Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra (Shostakovich) - Your Art History Reference Guide!

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Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra (Shostakovich)

Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra is a suite in eight movements by Dimitri Shostakovich. The work consists of a collection of movements which derive from other works by the composer.

For many years the Suite was misidentified as the Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 (1938), a distinct work.

The order of movements given in the DSCH New Collected Works series is as follows:

  • I. March
  • II. Dance 1
  • III. Dance 2
  • IV. Little Polka
  • V. Lyric Waltz (in C minor and E-flat major.)
  • VI. Waltz 1 (in Bb major and A major.)
  • VII. Waltz 2 (in C minor and E-flat major.)
  • VIII. Finale

The work was recorded by Riccardo Chailly conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and released as part of Shostakovich: The Jazz Album (Decca 33702.) (The recording erroneously identifies the work as the Jazz Suite No. 2.) The order of movements on the recording is: March, Lyric Waltz, Dance 1, Waltz 1, Little Polka, Waltz 2, Dance 2, Finale. If the order given above is to be considered as authoritative, then the sequence on the recording is I, V, II, VI, IV, VII, III, VIII.

The seventh movement of the work, Waltz 2, as recorded by Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, was employed on the soundtrack to the 1999 Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut, as the opening and closing title theme.

Last updated: 05-27-2005 16:13:05
Last updated: 01-04-2007 01:18:57
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