ABSTRACT
Symphonism is a stream of musical consciousness, where no single element is conceived or perceived as being independent from the remaining multitude. All is intuitively comprehended in its entirety as a creative entity set in motion. The principle of symphonism gained ground in Russian music theory and was immediately included in Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich's new course in composition at the Leningrad Conservatory. Contrast is particularly notable in the differences between movement types. For Boris Asafiev, the symphony was no less a fixed schema than the forms of individual movements. Shostakovich's symphonies project stylistic and formal oppositions through movement contrast. One of the simplest means by which Shostakovich draws together movement contrast into broader patterns is through the use of attacca markings. Individual movements in Shostakovich's symphonies often sit in long-range proportional relationships with one another. Large-scale climactic patterns in the symphonies are often very simple.
