A symphony that's been stuck in my head...

I've been listening to Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6 a lot recently. By "a lot" I mean about 8 or 9 times over the past month. It's about half an hour long, so it makes good listening while I do the dishes or drive to Dearborn. (Music, praying, listening to NPR are great activities for that drive - although recently I've been listening to an ordination book because it's CRUNCH TIME! Praying is probably the best thing for that drive but it's hard to drive and pray on 10 Mile or Southfield even. But I should because I'm either going to or coming from the Arab Ministry Center).

It is intense! The first movement is a long "slow movement". It's about 17 + minutes. It's also very brooding and dark. But then the second and third movements are incredibly sunny - the second movement is fast and changes from light to meditative and back again, it's a great 'middle'. Then the third and final movement is a 5 minute gallop! It's bombastic and crazy!

I can't quite figure it out, and I don't know if anybody has, even the Russians who first heard it. It's never been a popular symphony, and if the composer was using it to protest Soviet oppression, he certainly never said anything.

But I love it.