 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2026-03-11 20:07
Attachment: shos1_II.jpg (276k)
I have a puzzle regarding the 2nd movement of Shostakovich's 1st symphony - specifically the 3rd crotchet beat of the 3rd bar of the opening solo. I attach two versions of this, as available on IMSLP. The first one has quaver+2semis, whereas the 2nd has 2semis+quaver. The printed part I'm being asked to play has the 2nd way, and listening to Spotify suggests that this is how most people play it. But the 1st way looks much more plausible, since all the rest of that solo is built on the quaver+2 semis rhythm, as is the same material when it's played later by the first violins or by the bassoon. Is it possible that a typo has been lurking in the official parts for years?
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2026-03-24 20:37
With respect, "The second excerpt is the correct one. It is what is in the score" doesn't help me. I know it's what is printed - but scores can contain typos. So what is the musical logic that can provide reassurance that what is printed is what Shostakovich intended?
The performance is over, and I played it as written (the 2nd way), but it still doesn't feel right to me - there's nowhere else in the movement that a consistent repeated rhythmic pattern is inverted just the once.
My lack of confidence in the printed score was also reduced further when the conductor told me that he had two printed scores, which differed in that bar. The Boosey & Hawkes score has the v2 form in beat 3 (2 semis+quaver), as in the 2nd attached example - but it also has 2 semis+quaver at beat 4, which is different to both the alternatives I attached. So there are at least 3 versions out there, and two of them are relatively recent pieces of typesetting. It would be nice to see the autograph, but from what I gather this is in a private collection in Russia.....
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Author: lmliberson
Date: 2026-03-25 00:46
I performed this with the composers’s son conducting. I posed the same question, just to clarify.
Does that help you?
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2026-03-25 13:25
> I performed this with the composers’s son conducting. I posed the same question
That's fascinating - thanks. But what did Maxim say, exactly? Had he actually discussed that bar with his father?
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Author: lmliberson
Date: 2026-03-25 16:58
Uhh…this was over 40 years ago - I can hardly remember what I just had for breakfast!
But he had his personal score, of course, and simply confirmed that what I had played was correct.
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