Symphony No. 22 (Myaskovsky) Explained

Nikolai Myaskovsky composed his Symphony No. 22 in B minor in 1941. Its official name is Symphonic Ballad (or Ballade), and it lasts about 35–40 minutes in performance.

The symphony is in one movement in three sections:

1. Lento. Allegro non troppo in B minor^{[1] [2]}
2. Andante con duolo in B minor
3. Allegro energico, ma non troppo vivo in B minor

The first section begins with a slow introduction which acts as a section-connecting and recurring motive, in B minor but with a tendency to slip to a G major chord. When this introductory material is last heard, near the end of the symphony, the top G rises to a G several times.

The symphony was premiered in Tbilisi under Abram Stasevich on 12 January 1942.^[3] It was possibly among the first symphonic responses to The Great Patriotic War (World War II), predating Dmitri Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony.

Recordings

• Yevgeny Svetlanov, USSR State Symphony Orchestra, recorded May 2, 1970, for Melodiya,^[4] reissued on Olympia, Alto and Warner Classics
• Aleksandr Titov, St Petersburg State Academic SO, on Northern Flowers NF/PMA 9966, recorded June 24, 2008^[5]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Movement headings. 11 January 2010.
2. Keys from score
3. Web site: Review of Titov CD of Symphony 22. 11 January 2010. May 2009.
4. Web site: persistent link to a library catalog entry for Svetlanov's recording. 11 January 2010.
5. Web site: persistent link to a library catalog entry for Titov's recording. 11 January 2010.