ABSTRACT
One immediately notable feature of the Fourteenth Symphony is Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich's move into the realm of chamber music through the use of intimate orchestration and solo vocal immediacy. The constant cellular manipulation and dodecaphonic processes in the Fourteenth often render tonal centricity somewhat ambiguous: the characteristic linearity of Shostakovich's melodic harmonic language largely prevails. Analysis of the Fourteenth Symphony gives rise to several perspectives on Shostakovich's work in general. In particular, Shostakovich's four macro-movements are projected by points of dimensional coincidence: the onset of the fifth movement, for instance, marks a new phase in the poetic, tempo, intervallic and segue structures. Shostakovich's music is often identified as being representative of the contemporary Russian zeitgeist. Dodecaphony is an important aspect of the Fourteenth Symphony and one that characterizes its musical language as part of Shostakovich's late style.
