The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: YOU MUST HEAR THIS: The slow movement from Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major.

By Jacob Stockinger

Well, this isn’t really holiday music.

But I suppose you could consider it a “holiday” from the more tumultuous and dissonant, more acerbic or satirical writing, that Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (below) is identified with.

It is gentle and lyrical, and quite lovely — even wistful.

It is the slow movement -– marked Lento –- from the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major.

He wrote it for and dedicated it to his son Maxim -– who has since become a famous conductor -– for his 19th birthday.

And, if I recall correctly, Maxim performed it when he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory.

If you are used to the dissonant, brash, loud sarcastic Shostakovich, try this for a change. It is played by Kirill Gerstein in a YouTube video: