he Fifth Symphony was well received by the public. Genrikh Orlov postulates that the music expresses the state of the Soviet Union at the time it was composed.   In other words, the Fifth Symphony reflected struggles and sorrows of the people yet promotes the Party agenda.  Alexi Tolstoy said the Fifth Symphony was like a Soviet coming of age story for Shostakovich. He was forming a Soviet personality   Tolstoy states that the first movement presents a crisis of the mind.  The second movement provides a period of rest and relief.  In the third movement Tolstoy believes the Soviet personality begins to emerge. The finale represents triumph and movement toward optimism.  Tolstoy classified the audience reaction as a demonstration by the people that Shostakovich had reformed his musical style. “Our audience is organically incapable of accepting decadent, gloomy, pessimistic art. Our audience responds enthusiastically to all that is bright, clear, joyous, optimistic, life-affirming.”[]    At this time, Stalin was purging those thoughts and philosophies that did not conform to his ideals of social realism.  Many people suffered during the Stalin era.  Therefore, this Symphony seemed to evoke many different feelings. To some, it was an illustration of the mourning and loss inflicted by the regime.    Many people shed tears during the Largo portion of the Symphony at the first performance because it provided an outlet all that was occurring in their lives under Stalin.   The official party line was that the Fifth Symphony displayed a new direction in the composer’s pursuits.  It was a transformation that Party had orchestrated.   The Party’s support was a demonstration of its power to make an individual conform to its beliefs.   In the Fifth Symphony, Shostakovich placated the party yet expressed his feelings and those of the public.

As World War II engulfed the Soviet Union, and Leningrad fell under siege Shostakovich composed the Seventh Symphony.  This symphony was completed in December of 1941.  However, according to Shostakovich, the Seventh Symphony was conceived prior to the attack by Germany on Leningrad.  As he planned the first movement, the at