Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was born on September 25, 1906, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory at 13, the place he studied composition with Alexander Glazunov.
Shostakovich spent his life not solely composing music however attempting to outlive as an artist beneath Soviet totalitarianism. His First Symphony, composed as his commencement piece from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1925, catapulted him to worldwide fame. The symphony was celebrated for its originality and technical mastery, establishing Shostakovich as a number one determine in Soviet music.
However his success was not long-lived. The Thirties had been a tumultuous interval for Shostakovich. His opera Woman Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was condemned by the Soviet newspaper Pravda in 1936, reportedly at Stalin’s behest. This denunciation marked the start of ongoing battle with the Soviet regime. Shostakovich lived in fixed worry of arrest and execution throughout the Nice Purge, and lots of of his works had been censored or banned.
Then throughout World Conflict II, Shostakovich composed his Seventh Symphony, often known as the “Leningrad.” Premiered in 1942, it grew to become an emblem of Soviet resistance in opposition to Nazi Germany and was carried out in besieged Leningrad, boosting the morale of its residents. Shostakovich’s star was on the rise.
However as soon as once more, his success was brief. In 1948, he confronted one other main setback when the Soviet authorities issued a decree condemning “formalism” in music. A lot of his compositions had been banned, and he was dismissed from his educating positions in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Regardless of these challenges, he continued to compose, usually embedding delicate critiques of the regime inside his works.
Shostakovich’s fortunes improved after Stalin’s dying in 1953. He was reinstated to his educating positions and obtained quite a few honors, together with the title of Folks’s Artist of the USSR. The works he composed in his later years, such because the Tenth Symphony and the String Quartets, are amongst his most interesting.
Shostakovich died on August 9, 1975, in Moscow. He left behind an unlimited physique of labor, together with 15 symphonies, 15 string quartets, operas, ballets, and movie scores. His music is well known for its emotional depth, technical brilliance, and the braveness it took to compose it beneath an oppressive regime.
Shostakovich was certainly one of many twentieth century’s most vital composers, whose works proceed to be carried out and admired worldwide.
Chosen Works on Classical Archives*
Many works by Dmitri Shostakovich can be found to your listening on Classical Archives. Here’s a choice . . .
Operas:
Woman Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1936) – This harrowing opera tells the story of a younger girl in Nineteenth-century Russia who’s pushed to homicide her husband after falling in love with considered one of his staff.
Symphonies:
Symphony No.7 in C (‘Leningrad’) (1942) – This, the “Leningrad Symphony” stays considered one of Shostakovich’s most celebrated works. It’s not solely a testomony to his compositional genius but additionally a poignant reminder of the resilience and braveness of the folks of Leningrad throughout the siege, one of many darkest durations of World Conflict II.
Symphony No.13 in Bb- (‘Babi Yar’) (1962) – The symphony was impressed by the poem “Babi Yar” by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, which displays on the 1941 bloodbath of almost 34,000 Jews by the Nazis at Babi Yar, a ravine close to Kiev.
Different Orchestral Works:
Festive Overture (1954) – This exuberant overture was commissioned for the Bolshoi Theatre’s celebration of the 37th anniversary of the October Revolution.
Jazz Suite No.1 (1934) and Jazz Suite No.2 (1938) – These beautiful works present us that Shostakovich liked American jazz – he wasn’t completely consumed with doom and gloom.
Chamber Works:
String Quartet No.15 in Eb- (1974) – Shostakovich’s closing string quartet, his final, provides a deeply private reflection on mortality.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Choral Works:
The Execution of Stepan Razin (cantata), for bass, combined refrain, and orchestra (1964) – Not for the squeamish, this cantata is predicated on the historic determine Stepan Razin, a Cossack chief who led an rebellion in opposition to the the Aristocracy and tsarist forms in southern Russia throughout the seventeenth century. This cantata describes Razin’s seize, trial and brutal public execution.
The Tune of the Forests (oratorio), for tenor, basso, combined and boys’ refrain, and orchestra (1949) – Primarily a chunk of propaganda, The Tune of the Forests was written on the behest of the Soviet authorities to have fun the forestation of the Russian steppes. It additionally represents an try by Shostakovich to rehabilitate himself within the eyes of Soviet leaders. Nonetheless, this oratorio is melodic and beautiful and exhibits one other facet of the composer’s genius.
Movie Scores:
The Gadfly (1955) – Shostakovich wrote a variety of extremely efficient movie scores. That is the rating for the 1955 movie The Gadfly, primarily based on a novel in regards to the revolutionary actions of “The Gadfly,” a historic determine named Arthur Burton.
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