| Loyalty | |
|---|---|
| by Dmitri Shostakovich | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Dmitri_Shostakovich_June_1973.jpg) Dmitri Shostakovich in June 1973 | |
| Opus | 136 |
| Occasion | Centennial of the birth of Vladimir Lenin |
| Text | Yevgeny Dolmatovsky |
| Language | Russian |
| Composed | February 13, 1970 |
| Dedication | Gustav Ernesaks |
| Published | 1970 |
| Publisher | Hans Sikorski Musikverlage |
| Duration | 25 minutes |
| Movements | 8 |
| Scoring | Men's chorus a capella |
| Premiere | |
| Date | December 5, 1970 |
| Location | Estonia Theatre Tallinn, Estonian SSR |
| Conductor | Gustav Ernesaks |
| Performers | Estonian SSR State Academic Male Choir |
Loyalty (Russian: Верность, romanized: Vyernost'; also translated as Faith, Truth, Correctness,[1] Faithfulness,[2] or Fidelity),[3] Op. 136 is a cycle of eight ballads for men's chorus a capella composed by Dmitri Shostakovich based upon texts by Yevgeny Dolmatovsky. It was composed in commemoration of the centennial of Vladimir Lenin's birth in 1970.
Shostakovich had contemplated composing a vocal work in tribute to Lenin as early as 1968; by 1969, he announced that he was envisioning a work in oratorio form. A visit to a mass song event in the Estonian SSR that same year helped him to settle on composing Loyalty as an a capella work for men's chorus. He composed it for and dedicated it to choral conductor Gustav Ernesaks, but did not inform him about the work until after it was completed.
Sources conflict as to when and where Shostakovich began Loyalty, but the score was completed on February 13, 1970. It was premiered in Tallinn, Estonian SSR on December 5 sung by the Estonian SSR State Academic Male Choir conducted by Ernesaks. The work was received warmly in the Soviet Union, but has been mostly ignored and derided elsewhere.
- ^ Sikorski (2011). Dmitri Shostakovich (PDF). Hamburg: Sikorski Musikverlage Hamburg. p. 113. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
- ^ Hulme, Derek C. (2010). Dmitri Shostakovich: The First Hundred Years and Beyond. Scarecrow Press. p. 530. ISBN 9780810872646.
- ^ Shostakovich 1981, p. 293.