Nikolai Myaskovsky's Symphony No. 20 in
E major
E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...
, his
Op. 50, was written in 1940. It is dedicated to
Yuri Shaporin.
The symphony was premiered on 28 November 1940 by
Nikolai Golovanov
Nikolai Semyonovich Golovanov (russian: Никола́й Семёнович Голова́нов, Nikoláy Semyónovich Golovánov) ( Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Adoption_in_Eastern_Europe.html" ;"title="/nowiki> o.s._9.html" ;"title="Adop ...
conducting the
Large All-Union Radio SO.
It has three
movements:
#Allegro con spirito (ca. 8 minutes)
#Adagio, in
C major
C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...
(ca. 9 minutes, initial
tempo quarter note=52
[Score.])
#Allegro inquieto, in
E minor (ca. 10 minutes)
The first movement is in
sonata form. The Adagio is on two themes, in C and in A, which appear
contrapuntally
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
at the reappearance of the first; it has the form A-B (l'Istesso tempo, Andantino)-A'-B'-coda.
The finale is a
rondo whose E major concluding pages incorporate a climactic reappearance by the main theme of the Adagio, leading
Richard Taruskin to remark of this symphony that it is Myaskovsky's "Land of Hope and Glory".
[Richard Taruskin, , page 290.]
References
Recordings
*
Yevgeny Svetlanov, Russian Federation Academic Symphony Orchestra, 1991-3 recordings appearing variously on Russian Disc, Olympia OCD 739, and Warner CDs
20
1940 compositions
1940 in the Soviet Union
Compositions in E major
1940 in Russia
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