Shostakovich composed his 10th Symphony in 1953 following the death of the leading classical music critic in the U.S.S.R., a certain J. Stalin, who had made life dangerous for him with "reviews" of his work. The symphony is said by many to be a commemoration of that event and the violent second movement in particular is characterized as portraying the murderous atmosphere Stalin created.
This composition is generally viewed as his greatest symphony and belongs in every collection. An exciting performance, especially of the second movement, is available in notably great sound
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