t is hard to escape the incredible pull of Shostakovichs Seventh Symphony, knowing the background to its composition and its general significance. Shostakovich began to work on the actual composition in July 1941 in Leningrad, where he wrote the first three movements whilst under constant attack from the enemy; after his evacuation from the city besieged by German troops, he completed the finale and the instrumentation in Kuibyschev in December 1941. Even before the war, hardly a family could be found in Leningrad that had not suffered [personal] lossEveryone had someone to mourn I had to turn it into music. I felt it was my duty and obligation (Extract from The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich) This recording features Paavo Järvi conducting the Russian National Orchestra, the first Russian ensemble ever to take home a Grammy®.