Symphony No. 9 (Shostakovich) Symphony No. 9 (Shostakovich) Symphony No. 9 in E-flat major, Op. 70, was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1945. It was premiered on 3 November 1945 in Leningrad by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky. The ninth symphony was originally intended to be a celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II (see Eastern Front). The composer declared in October 1943 that the symphony would be a large composition for orchestra, soloists and chorus "about the greatness of the Soviet people, about our Red Army liberating our native land from the enemy". On the occasion
Symphony No. 1 (Stanford) Symphony No. 1 (Stanford) Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major was the first symphony composed by Charles Villiers Stanford. It was written in 1876 to compete for a prize offered by the proprietors of the Alexandra Palace. It came second out of 46 entries earning a prize of £5. The symphony was dedicated to the tenor Arthur Duke Coleridge who had been a friend of Stanford's at Cambridge. It was first played at The Crystal Palace in London in 1879 but was never published or performed again in Stanford's lifetime. According to Stanford's biographer, Jeremy Dibble, the work shows influences