The Fifth Symphony in D minor, Op. 47, was written in 1937. Shostakovich composed the piece in a remarkably short space of time, beginning work on the score on 18 April and completing it on 20 July 1937. The third movement was written in only three days. The symphony was first performed in Leningrad in the Great Hall of the Philharmonic on 21 November 1937 by the Academic Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Evgeny Mravinsky. It was given its first Moscow performance on 29 January 1938 in the Great Hall of the Conservatory by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Gauk. - Preface.