Composed as part of Shostakovich’s Suite for Variety Orchestra – Waltz No. 2 is one of the composer’s most famous works. The suite was used as part of the soundtrack for The First Elechon (1955), a Soviet film about young men arriving in the steppe region of Kazakhstan to develop the virgin land, and later in Eyes Wide Shut, a 1999 film by Stanley Kubrick. The suite itself is comprised of eight small movements, all of which are scored for a large orchestra, and Waltz No. 2 (the 7th movement) is certainly the most famous for its elegant, courtly melody. Here is Waltz No. 2 conducted by André Rieu. Footage in the video is from the film: Anna Karenina, set in the Russian Empire of 1874.
About the Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist, and one of the most important musical figures of the 20th century. His 15 symphonies and especially his 15 string quartets travel a vast emotional terrain and employ a fascinating variety of musical styles. Like Mahler, whom Shostakovich much admired, Shostakovich used different musical techniques, often displaying sharp contrasts and mixing disparate moods such as bleakness and grotesquerie.