The Limpid Stream, Op. 39

Shostakovich himself made the piano solo reduction of his third full-length story ballet, which was premiered in what was then Leningrad in 1935. The composer described the piece as happy, light, entertaining. The simple socialist story reflects the time of composition. A group of ballet dancers from Moscow travels on tour to the rural Kuban region. At first there is tension between the native farmers and the urban artists, but they discover many commonalities, including a farmer/ballerina romance. This is the only edition available of the piece. Paperback. 232 pages.