Symphony No. 2 (Shostakovich) October Revolution in his Twelfth Symphony, subtitled "The Year 1917". The symphony is a short (about 20 minutes) experimental work in one movement; within this movement are four sections, the last of which includes a chorus. In a marked departure from his First Symphony, Shostakovich composed his Second in a gestural, geometric "music without emotional structure" manner, with the intent of reflecting speech patterns and physical movements in a neo-realistic style. This choice may have been influenced at least partially by Vsevolod Meyerhold's theory of biomechanics. Shostakovich placed far more emphasis on texture in this work than he did on
Symphony No. 1 (Glazunov) ask about Glazunov. He is a very talented young man who studied for a year under Rimsky-Korsakov. When he composed his symphony, he did not need any help." Some months later, Tchaikovsky wrote that he had purchased and studied the score of Glazunov's First String Quartet, concluding that "Glazunov's talent is undeniable." Truth be told, Glazunov did have a little help from Balakirev, but on just one point. The composer wrote in his memoirs, "I composed and orchestrated the slow movement of the "First Symphony" in the summer of 1881. In addition I played that passage to Balakirev, who approved