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 of the New World complicated it was and what we went through. We had to also deal with those who said it couldn’t be done." In 1968 the Symphony of the New World performed the premiere of "Address for Orchestra", composed by concert pianist and Smith College professor George Walker, at the High School of Music & Art in Harlem. They performed it again the following day at Lincoln Center. In a special concert for Black History Month in 1974, the Symphony premiered Wade Marcus' "A Moorish Sonata" and also, with Ruggiero Ricci, the 1864 "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" by the Cuban composer