I've been on a Shostakovich binge recently, prompted by this video about the second movement of his Eleventh Symphony (a work of his I hadn't known before this year). And yes, it includes a fugato section, Teoh...!
https://youtu.be/RU7a1b4yE-Q?si=1VOSuoklkfI98pwK
Here's the full score:
https://youtu.be/zz4bqzMYFoo?si=ktw6UraN1GVPgRF4
And these are the bars whose horror just stuns me every time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz4bqzMYFoo&t=1815s
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in recent years, the 11th - which previously was somewhat looked down on by the critics as being a bit too crudely programmatic -- has become among the most popular and often performed in the concert hall and indeed I've seen it twice live quite recently. Perhaps it's a sign of our times that we need music like this.
I know this symphony, had been listening to it for many years (though not recently). Didn't realize there was a fugato section. :-D It's not among my favorite Shosty symphonies, though. My favorites are the 8th and the 10th. Followed by the 9th and the 15th.
although this isn't really the place for a discussion on Shostakovich symphonies (there are plenty other forums for that and a few of us are in TC for instance), I'd just like to support the "Leningrad". Although always popular with the public, the critics have tended to look down on it a little until more recently, but I find it has a unique atmosphere. Whereas most Shosty symphonies are either cynical or simply depressing, there seems to be genuine idealism and even, in the slow movement, an almost religious fervour which is rare with that composer. Added to the quite superb gradual build-up towards the climax in the finale, I find the overall cumulative effect of this work surpasses any of the others, although the last movement of no.15 runs it very close and the first movement at any rate of 10 is certainly compelling. A dark horse is perhaps no.4 in his relatively modernistic blaze of glory in the 1930's (Lady Macbeth is arguably his greatest masterpiece) before Stalin put a stop to it.
Yeah the 7th is also a very good one. Surprisingly I'm not that keen on the slow movement: the way he scored the winds just doesn't work for me, it sounds too piercing. (It's probably just me though.) The finale is awesomely constructed with a very satisfying conclusion.
But the first movement of the 10th is a masterpiece in itself: it's a 20-minute sonata-allegro form that sounds nothing like one, 😅 and keeps your interest right to the end.
the plangent woodwind writing in the 7th is certainly unusual but it does work for me.
It's my peculiarity, I've never liked the sound of high-register wind chords at loud dynamics. I have a hard time with organ pieces because of this. Well, for that matter, with the organ in general, though low-register organ music is generally OK. Discordant intervals in the winds make the sound even worse, so I have a particularly hard time with Shosty's 7th.