Dmitry Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (russian: Дми́трий Бори́сович Кабале́вский ; 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Co ...

's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 19, written in 1934, is the second of the four

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

he wrote and the most performed and recorded of the cycle, probably owing to its sense of drama, bright orchestration and expressive straightforwardness, ranging from melancholy to jubilance. With a dramatic and agitated yet extroverted, lyrical and fairly positive outlook, like other dramatic Russian symphonies from the

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...

era it was alleged to deal with the struggle of mankind to reform society within Soviet values. The symphony was premiered on December 25, 1934 in the Moscow Conservatory's Large Hall by the Moscow Philharmonic under Albert Coates. The international première was carried out (and recorded) in New York City on November 8, 1942 by the NBC Orchestra conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

, and it was well received, according to Olin Downes' review for the New York Times. Toscanini, who championed the overture from Kabalevsky's opera '' Colas Breugnon'', would play it again in 1945.Musicweb International
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Movements

# ''Allegro quasi presto'' # ''Andante non troppo'' # ''Prestissimo scherzando''

Discography

References

{{Authority control Compositions in C minor Compositions by Dmitry Kabalevsky Kabalevsky 2 1934 compositions