How Not To Meet Official Approval

I've said before that most Shostakovich symphonies come with their own built in baggage and that is the case with No 8, played here in a live concert recording by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich. The Soviet authorities were expecting a victorious anthem to mark the turning points of the "great patriotic war" but Shostakovich appeared too affected by the bloody cost of the war to produce it. The 8th is an epic work but one steeped in a deep sense of sorrow. Rostropovich had a unique insight into the times and into the composer and it made his performances special. Official reaction to the symphony was one of suspicion and it was eventually denounced as pessimistic and unhealthily individualistic. It is a great tragic statement about suffering but should now be starting to be divorced from the circumstances of its' composition and simply treated as a piece of music with the power to move and ultimately inspire, speaking for all those whose life has been shattered by war and political oppression. The finale, far from proclaiming a triumph, ends with a gradual quiet fade out, as though drained of energy or feeling. The live recording wisely omits any audience reaction at the end of the piece.