March of the Soviet Militia

1970 march by Dmitri Shostakovich

"March of the Soviet Militia"

by Dmitri Shostakovich

Shostakovich (center) in 1974 (photograph by Yuri Shcherbinin)

Opus| 139
Composed| October 1970
Dedication| Mikhail Zoshchenko (disputed)
Published| 1972
Publisher| Sovietsky kompozitor [ru]
Muzika
DSCH Publishers
Duration| 1 1/2–2 minutes
Scoring| Military band
Premiere
Date| November 10, 1970 (1970-11-10)
Location| House of the Unions
Moscow, Russian SFSR
Conductor| Nikolai Zolotaryov
Performers| Exemplary Orchestra of the Office of the Kremlin Commandant

The "March of the Soviet Militia" (Russian: Марш советской милиции, romanized: Marsh sovietskoy militsii), Op. 139 is a march for military band composed in 1970 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

## History

[edit]

Shostakovich composed the "March of the Soviet Militia" in October 1970 at the request of Nikolai Shchelokov, then Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Sources disagree about whether the work bears a dedication. According to Maxim Shostakovich,[1] Pauline Fairclough,[2] and Derek C. Hulme, Shostakovich dedicated the work to his deceased friend, writer and satirist Mikhail Zoshchenko.[3] The editor for the new collected works edition of the score, however, states that the score has no dedication.[1]

The work was published by Sovietsky kompozitor [ru], Muzika, and DSCH Publishers in 1972, 1978, and 2006 respectively.[3] It is Shostakovich's final ceremonial work for the Soviet government.[2]

## Music

[edit]

The tempo for "March of the Soviet Militia" is marked "Allegretto."[3] The band consists of the following instruments:

Woodwinds
1 flute
3 clarinets
Brass
3 French horns
2 cornets
2 trumpets
2 saxhorns
2 tenor saxhorns
2 baritone saxhorns
1 trombone
2 double-bass trombones

Percussion
timpani
triangle
snare drum
cymbals
bass drum

|

A typical performance takes approximately 1 1/2[3]–2 minutes.[1]

## Premiere and reception

[edit]

The "March of the Soviet Militia" was premiered at the House of the Unions in Moscow on November 10, 1970.[4] It was the featured work at an evening ceremony celebrating Soviet Militia Day. The work was premiered by the Exemplary Orchestra of the Office of the Kremlin Commandant conducted by Nikolai Zolotaryov; they also made its first recording in 1971 for Melodiya.[3] It won first prize at the All-Union Competition for the Best Literary, Artistic, and Musical Work About Internal Affairs Staff.[5]

Shostakovich biographer and researcher Levon Akopyan [ru] listed "March of the Soviet Militia" as one of the composer's "manifestations of conformity" about which it was "better not to remember."[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Dmitri Shostakovich (PDF). Hamburg: Sikorski Musikverlage Hamburg. 2011. p. 210\. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
2. ^ a b Fairclough 2008, p. 283.
3. ^ a b c d e Hulme 2010, p. 536.
4. ^ Fay 2000, p. 270.
5. ^ Khentova 1985, p. 619.
6. ^ Akopyan 2018, p. 565.

## Sources

[edit]

* Akopyan, Levon (2018). Феномен Дмитрия Шостаковича (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Издательство Русской христианской гуманитарной академии. ISBN 978-5-88812-851-0.
* Fairclough, Pauline (2008). "Slava! The 'official compositions'". In Fairclough, Pauline; Fanning, David (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Shostakovich. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-60315-7.
* Fay, Laurel (2000). Shostakovich: A Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513438-9.
* Hulme, Derek C. (2010). Dmitri Shostakovich: The First Hundred Years and Beyond. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810872646.
* Khentova, Sofia (1985). Шостакович. Жизнь и творчество, Т. 2 (in Russian). Moscow: Советский композитор.

## External links

[edit]

* Boosey & Hawkes entry for the score of "March of the Soviet Militia"
* Premiere recording of "March of the Soviet Militia"

* v
* t
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Dmitri Shostakovich

List of compositions

Operas and operettas|

* The Nose
* Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District/Katerina Izmailova
* The Big Lightning (unfinished)
* Orango (unfinished)
* The Twelve Chairs (unfinished)
* Katyusha Maslova (unfinished)
* The Gamblers (unfinished)
* Moscow, Cheryomushki

Ballets|

* The Golden Age
* The Bolt
* The Limpid Stream

Symphonies|

* No. 1 in F minor
* No. 2 in B major (To October)
* No. 3 in E♭ major (The First of May)
* No. 4 in C minor
* No. 5 in D minor
* No. 6 in B minor
* No. 7 in C major (Leningrad)
* Leningrad première
* American premieres
* No. 8 in C minor
* No. 9 in E♭ major
* No. 10 in E minor
* No. 11 in G minor (The Year 1905)
* No. 12 in D minor (The Year 1917)
* No. 13 in B♭ minor (Babi Yar)
* No. 14 in G minor
* No. 15 in A major

Concertos|

| Piano|

* No. 1 in C minor
* No. 2 in F major

|

Violin|

* No. 1 in A minor
* No. 2 in C♯ minor

Cello|

* No. 1 in E♭ major
* No. 2 in G major

Orchestral works|

* Tahiti Trot
* Suite from The Golden Age
* Suite from The Bolt
* Suite from The Limpid Stream
* Five Fragments
* Scherzo (1922)
* Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1
* Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 (orch. McBurney)
* Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1 (arr. Atovmyan)
* Festive Overture
* Suite from Encounter at the Elbe
* Suite from The Gadfly (arr. Atovmyan)
* Novorossiisk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory
* October
* "Intervision"

Concert/brass band|

* "March of the Soviet Militia"

Film music|

* The New Babylon
* Alone
* Golden Mountains
* Counterplan
* The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda
* The Youth of Maxim
* Girl Friends
* The Return of Maxim
* The Vyborg Side
* Friends
* The Great Citizen
* Zoya
* Simple People
* The Young Guard
* Pirogov
* Michurin
* Meeting on the Elbe
* The Fall of Berlin
* Belinsky
* The Unforgettable Year 1919
* The Gadfly
* Five Days, Five Nights
* Sofiya Perovskaya
* Hamlet
* King Lear
* Gogoliad (unfinished)

Vocal music|

* Suite on Finnish Themes
* Song of the Forests
* The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland
* Antiformalist Rayok
* From Jewish Folk Poetry
* The Execution of Stepan Razin
* Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok
* Loyalty
* Six Poems by Marina Tsvetayeva
* Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti
* Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin

Chamber music|

| String
quartets|

* No. 1 in C major
* No. 2 in A major
* No. 3 in F major
* No. 4 in D major
* No. 5 in B♭ major
* No. 6 in G major
* No. 7 in F♯ minor
* No. 8 in C minor
* No. 9 in E♭ major
* No. 10 in A♭ major
* No. 11 in F minor
* No. 12 in D♭ major
* No. 13 in B♭ minor
* No. 14 in F♯ major
* No. 15 in E♭ minor
* No. 16 in B major (unrealized)

|

Other|

* Cello Sonata in D minor
* Piano Quintet in G minor
* Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor
* Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor
* Quartet Movement in E♭ major (c. 1960s)
* Violin Sonata
* Viola Sonata

Piano music|

* Three Fantastic Dances
* 24 Preludes
* Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor
* Children's Notebook
* 24 Preludes and Fugues

Family|

* Galina Shostakovich (daughter)
* Maxim Shostakovich (son)

Named for Shostakovich|

* Dmitri Shostakovich-class ferry
* Saint Petersburg Academic Philharmonia Named After D. D. Shostakovich
* 2669 Shostakovich
* International Shostakovich Chamber Music Competition
* London Shostakovich Orchestra
* Shostakovich (1969–1981)
* Shostakovich Peninsula
* Shostakovich Quartet

Related articles|

* Concerto DSCH
* DSCH motif
* Europe Central
* Ian MacDonald
* Muddle Instead of Music
* The Noise of Time
* Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox
* Solomon Volkov
* Testimony: book
* film
* The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin
* Wihuri Sibelius Prize

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