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 (Raff) Symphony No. 1 (Raff) Symphony No. 1 in D major "An das Vaterland" ("To the Fatherland"), Op. 96, was composed by Joachim Raff between 1859 and 1861. The work was Raff's first numbered symphony, though not the first symphony he had written. He composed a Grand Symphony in E minor, WoO. 18, in 1854, but only two of the work's original five movements survive. Raff entered the completed symphony in a competition organized in Vienna, sponsored by Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and judged by Ferdinand Hiller, Carl Reinecke, Robert Volkmann and Vinzenz Lachner. It won first prize out of 32 entries.