The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland
The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland (Russian: Над Родиной нашей солнце сияет), Op.90 is a cantata composed in 1952 by Dimitri Shostakovich, based on a text by Yevgeny Dolmatovsky. Originally titled Cantata About the Party,[citation needed] it was commissioned to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the October Revolution. In it, the sun is a metaphor for the achievement of the Soviet people under the leadership of the Communist Party. It begins with a lyrical section for boys' chorus and woodwind, followed by a more energetic section for the men's voices.
Performance and Recording History
It was premiered by the USSR Symphony Orchestra and Choir with the Moscow Choir School Boys' Choir under Konstantin Ivanov at the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire on 6 November 1952. It was recorded in mono with the same forces under Alexander Yurlov after a public concert ten years later. It was re-recorded with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Kirill Kondrashin in 1965 for Melodiya Records. In the West, the Kondrashin appeared in an HMV record of 1970, and again in a box of Shostakovich symphonies mainly under the direction of Kondrashin (1975).[1]
More recently, it was recorded by Mikhail Jurowski with the Kölner Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester on Capriccio Records, and a live recording of Paavo Järvi with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and the Estonian Concert Choir on Erato Records.
Because of the nature of the text, it remains a highly controversial work to perform. Paavo Jarvi's performance of the work in 2011 caused outrage amongst many in Estonia, to the point of him receiving death threats.[2]
Lyrics
The original lyrics begin:
- Над Родиной нашей, страной созиданья, солнце сияет. Великие стройки, высотные зданья оно озаряет.[3]
(Transliterated as: Over our homeland, our country of birth, the sun shines. Great buildings and monuments, it illuminates.)
Recordings
- USSR Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Yurlov (Original recording 1961, Russian Disc 1994)
- Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin (Original recording 1967, Melodiya)
- Kölner Rundfunks-Symphonie-Orchester, Mikhail Jurowski (Capriccio, 1999)
- Shostakovich: Cantatas - Estonian Concert Choir, ENSO Paavo Järvi (Erato 2015)[4][5]
References
- ^ Hulme, Derek (1982) Shostakovich Catalogue, Kyle and Glen Music, p. 121-2
- ^ "Putting the Stalin in Shostakovich: Pro-Soviet cantatas cause outrage". TheGuardian.com. 15 May 2015.
- ^ Estonian radio lyrics to version performed by Paavo Jarvi in 2012, with Estonian translation
- ^ Wall Street Journal - May 12 2015 New Shostakovich Recordings Highlight Composer’s Ambiguity "Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi on why he was eager to perform Shostakovich works criticized for their apparent support for Stalin "
- ^ "Putting the Stalin in Shostakovich: Pro-Soviet cantatas cause outrage". TheGuardian.com. 15 May 2015.
External links
- Russian libretto to Erato recording of Shostakovich Cantatas
- Texts of alternative poem
- v
- t
- e
- The Nose
- Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District/Katerina Izmailova
- The Big Lightning (unfinished)
- Orango (unfinished)
- The Twelve Chairs (unfinished)
- Katyusha Maslova (unfinished)
- The Gamblers (unfinished)
- Moscow, Cheryomushki
- The Golden Age
- The Bolt
- The Limpid Stream
- No. 1 in F minor
- No. 2 in B major (To October)
- No. 3 in E♭ major (The First of May)
- No. 4 in C minor
- No. 5 in D minor
- No. 6 in B minor
- No. 7 in C major (Leningrad)
- No. 8 in C minor
- No. 9 in E♭ major
- No. 10 in E minor
- No. 11 in G minor (The Year 1905)
- No. 12 in D minor (The Year 1917)
- No. 13 in B♭ minor (Babi Yar)
- No. 14 in G minor
- No. 15 in A major
Piano |
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Violin |
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Cello |
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- Tahiti Trot
- Suite from The Golden Age
- Suite from The Bolt
- Suite from The Limpid Stream
- Five Fragments
- Scherzo (1922)
- Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1
- Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 (orch. McBurney)
- Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1 (arr. Atovmyan)
- Festive Overture
- Suite from Encounter at the Elbe
- Suite from The Gadfly (arr. Atovmyan)
- Novorossiisk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory
- October
- "Intervision"
- The New Babylon
- Alone
- Golden Mountains
- Counterplan
- The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda
- The Youth of Maxim
- Girl Friends
- The Return of Maxim
- The Vyborg Side
- Friends
- The Great Citizen
- Zoya
- Simple People
- The Young Guard
- Pirogov
- Michurin
- Meeting on the Elbe
- The Fall of Berlin
- Belinsky
- The Unforgettable Year 1919
- The Gadfly
- Five Days, Five Nights
- Sofiya Perovskaya
- Hamlet
- King Lear
- Gogoliad (unfinished)
- Suite on Finnish Themes
- Song of the Forests
- The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland
- Antiformalist Rayok
- From Jewish Folk Poetry
- The Execution of Stepan Razin
- Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok
- Loyalty
- Six Poems by Marina Tsvetayeva
- Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti
- Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin
String quartets |
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Other |
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- Three Fantastic Dances
- 24 Preludes
- Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor
- Children's Notebook
- 24 Preludes and Fugues
- Galina Shostakovich (daughter)
- Maxim Shostakovich (son)
- Concerto DSCH
- DSCH motif
- Europe Central
- Ian MacDonald
- Muddle Instead of Music
- The Noise of Time
- Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox
- Solomon Volkov
- Testimony: book
- film
- The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin
- Wihuri Sibelius Prize