Symphony No. 20 (Myaskovsky) Explained

Nikolai Myaskovsky's Symphony No. 20 in E major, his Op. 50, was written in 1940. It is dedicated to Yuri Shaporin.^{[1] [2]} The symphony was premiered on 28 November 1940 by Nikolai Golovanov conducting the Large All-Union Radio SO.^[2] It has three movements:

1. Allegro con spirito (ca. 8 minutes)
2. Adagio, in C major (ca. 9 minutes, initial tempo quarter note=52^[3])
3. 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 at the reappearance of the first; it has the form A-B (l'Istesso tempo, Andantino)-A'-B'-coda.^[3] 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".^[4]

Recordings

• Yevgeny Svetlanov, Russian Federation Academic Symphony Orchestra, 1991-3 recordings appearing variously on Russian Disc, Olympia OCD 739, and Warner CDs

Notes and References

1. Web site: Opus by Miaskovsky. 23 January 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140513233431/http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/miasopus.htm. 13 May 2014.
2. Web site: Myaskovsky: Works: Symphony No. 20. 23 January 2010.
3. Score.
4. Richard Taruskin,, page 290.