Britten & Sjostakovitsj

“This is undoubtedly the best I have written so far,” Britten wrote about his violin concerto and the evocative pre-war work (1938-39) to his publisher. Shostakovich referred to Symphonies 7-9 as the “war symphonies.” Included in this is Symphony No. 8, one of his darkest and most tragic symphonies, written during World War II and premiered in 1943, shortly after Stalin’s victory over Hitler in the Battle of Stalingrad.