ABSTRACT
The Fourth Symphony was, in Dmitri Shostakovich's own words, the 'credo of his creative work'. It was conceived at a time when the future of Soviet symphonism was being vigorously debated and was perceived as being in a state of crisis. The Fourth Symphony made no obvious concessions to the charge of 'formalism' directed at Lady Macbeth, as voiced in the 'Muddle instead of Music' article. Shostakovich's way of engaging with formal conventions in the Fourth Symphony was, then, to assert them aggressively in order to counter them with equally aggressive narrative strategies. Like any musical work, the Fourth Symphony does not 'narrate' anything that can be verbally expressed. Throughout the 1920s Shostakovich had contrived to keep a foot in both the progressive and proletarian camps, more or less successfully placating the latter largely through his collaborations in film and theatre.
