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Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Festive Overture, Opus 96
Following a period from 1948 to 1953 when Shostakovich was almost exclusively involved with the creation of film scores and chamber music, he suddenly returned to orchestral composition with Symphony No. 10 and, in 1954, his brilliant Festive Overture. Allegedly written under great pressure of time, the overture was given its first performance on November 7, 1954 at a Moscow concert commemorating the thirty-seventh anniversary of the October Revolution (Soviet celebrations often went on for a long time). Read More