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On 9 August 1942, in Leningrad under Nazi siege, a half-starved orchestra performed Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, and loudspeakers carried the music towards the German lines. Most of the city radio orchestra's players had died or gone to fight, so it was rebuilt with musicians from the army.

Dmitri Shostakovich

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Shostakovich wrote much of the symphony in Leningrad in the first weeks of the siege, which began in September 1941, before he was evacuated; the score was later flown into the encircled city. When the conductor Karl Eliasberg called the first rehearsal, only about 15 members of the Radio Orchestra were still able to play. The military command released musicians from their units and gave the players extra rations. Before the concert, General Leonid Govorov ordered an artillery bombardment, code-named Operation Squall, to keep the German guns quiet during the performance. The concert went out on radio and through street loudspeakers, and became one of the most remembered moments of a siege that lasted until January 1944.

Türkçe oku
Nazi kuşatması altındaki Leningrad'da, 9 Ağustos 1942'de, açlıktan bitkin bir orkestra Şostakoviç'in 7. Senfonisi'ni seslendirdi; hoparlörler müziği Alman mevzilerine doğru yaydı. Kentin radyo orkestrasındaki müzisyenlerin çoğu ölmüş ya da cepheye gitmişti; orkestra ordudan gelen müzisyenlerle yeniden kuruldu.

Şostakoviç senfoninin büyük bölümünü kuşatmanın ilk haftalarında, Leningrad'dan tahliye edilmeden önce yazdı; kuşatma Eylül 1941'de başlamıştı. Partisyon daha sonra uçakla kuşatılmış kente ulaştırıldı. Şef Karl Eliasberg ilk provayı topladığında, Radyo Orkestrası'nın yalnızca 15 kadar üyesi çalabilecek durumdaydı. Askerî komutanlık müzisyenleri birliklerinden geri gönderdi ve orkestraya ek erzak verdi. Konserden önce General Leonid Govorov, çalışma boyunca Alman toplarını susturmak için “Fırtına” kod adlı bir topçu saldırısı emretti. Konser radyodan ve sokak hoparlörlerinden yayınlandı ve Ocak 1944'e kadar süren kuşatmanın en çok hatırlanan anlarından biri oldu.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Symphony No. 7 (Shostakovich)
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