Discuss how Shostakovich uses texture to create drama in the first movement of his 5th symphony.

In the first movement of Shostakovich's 5th symphony, he continously succeeds to create drama through his use of varied and regularly changing texture. In the introduction to the symphony, Shostakovich introduces the main leaping motif (melodic idea) of the movement by playing it in canon between the bass strings and the violins, which enter one beat after the bass strings, in an antiphonal texture. This complex texture instills drama immediately by providing the listener with multiple points of attention in the opening bars. The sense of overlapping creates a full, powerful sound, which is an extremely dramatic and attention-grabbing texture for the introduction of the symphony. Within this, the first and second violins play in octaves, which creates drama by providing a fuller, stronger sound, spread across three octaves. This addition of power and strength contributes to the dramatic atmosphere of the movement's opening. Figure 7 in the exposition of the first movement is another dramatic moment due to Shostakovich's use of texture, which I would say is the climax of the exposition's first subject. The build of each of Shostakovich's three main motifs here creates a polyphonic texture, an extremely full sound which adds power and drama alongside the fortissimo dynamics. Also, the polyphonic texture merging and overlapping multiple melodies acts to instill drama through creating chaos for the listener - this is an exciting moment in the first movement so the polyphonic texture is appropriately complex and dramatic to convey this.