Symphony no. 15 in A major, op. 141

The Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141, composed between late 1970 and July 29, 1971, is the final symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich. He began to plan and sketch the symphony, originally intended as a cheerful commemoration of his 65th birthday, in late 1970. After completing the sketch score in April 1971, he began the orchestration in June, during his medical therapy in Kurgan. The symphony was completed on July 29 at his summer dacha in Repino. This was followed by a prolonged period of creative inactivity that did not end until the composition of the Fourteenth Quartet in 1973.