Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Shostakovich, born on September 25, 1905, started taking piano lessons from his mother at the age of nine after he showed interest in a string quartet that practiced next door. He entered the Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg, later Leningrad) Conservatory in 1919, where he studied the piano with Leonid Nikolayev until 1923 and composition until 1925 with Aleksandr Glazunov and Maksimilian Steinberg. He participated in the Chopin International Competition for Pianists
It was a freezing January day in the city of Archangelsk, Russia. A man by the name of Dmitri Shostakovich picked up the newest issue of Pravda from the newsstands, which were unusually busy today. “Wow, this is really harsh!” “Are Pravda’s expectations THAT high?” people whispered to one another. After reading it briefly, Shostakovich flew into a fit of frustration and rage. This paper called his music “degenerate and decadent” (Stevens)! There is no way that Pravda would trash his music as badly
Dmitri Shostakovich and Johann Sebastian Bach Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was one of the greatest composers of Soviet Russia. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is regarded today as the father of Western music. They came from opposite ends of music history and lived in entirely different environments, but Shostakovich was undoubtedly influenced by Bach’s music, and their respective musical styles came from the same core tradition of Western music. But most importantly, underneath the obvious
Dmitri Shostakovich: Creative Musical Genius "In Shostakovich we have the paradigm of a new, essentially political form of complex inward adjustments, one which requires a new kind of symphony." (Norris 177) Although a lifelong communist and an intense Russian patriot (he applied for and was granted membership into the Communist party in 1960), Dmitri Shostakovich composed under constant fear of public condemnation, often for what he perceived as the most contradictory reasons. He strongly believed
Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. He achieved fame, but with much hardship along the way. He was censored and threatened with not only his life but that of his wife and children by playing the role of a public figure in Soviet Russia. The question is was he a committed communist or a victim? The events in his life, good or bad, shaped the music that he created and led to one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century, his Fifth Symphony. Born
are able to capture mood through a unique ability to capture exactly what they feel. Exactly how the Russians are able to do this is unknown, though through this, the greatest composers have turned out to be Russian. Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich are all able to write and portray the most detailed feelings and moods, and it is to them that we owe the advancement of all music. Tchaikovsky is one of the most beloved composers in history. An inspired craftsman of melody, orchestration and
contained, Dmitri Shostakovich wrote under the pressures of the government-imposed standards of Soviet art. However, Shostakovich used his undeniable musical talent to compose pieces with components of sadness and darkness that were, during this time period, challenging the pride of the state. Therefore, he and his music were officially shunned. He continued composing, and began releasing pieces to the public that were the “standard” of Soviet art. At this time, only Shostakovich knew that buried
Dmitri Shostakovich "Shostakovich" redirects here. For the conductor and son of Dmitri Shostakovich, see Maxim Shostakovich. This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Dmitriyevich and the family name is Shostakovich. Shostakovich in 1950 Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich (Russian: Дми́трий Дми́триевич Шостако́вич (help·info), tr. Dmitriy Dmitrievich Shostakovich, pronounced [ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ˈdmʲitrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ ʂəstɐˈkovʲɪtɕ]; 25 September [O.S. 12 September] 1906 – 9 August 1975)
A Satire for the Ages Satirical fiction, although unique and one of a kind in its nature, has continued to be an enthralling and captivating subject out of the plethora of themes that exist throughout literature history and thrive to this day. While the many forms of humor that appear throughout a novel, from comical, ironic characters to witty, exaggerated plots, are often considered tame and childish themes, authors, skillful and clever alike, are able to utilize such forms of humor and transform
Dmitri Shostakovich once said, “When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something.” Shostakovich is correct in his quotation about despair because people typically do not pine on something without reason. In Hemingway’s short story, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” two men are portrayed as being in despair. These two older gentlemen have reasons for their grief though. Hemingway specifically displays the theme of despair through the two men because of specific events that have
Dmitri Shostakovich was one the greatest Russian composers of all time during the twentieth century. During the end of World War I, the Russian Revolution initiated to topple the Russian Czar, Nicholas II, from power by the Bolshevik Party. The Russian Revolution led the establishment of Communism in the Soviet Union led with an “iron fist” by the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. In the Soviet Union, the number of civilian deaths caused from victims of war, famine, and government purges, is estimated
Gestated on the heart of World War II, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 is a representation of originality as well as pure expression, or in Prokofiev’s own words “a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit.” This paper focuses on discussing the relevance of this symphonic work in regards of the contrasting events on its historical context, the connection with the personal life of the composer, and the combination of compositional devices used to create a tension and
"The Nose" is a satirical short story by Nikolai Gogol written during his time living in St. Petersburg, Russia. During this time, Gogol's works were primarily focused on surrealism and the grotesque, with a romantic twist. "The Nose" tells the story of a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own. The use of a nose as the main source of conflict in the story could have been due to Gogol's own experience with an oddly shaped nose, which was often the subject
St. Petersburg: The Myth and the City In “The Nose” and “The Overcoat,” Gogol makes fun of the rank-conscious Russian society. In “The Overcoat,” he emphasizes the phony world of Russian officials, who are powerless mediators under a hierarchy in which each person fears his superior. Of the two stories, “The Nose” is lighter-hearted and more comedic. On the surface, it is a humorous story about a government official literally losing his nose and searching for it. For much of the time, Gogol makes
expressed the inhumane actions that the regime continued to commit. During Stalin’s life Shostakovich constantly pushed the party beliefs, and after Stalin’s death Shostakovich began composing more of the music he deemed necessary. Twice in his life Shostakovich was denounced, and practically forced out his craft due to this formalist, anti-party music. Despite constantly being aware of the dangers, Shostakovich continued to write music that displeased the regime on a variety of political fronts.
four-note motif: D, E-flat, C and B. In German musical notation these notes are written as D, S, C, and H. Shostakovich used these to stand for his initials in German transliteration: D. Sch. (Dmitri Shostakovich), also pronounced as “De-Es-Ce-Ha." Later in the movement, a quote from the opening of his First Symphony (1926), is heard, which is the piece that first brought fame to Shostakovich. The original context was a playfully duet for trumpet and bassoon: In the Quartet (figure 1 in the music)
Soviet Music and Society Under Lenin and Stalin: The Baton and Sickle. New York, NY: Routledge, 2009. Print. Lenin, Vladimir Il'ich. Lenin: On Culture and Cultural Revolution. University Press of the Pacific, 2001. Print. Fay, Laurel E. Shostakovich: A Life. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, USA, 2000. Print. Tomoff, Kiril. Creative Union: the Professional Organization of Soviet Composers, 1939-1953. New York, NY: Cornell Univ Press, 2006. Print. Horton , Andrew J. . "The Forgotten
significant events for the city now called St. Petersburg. It had such an impact on composer Dmitri Shostakovich that he created the “Leningrad” symphony, his seventh symphony. My essay will analyse the reflections of war in the music and explain them in their historical context. Shostakovich's symphony had a huge impact on the people of Leningrad as they could identify with it. As Shostakovich was evacuated to the town Kuibyshev to escape the war, his completed score was transported in a special
City of the Dead” is a biography about the life of Dmitri Shostakovich, a famous composer who lived in the city of Leningrad during the siege in World War 2. The story revolves around Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, composed as the city of Leningrad crumbled around him due to the Nazis’ relentless assaults. “Symphony for the City of the Dead” is the story of the last flicker of hope in Leningrad in 1942. The story of Dmitry Shostakovich had a large impact on me as a reader. Going into the story
himself." Nicholas Nabokov on meeting Shostakovich in 1949 in New York During the hard and cruel era of Stalinism, Shostakovich had the courage to express the desolation of his people by method of remarkable dramatic feeling; hence, his music became a moral support for all who were persecuted. Sofia Gubaidulina reflected, "The circumstances he lived under were unbearably cruel, more than anyone should have to endure." With Stravinsky and Prokofiev, Shostakovich embodies the culmination of 20th Century