Dmitri Shostakovich
Suite on Finnish Themes
The Suite on Finnish Themes () or Seven Arrangements of Finnish Folk Songs (Семь обработок финских народных песен) is a suite composed in 1939 for soloists (soprano and tenor) and chamber ensemble in
History#
In 1939, before the Soviet forces were to invade Finland, the Party Secretary of Leningrad Andrei Zhdanov commissioned a celebratory piece from Shostakovich, a theme to be performed as the marching bands of the Red Army would be parading through the Finnish capital Helsinki. Shostakovich finished composing on 3 December 1939, as the Red Army was advancing in the Finnish front and the puppet regime Finnish Democratic Republic was founded three days earlier. The exact commission date is uncertain, but according to the Finnish historian Ohto Manninen, it was probably commissioned on 25 November, though not earlier than 23 November. An earlier date is not likely as Shostakovich sent a telegram on 22 November to Atovmyan where Shostakovich was certain he would arrive in Moscow. The war began on 30 November 1939. However, the Winter War was a bitter experience for the Red Army. The Red Army never entered Helsinki, and Shostakovich would never lay claim to the authorship of this work. The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra recorded the suite for BIS in 2002.
Movements#
The suite has seven movements:
- Composer
- Dmitri Shostakovich