Transcript DIMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH 1906

DIMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
1906-1975
Russian Composer
Early years
• He studied piano and composition at the St.
Petersburg Conservatory
• He graduated at the age of 19 having written
his first symphony.
• Dimitri spent his entire career under the
Russian Communist Party
Reform or Rebel?
• Though his first symphony was an early success, his music
didn't always enjoy the approval of the Soviet authorities.
In later years he was to enjoy more artistic freedom, but
under Stalin, a ruthless Communist party leader, composers
and other artists ran the risk of their work being labelled
anti-state . In some cases this could lead to
"disappearances“. This threat was very real.
• Shostakovich withdrew his 4th symphony before its premier
for this reason and it wasn't performed until later under
more liberal times. Some of Shostakovich's work seems to
be simply paying his dues as an upright citizen but in many
cases, although his music might outwardly be conforming
with the party line, there is the feeling that he is actually
rebelling against this.
The Year of Terror: 1936
• Because the Russian authorities wanted control
over everything, including music, they put
pressure on Dimitri to write music that followed
their guidelines: Nationalistic, traditional, and
heroic.
• The government denounced him as being unloyal
to the Russian doctrine.
• In order to make sure he understood, his friends
and relatives went “missing” as did thousands of
other Russians.
His Response
Symphony #5
• The composer's response to his denunciation was the Fifth Symphony of
1937, which was musically more conservative than his earlier works.
• Premiering on 21 November 1937 in Leningrad, it was a phenomenal
success: many in the Leningrad audience had lost family or friends to the
mass executions. The Fifth drove many to tears and welling emotions.
Later Shostakovich wrote in his memoirs: "I'll never believe that a man
who understood nothing could feel the Fifth Symphony. Of course they
understood, they understood what was happening around them and they
understood what the Fifth was about.“ The Russian government
understood this piece to be nationalistic, but its true intent was
understood by the people.
• The success put Shostakovich in good standing once again. Music critics
and the authorities alike, including those who had earlier accused
Shostakovich of not following the “rules”, claimed that he had learned
from his mistakes and had become a true Soviet artist
Secret messages
• His tempo indications for the ending of Symphony #5 seem to make
the music painfully slow. Some conductors have felt this was an
error and it should end at a heroic tempo, but Shostakovich's
intention was that it should be played slowly to undermine the
heroic conclusion with irony.
• The 1st movement of his 7th Symphony seems to be a of what is
expected from a Soviet composer during the war years (though
written in Leningrad when the city was under siege during WWII).
The snare drum repeats the same 2-bar rhythm 175 times while the
rest of the orchestra seems to play the same simple tune over and
over again, but somehow Shostakovich turns this repetitious idea
into something special.
• Dimitri is also noted for encoding hidden messages in his music, in
part as a protest to the way he was constrained artistically by the
Soviet Authorities. For instance the woodblock part in the 9th
symphony stands for K G B (the Russian FBI).
Stalin’s death
• After Stalin’s death, Shostakovich wrote
Symphony #10.
• The savage second movement is said to be
musical portrait of Stalin.
Dimitri’s Death
• Shostakovich died of lung cancer in 1975.
• His son, Maxim, is a conductor who regularly
travels to orchestras all over the world to
conduct his father’s works.
Shostakovich represented himself in some works
with the a motif, consisting of D-Eb-C-B.
• Shostakovich represented himself in some
works with the a motif, consisting of D-E-C-B.