With the handy excuse of testing out the audio set-up for this site, I'm going back to a memorable experience from last season – the final movement pseudo-apotheosis of Shostakovich 5. In preparing the score for this performance I decided to utilize the tempo markings given in the most recent critical edition of the symphony. [This is a subject of debate among performers.] Most notably impacted is the conclusion of the piece, with the slower-by-half tempo setting an atavistic mood for the chant section and then creating the feeling of a huge, unseen [unheard] weight anchoring the final procession.
Shostakovich – Symphony no. 5, 4th movement
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, March 3, 2007