In 1979, a book purporting to be shostakovichs memoir, entitled. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Whether he was compliant or a closet dissident has been the subject of contention. Dmitry shostakovich russiapedia music prominent russians. Shostakovich was arguably one of the two leading composes of the soviet era, the other being prokofiev. This is a fascinating and important story told by one of the greatest authorities on russian culture in. Shostakovichs tortured relationship to the soviet authorities was a main subject of testimony, a book published after the composers death by volkov, who claimed. Dmitri shostakovichs lifelong passion for the beautiful game is explored in dmitri braginskys shostakovich and football. The extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictator solomon volkov, author. Mar 25, 2004 buy shostakovich and stalin 1st by solomon volkov, antonia w bouis isbn. Petersburg, russiadied august 9, 1975, moscow, russia, u. Whichever side of the debate readers support, the new shostakovich presents them with a viewpoint which cannot be ignored. An indefatigable worker, he wrote his arresting music despite deprivations during the nazi invasion and constant. This is a worthwhile book for anyone interested in learning more about cultural life in.
The extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictato r kindle edition by volkov, solomon. Whichever side of the debate readers support, the new shostakovich presents them with a. Volkov offers a masterful account of the fine art of accommodation. Throughout the book, doyle remains open and candid, whether shes. The extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictator 2004, he points out that the. Volkov was the ghostwriter of shostakovichs controversial memoirs, and had firsthand access to the composer and his contemporaries.
The scope of the book goes far beyond the relation between shostakovich and stalin. The noise of time blends shostakovich, stalin, the. A fascinating, opinionated, provocative examination of the interplay between stalin and high culture over a quartercentury. Music illuminates a person and provides him with his last. Volkovs book despite the seductive, still widely believed stories it promulgates has been exposed as a mixture of recycled material that shostakovich had approved for republication and. The extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictato r. If testimony is to be believed, shostakovichs music is a semantic minefield, laced with irony and punctuated with hollow triumphs trotted out to keep stalin at bay. Escape to freedom, recently released by dsch publishers. The restrictions on shostakovich s music and living arrangements were eased in 1949, when stalin decided that the soviets needed to send artistic representatives to the cultural and scientific congress for world peace in new york city, and that shostakovich should be among them. Solomon volkov is the awardwinning author of shostakovich and stalin, among other books about russian culture. The remarkable dmitri shostakovich 19061975, personal target of joseph stalin and party censors, managed to survive all these periods while maintaining his artistic integrity. Dmitri shostakovich has 8 books on goodreads with 2227 ratings. Jan 01, 2005 a fascinating, opinionated, provocative examination of the interplay between stalin and high culture over a quartercentury. Dmitri shostakovichs most popular book is testimony.
Aug 28, 2016 volkovs book despite the seductive, still widely believed stories it promulgates has been exposed as a mixture of recycled material that shostakovich had approved for republication and. May 26, 2016 shostakovich, only twentynine years old, was a rising star among soviet composers, and his show was a hit. Jul 06, 2006 a widely read and critically acclaimed book in the 1990s, this new edition has been comprehensively revised, extensively corrected, and updated with much new material. The nook book ebook of the shostakovich and stalin.
Shostakovichs last wartime symphony was the ninth 1945, commissioned by the state to commemorate the ussrs victory over germany. T he year 1936 marked a definite turning point in shostakovichs career. Shostakovich won the stalin prize five times between 1941 and 1952 for works ranging from the chilling second piano trio to the nonideological, nonprogrammatic piano quintet to the patriotic. This is not to say that the book does not have very strong merit.
A revealing portrait of the great composer dmitri shostakovich. For shostakovich, it was a humiliating experience, culminating in. As one of the citys most illustrious residents, pianist and composer shostakovich 19061975 had enjoyed tremendous success from his early 20s writing ballets, operas, films and symphonies until 1936, when his work ran afoul of stalin and was officially denounced in the leningrad paper as bourgeois and formalisti. Shostakovichs talent was on a collision course with stalins intellectual pretense to understand what was best for russian culture. He saw friends taken away in the purges, never to return. Shostakovich, a native of leningradst petersburg, was in the city for the first few weeks of the siege, and by the time he was flown out in early october 1941 he had composed the bulk of three. Stalin loosening the reins now and again as long as the artists kept producing, artists such as shostakovichespecially shostakovichplaying the yurodivy, or holy fool, to speak dangerous but necessary truths to the face of the tsar.
Dmitry shostakovich, russian composer, renowned particularly for his 15 symphonies, numerous chamber works, and concerti, many of them written under the pressures of governmentimposed standards of soviet art. All this allowed stalin to accuse shostakovich on social issues. At first dedicated to lenin, it was eventually submitted in honor of the besieged city of leningrad, where it was first played under dire circumstances on august 9, 1942, with the siege by axis and finnish forces ongoing. The book examines shostakovichs attendance at football matches, his referee certification, his newspaper articles and diary entries, and his obsessive fascination with rules and statistics, set against the background of soviet life in the 1920s70s and the composers own musical output.
In shostakovichs own words, these symphonies are tombstones for the victims of stalin. Shostakovich lived the great bulk of his career under stalin. Volkov was the ghostwriter of shostakovich s controversial memoirs, and had firsthand access to the composer and his contemporaries. Scholars remain divided as to the book s veracity, yet there is a ring of truth in its basic tenet that nothing in shostakovichs music can be taken at face value. Solomon volkovs book will be published this month shostakovich and stalin the extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictator. The noise of time blends shostakovich, stalin, the meaning of art julian barnes weaves his new novel from the true story of russian composer. Shostakovich studied at the leningrad conservatory 191925. Stalins goal was to remain unpredictable, and thus afford shostakovich no sense of personal security, although he continued to compose stirring symphonies that drew him millions of fans. The early success of his first symphony 1925 was confirmed by positive public reaction to two satirical works of 1930an opera, the nose leningrad. This lavishly illustrated book, produced in collaboration with dmitri shostakovichs archive and the rimskykorsakov st petersburg state conservatoire, was first published in russian and is now available in a new. The noise of time blends shostakovich, stalin, the meaning. The cold war has ended, but writers on shostakovich now face its effects on information, as fays own published criticism of some shostakovichrelated work has shown. Ah, family values was an issue, as was the sanctity of marriage.
After hearing shostakovichs fifth symphony, an envious boris. During stalins rule, shostakovich suffered two major denunciations, in 1936 and 1948, and numerous smaller attacks were interspersed throughout his career. Julian barnes and the shostakovich wars the new yorker. This is a fascinating and important story told by one of the greatest authorities on russian culture in the soviet years.
Dmitri shostakovich by julian barnes under lifelong pressure from the stalinist state, being a coward was the only sensible choice. Thus open the memoirs of the twentieth centurys last great composer, dmitry shostakovich. Stalin loosening the reins now and again as long as the artists kept producing, artists such as shostakovich especially shostakovich playing the yurodivy, or holy fool, to speak dangerous but necessary truths to the face of the tsar. The book emphasizes a sense of continuity of how the artist survived the pressures of the state. Moving and authentic documentary with lots of archive material, this is an important document of the stalin era the documentary shows the cruelty of the. The shostakovichstalin relationship is also the focus of solomon volkovs latest book. So said the russian composer dmitri shostakovich, whose first. The second comes in 1948, when stalin asks the composer to represent the.
Documentary on how composer dmitri shostakovich used his fourth to ninth symphony as a silent protest against the crimes of stalin. If testimony is to be believed, shostakovichs music is a semantic minefield, laced with irony and punctuated with hollow triumphs trotted out. If testimony is to be believed, shostakovich s music is a semantic minefield, laced with irony and punctuated with hollow triumphs trotted out to keep stalin at bay. His life and career from then on coincided with, and in a sense mirrored, the rise and eventual failure of the soviet communist regime. The enigma of shostakovichs leningrad symphony world. May 28, 2012 documentary on how composer dmitri shostakovich used his fourth to ninth symphony as a silent protest against the crimes of stalin. Surviving stalins terror and censorship realclearhistory. Shostakovichs tortured relationship to the soviet authorities was a main subject of testimony, a book published after the composers death by volkov, wh.
Tony palmers 1988 film on the life, times and music of the soviet composer, with ben kingsley as shostakovich and terence rigby as stalin. List of books and articles about dmitri shostakovich. There is an immense list of great artists who where deported, killed or psychologically terrorized in stalins regime. The author maintains that stalin had a good nose for geniuses, and was able to discern subtle nuances both in shostakovichs conduct and in his arguably rebellious music. His music was frequently deemed formalist, counterrevolutionary, antisoviet, or prowestern. Dmitry shostakovich, in full dmitry dmitriyevich shostakovich, born september 12 september 25, new style, 1906, st. The bolshevik revolution took place when dmitry shostakovich was a boy of 11. He was an advertisement for the culture of the soviet union. The authenticity of the book has been loudly disputed both pro and con mirroring the political disputes that so often swirled around the composer himself, and many scholars have questioned whether shostakovichs scores are really filled with as many covert antistalin protests as volkovs book. He also provides a good sense of the era in which shostakovich functioned as well as really good insight into shostakovich s compositions. A star pupil at the leningrad conservatory, he had scored a major triumph with his first symphony 19241925. Loh looking back, i see nothing but ruins, only mountains of corpses. Observing that stalin was now like a frog puffing himself up to the size of an ox, he chose to deflate the leaders ego by producing not a majestic ode to military triumph. He also provides a good sense of the era in which shostakovich functioned as well as really good insight into shostakovichs compositions.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. For this authoritative postcoldwar biography of shostakovichs illustrious but turbulent career under soviet rule, laurel e. Aug 07, 2015 four years after the death of stalin, shostakovich wrote his dazzling piano concerto no 2 as a 19th birthday present for his son maxim, himself an accomplished pianist. Stalin s goal was to remain unpredictable, and thus afford shostakovich no sense of personal security, although he continued to compose stirring symphonies that drew him millions of fans. The extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictator by solomon volkov due to covid19, orders may be delayed. Here, shostakovich brings his emotions back under control and turns to mockery. Shostakovich won the stalin prize five times between 1941 and 1952 for works ranging from the chilling second piano trio to the nonideological, non. Shostakovich, only twentynine years old, was a rising star among soviet composers, and his show was a hit. The extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictator. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading shostakovich and stalin. On shostakovich, stalin and what it takes to be a hero the star. His shostakovich is a man of great moral complexity who, trapped between passion and politics, finds himself servant to both. Notes for stalin is a new symphonic play by writer and director didi balle, the baltimore symphony orchestras very own playwrightinresidence.
May 15, 2016 his shostakovich is a man of great moral complexity who, trapped between passion and politics, finds himself servant to both. Music illuminates a person and provides him with his last hope. Shostakovich survived because stalin found it useful to have at his disposal a brilliant and internationally famous composer. On the evening of january 26, 1936, joseph stalin and several other soviet. Read shostakovich and stalin the extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictato r by solomon volkov available from rakuten kobo. Shostakovich encountered harsh challenges throughout his career, but his greatest test was during the time of stalin. Volkov is very strong with putting the conflict between shostakovich and stalin into the larger historical conflict. Shostakovich, leningrad, and the greatest story ever.
A widely read and critically acclaimed book in the 1990s, this new edition has been comprehensively revised, extensively corrected, and updated with much new material. Scholars remain divided as to the book s veracity, yet there is a ring of truth in its basic tenet that nothing in shostakovich s music can be taken at face value. In stalinist russia, however, balancing moral integrity with artistic. On shostakovich, stalin and what it takes to be a hero.
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