichs symphony. The work premiered informally on march 5, 1942, at a rural retreat by the volga, where the composer and many of his colleagues were seeking refuge from world war ii.
The story of the great city terrorized by stalin, starved by hitler, immortalized by shostakovich. A symphony for besieged leningrad the longest chapter. Actually i have nothing against calling the seventh the leningrad, but its not about leningrad under siege. Brian moynahan shostakovichs seventh symphony was first played in the city of its birth on 9 august, 1942. As moynahan reveals, the real story of the symphony s genesis and its triumph was more complex and more tragic than is generally understoodcombining a full description of the birth of the seventh symphony with a rich and horrifying account of the hell that was leningrad under siege, this selection brings new depth and drama to a key. Weaving shostakovics own story and that of many others into the context of the maelstrom of stalins purges and the brutal nazi invasion of russia, leningrad. From brian moynahan, awardwinning foreign correspondent, comes a brilliant work of military, political, and cultural history. The leningrad was finally performed in leningrad itself on august 9 and, until the end of the 1940s, enjoyed great popularity. Shostakovichs seventh symphony is a prisoner of its own history and the resultant cliches. Its about the leningrad that stalin destroyed and that hitler merely finished off. A little over a month later, shostakovichs symphony no. The finnish army invaded from the north, cooperating with the germans until finland had recaptured territory lost in the recent. Shostakovichs seventh symphony was first played in the city of its birth on 9 august, 1942. Petersburg, had been the locus of the october coup detat conducted by oldline bolsheviks who were, onebyone, being shot in.
Amid hunger and cold, an unforgettable symphony premiere. A year into the siege of leningrad, a haggard group of musicians defiantly and improbably performed dmitri shostakovichs symphony no. Petersburgin a military operation that would cripple the former capital and major soviet industrial. Almost a year earlier, the germans had begun their blockade of the city. Leningrad symphony shostakovitch video dailymotion. So it is fitting that the real hero of brian moynahans often harrowing leningrad.
Nazi armies laid siege to leningrad and marshalled before the gates of moscow. The leningrad premiere of shost akovich s symphony no. Life and death under nazi occupation and the deserters. Siege and symphony brings together the story of shostakovichs seventh symphony and that of the siege of.
Shostakovichs 7th symphony the leningrad was played all over the world and even by an orchestra of starving musicians within the city. For 872 days during world war ii, the german army encircled the city of leningrad modernday st. Germany declared war on the soviet union on sunday 22 june 1941. A mysterious microfilm is transported from the soviet union to the united states across steppe, sand, sea and jungle in the midst of world war ii. The book, which has been long listed for a 2015 national book award, begins like a suspense movie. In august 1942, leningrad even played host to a performance of composer dmitri shostakovichs seventh symphony, which had been written during the early days of the siege. Cemetery, where half a million victims of the 900day siege of leningrad are buried. Petersburg was under siege by nazi german forces dmitri shostakovich had intended the piece to be premiered by the leningrad philharmonic orchestra, but because of the siege, that group was evacuated from the city, as was the composer himself. Like shostakovichs seventh symphony, this is a triumph charles glass, author of americans in paris. The gripping story of a nazi blockade, a russian composer, and a ragtag band of musicians who fought to keep up a be. Shostakovich ended his seventh symphony on a triumphal note, but anderson never suggests that the suffering ended that night in leningrad. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our cookie policy.
Read the book on paper it is quite a powerful experience. Leningrad siege and symphony the story of the great city. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. The siege started in september 1941, when the last road to the city was severed by the nazis, and was not. The gripping story of a nazi blockade, a russian composer, and a ragtag band of musicians who fought to keep up a. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. A symphony of war on august 29, 1941, elements of the german sixteenth army seized the strategically important railroad town of mga, some thirty miles southeast of leningrad, the old russian capital formerly known as st. Siege and symphony the story of the great city terrorized by stalin, starved by hitler, immortalized by shostakovich by brian moynahan available from rakuten kobo. The city of leningrad was under siege for over a year while bombed and blockaded by the germans. Download the 900 days or read online books in pdf, epub, tuebl, and mobi format. The 900 days download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Siege and symphony, the story of the great city terrorized by stalin, starved by hitler, immortalized by shostakovich, atlantic monthly press, new york, 2015 542pp. During the dark days of the wehrmachts long siege of leningrad, the spirits of the russian citys citizens and defenders were lifted by a musical masterpiece.
Symphony for the city of the dead is the true story of a city under siege. The story of the great city terrorized by stalin, starved by hitler, immortalized by shostakovich brian moynahan on. But the citys total population of two million had been reduced to roughly 700,000 and their surviving psyches forever broken. Dmitri shostakovich and the siege of leningrad by m. The story of the great city terrorized by stalin, starved by hitler, immortalized by shostakovich by brian moynahan 2015, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. After 872 days of starvation, disease, and psychological torment, the citizens of leningrad were freed. The voyage of dmitri shostakovichs leningrad symphony to the. Siege and symphony, moynahan weaves back and forth among descriptions of the battlefield around leningrad, the horror visited upon the starving city, and the galvanizing and. Shostakovich, leningrad, and the greatest story ever played brian moynahans leningrad. The terrible beauty of the book is in its anecdotal detail, and the horror is of a kind that makes you weep but at times approaches comedy.
Siege and symphony is the city itself and not dmitri shostakovich, who composed his wartime symphony. Valery gergiev conducts shostakovichs 6th and then his 7th symphony which salutes the sacrifices made during the great patriotic war as survivors of the siege of leningrad. Best of all, if after reading an ebook, you buy a paper version of leningrad. Siege and symphony, moynahan, who served as european editor for the sunday times of london and who has written three books about russia, focuses on ordinary and extraordinary. About leningrad siege and symphony the story of the great city terrorized by stalin, starved. There has never been a first performance to match it. At first dedicated to lenin, it was eventually submitted in honor of the besieged city of leningrad, where it was first played under dire circumstances on august 9, 1942, with the siege by axis and finnish forces ongoing. I have it on the shelf next to my signed copy of 900 daysthe siege of leningrad. Siege and symphony by brian moynahan paperback, 2014 at the best online prices at ebay.
By closing this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies. During the nazis siege of leningrad, which lasted from september 1941 to january 1944, the citys radio station broadcast the sound of a metronome. Download leningrad ebook for free in pdf and epub format. Shostakovich, leningrad, and the greatest story ever. The story of the great city terrorized by stalin, starved by hitler, immortalized by shostakovich moynahan, brian on. The horrors of the leningrad siege the 900 days of harrison salisburys classic have been pretty well picked over by historians. Shostakovichs immediate reaction to the war was to try and enlist in the red army.