Symphony no. 6 in B minor op. 54 / Symphony no. 12 in D minor op. 112 “The Year 1917”

Album by Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich & Государственный cимфонический оркестр Министерства культуры СССР & Gennadi Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky

Symphonies No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54 (1939) and No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112 (1961) are orchestral works by Dmitri Shostakovich. The Sixth juxtaposes introspective, chamber-like textures with an energetic central movement reflecting late 1930s modernist tendencies, whereas the Twelfth employs darker, march-inflected material and programme-related gestures that align it with Shostakovich's later engagement with political and historical subjects, together illustrating distinct phases in his compositional development.