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 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