September 25, 2016

Listen and Learn: Shostakovich Turns 110


Listen and Learn: Shostakovich Turns 110

A composer of symphonies, concertos, piano music, chamber music, ballets, and film scores, Dmitry Shostakovich created classical music that spoke to modern times. Composing during the Soviet period, Shostakovich had to square state mandates for ideologically appropriate music with his own creative inclinations – usually choosing the latter, and at his own expense.

Born in St. Petersburg on September 12, 1906 (by the old calendar – that’s September 25 by today's calendar), Shostakovich studied piano at the Petrograd Conservatory. He achieved world-wide acclaim with his First Symphony, completed in 1925 when he was just 19. This was during the early years of the Soviet Regime, when there was an atmosphere of artistic freedom – hence the influence of the avant-garde to be heard in Symphony No.1, which has vaudevillian as well as satirical elements in addition to more traditional classical movements.

The avant-garde was not to last. In 1928, Joseph Stalin launched his first Five-Year Plan, which, among other things, meant that the strong hand of the Soviet government was to control and mandate what Russian artists produced.

Like many artists struggling for freedom of expression within a regimented artistic system, Shostakovich had trouble confining his creativity to permissible forms. His noteworthy opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District, is a prime example: Stalin attended a performance of the opera in 1936 and was so offended by it that he banned both the opera and its creator.

This response was devastating to the 30-year-old Shostakovich. The Soviet-run press attacked the young composer, and his Fourth Symphony (1935), not yet performed, was black-listed.

Yet Shostakovich was not to be beaten. He composed his Fifth Symphony in 1937 – a work that, for an artist who had been in trouble with the regime once before, might have been expected to be a trivial, unremarkable, and safe piece of music. That was not the case. Shostakovich's Fifth is the statement of an artist who will not be kept quiet. Dark and forceful, it was met with wide public appeal, and was even accepted by the Soviet authorities. The Fifth marked a turning point in Shostakovich's career; from here on, his personal style and directness are well defined.

Having redeemed himself, Shostakovich was appointed to the faculty of the Leningrad (formerly Petrograd) Conservatory in 1937, where he taught and composed until moving to Moscow in 1943. The post-WWII Soviet Union imposed strict rules on musical composition. It was not to reflect the times; rather, it was to be simple, light and upbeat in nature. They wanted music that presented to the world a country of happy and healthy citizens. Shostakovich's compositions did not adhere to the state’s demands; his later symphonies became more grim and he was, once again, officially attacked and disgraced by the authorities in 19848. With this second fall from grace, he was not even allowed to teach.

Shostakovich composed a compromise with Song of the Forests, an oratorio written in 1949. Responding to the state mandate for accessible music as well as official disapproval, Shostakovich wrote Song of the Forests to stress positive and living themes. The work was inspired by the reforestation projects of the Soviet Union and the lyrics, just to be on the safe side, profusely praised Stalin and his agenda. Stalin was overjoyed with the work and, in 1950, awarded it the Stalin Prize, First Grade. Stalin died in 1953 and, after a decade of heavy criticism regarding his policies, the lyrics of Song of the Forests had to be changed if the work was to ever be heard again; the lyricist, Yevgeny Dolmatovsky, rewrote the lyrics in 1962 – and those are the ones to be heard today.

With the exception of Song of the Forests and some light string quartets, Shostakovich’s musical proclivities did not coincide with the demands of socialist realism. The rigid control on composing ended with Stalin’s death in 1953; in that year, Shostakovich presented his Tenth Symphony: it was bold, direct, and promptly recognized for its excellence.

The rest of his life’s work went on unhindered. From the death of his contemporary Sergei Prokofiev in 1953 until his own death in 1975, Shostakovich was the undisputed leader of Russian music. Known to be a true Communist, he refused to have his creative activities dictated to him or have his work used as propaganda for the state. It was the tension of this apparent contradiction that produced his greatest works.

You Might Also Like

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955