In this essay I will be discussing the extent that Dmitri Shostakovich adhered to and rebelled from the conventions and traditions that were normalized in classical music and I will offer varied examples of the many times Shostakovich has obeyed and dissented within music throughout his career. The career span of Shostakovich extends from 1926 when he presented his first major work, Symphony No.1 to 1970 when he presented Quartet No. 7.
Born Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich on the 25th September, 1906, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the composer began his descent into classical music at the age of 9, before later moving on to study at the Petrograd conservatory. Throughout his life he compiled 15 symphonies, 15 string quartets and 36 film scores as well as many other compositions. Within his musical work and the course of his career Shostakovich managed to both adhere to traditions set within classical music as well as dissent from them, I will be exploring these.
I would first like to address what traditions are associated with classical music to highlight how Shostakovich dissented from these.
I will begin by briefly explaining the definition of chamber music, the definition of chamber music is “Instrumental music played by a small ensemble, with one player to a part, the most important form being the string quartet.” (www.oxforddictionaries.com)
Traditionally chamber music was often intended for a small and intimate audience rather than for an orchestral performance that
Dmitri Shostakovich was a Soviet composer and pianist, and a prominent figure of 20th-century music. Shostakovich developed a hybrid voice, combining a variety of different musical techniques into his music. Shostakovich was also heavily influenced by the neo-classical style pioneered by Igor Stravinsky, and by the post-Romanticism associated with Gustav Mahler.
Felix Mendelssohn was one of the most famous composers during the 19th century. Although in his music he did show some features of romanticism, he was strongly influenced by traditional genres such as counterpoint etc. In this essay, the biography of the composer, background of the genre and analysis of the piece will be investigated
Certainly the jovial nature of the overture fits with this both this theme and the October Revolution festivities. Shostakovich’s composing life was certainly one of paranoia, due to a fear of pushing the boundaries too far with his work. His work had already been subject to censorship in 1936 and 1948 under Stalin’s rule. He managed to escape persecution however by his willingness to write works which reflected ’Soviet Realism’, How ironic it would be if the outpour of relief of Stalin’s death was the true inspiration for piece supposedly penned to celebrate the
On Monday afternoon, January 23rd, I tuned into NPR and classical radio for the 3-4 pm hour of classical music. The radio host was Gigi Yellen who was very knowledgeable about the pieces she had in the playlist for that afternoon. In between pieces she would usually make a comment or two about some extra-musical fact regarding the piece or composer. It was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the hour of listening. There was not an expressed theme or organization to the playlist when I tuned in, so I had no preparation for the pieces that were to come. I actually enjoyed this position of surprise and anticipation because it left me with a completely open mind without
In Igor Stravinsky’s standpoint of a conductor, he describes a conductor being a “field . . . more for the making of careers and exploitation of personalities . . . than a profession for the application of exact and standardized disciplines.” It is conclude that “the ‘great’ conductor . . . substitutes looking for listening . . . [that] the important part of the performance becomes a gesture.”
Incredibly popular in his day, Paul Wranitzky today is all but forgotten, left overshadowed by his better-known contemporaries and friends Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Moravian by birth, Wranitzky moved to Vienna in 1776 and quickly established himself as a remarkable and versatile composer of operas, chamber music, and symphonies. He was also widely respected as a conductor. In 1800, he was selected by Beethoven conduct the premier performance of the composer’s first symphony. The Octet for Winds in F-major is composed in four movements, Allegro moderato in sonata-allegro form, a theme and variations, Minuet and Trio, and an exciting Allegro finale. Classical influences of form and structure permeate the work, as well as lessons learned from Wranitzky’s time studying with Franz Joseph Haydn. So similar were the composers’ styles, for many years this work was inaccurately attributed to Haydn as Divertimento, Hob.II:F7 and still appears in some publications under that same name.
He created many well-known pieces including festival overture and flight of the bumblebee. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was born on March 18, 1844, and his family is composed of a naval background. Besides, the fact of his naval past his mother and father were both talented musicians. Rimsky’s mother was a Pianist along with his father being able to play just by looking at Rimsky’s mother's hands. When Rimsky was young his mother put him in piano lessons and Rimsky was a talented person that even his piano teacher simply ran out of ways to teach him. Rimsky lost interest as he got older and grew for an interest in music literature. Through Rimsky’s adulthood, he joined a navy training cadet school and Though Rimsky was in the Navy he still had taken piano lessons to nurture his love for music. As time passed Rimsky was set out to voyage out to sea where he would be influenced to compose his first few symphonies. Upon returning from his voyage Rimsky shared his music where a man named Balakirev performed Rimsky’s symphonies. Rimsky then took his career seriously and from there on he would create more music incorporating many different styles of music which indeed “was critical of his own music’ (the famous people: Nikolai
Moving out of the Classical (1750-1820) and Romantic (1820-1890) period came to be the Modern period, which took place from 1890 – 1950. This period allowed for upcoming artists in this era to collaborate different styles from the Classical and Romantic period, as seen in the patterns of the composers’ pieces. The Modern Period has many influential artists that have been respected through history. Taking a close analysis at Igor Stravinsky, 1882 – 1971 (Yudkin, 202), and Bela Bartok, 1881 - 1945 (Yudkin, 215), by assessing their life and music gives a deeper meaning of what it meant to live through the Modern time frame. During the life of both of these composers the world went
Arnold Schoenberg believed that the developing harmonic language of the late nineteenth century had led to a musical crisis. He felt that tonality had been stretched to its absolute limits, and that what was to be said within its confines, was already best done by the great composers before him. Schoenberg believed he existed within a lineage of composers, and therefore, was the successor to deliver the next big innovation in music. This idea of pushing music forward is not a novel one though; we have long observed similar acts of musical righteousness. Simply consider the first chorus in a symphony as in Beethoven’s Ninth, or a requiem text that is not in Latin as in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. Our concern here, however, is not with the number of times in which the musical world has been overturned. Rather, it is whether or not Schoenberg is a credible addition to that tradition of innovative composers.
Dmitri Shostakovich took many risks, a myriad of which were in his music. In the early 1900’s, music began to change. Composers wanted to celebrate the new modernity of Russia. Many wrote pieces with dark, dissonant chords, used sounds such as sirens and artillery as instruments, and replicated the sound of machinery (Anderson 481). These sounds were a musical illustration of the futurist movement of this time, rejecting past traditions of art. Never before had music sounded like this, and futurism was an important point in music history. Young Dmitri also played music for films. Back in this time, there were musicians in the theatre playing along to the film, because the movies did not have sound. Shostakovich tried several ideas to make the films seem more interesting, but the audiences did
Shostavovich first theme is built from his own motives. He starts off in an non-original way. This was a cover-up of course, do to his political controversy. It was very intelligent to start off wit the path of Beethovens music. Sense at the time Beethoven was accepted in the eyes of high other: as a profound musican. Shostavovivh, fron my view was a very intelligent man. There is an old saying. " If it isn't broke don't fix it. Thats excalty what he did. He took intros public used chanign a couple of note. This stopped anyone from from speaking against his music, becasue it was formiliar to the public already. Even though my last sentence makes Shostavich sound like a theif. Staying alive during that time was difilcult, Shostavovich was in
Music underwent a plethora of changes throughout the twentieth century, including a complete transformation from the large symphonic works of the late 1800s to the short, electronic ditties of the late 1900s. With all that change, choosing only three composers to represent the entire twentieth century would be impossible. For example, the innovation of electronic music added an entirely new genre to the world of classical music; however, the three composers discussed here did not write in that style and instead influenced other aspects of the music world. Arnold Schoenberg, Aaron Copland, and Igor Stravinsky each greatly impacted the musical world around them. Schoenberg’s journey away from tonality to serialism changed the way that composers wrote for the rest of the century, while Copland’s music emancipated American sound from the European styles. Stravinsky brought many musical styles to the height of what could be accomplished in each one, and his excellence influenced many composers during and after his time. Schoenberg, Copland, and Stravinsky represent three of the most important composers of the twentieth century.
The characterization of the musical production of Felix Mendelssohn requires the acknowledgement of two key observations: the essentially classical structure of Mendelssohn’s compositions and the frequent romantic innovations Mendelssohn employed. Mendelssohn was a conservative fixture in an era of radical upheaval—the early nineteenth century. Intellectually in Europe, this was an era of transition, as the romantics sought to upend the enlightenment establishment across all areas of artistic, scientific and cultural production: whether the orderly structures of classical music, the faith in reason and scientific progress that animated Enlightenment tracts and polemics, the embrace of technological progress, or the vehement rejection of superstitions
Inspiration, idealistic, caustic, unorthodox, assertive, ambiguous, Gustav Mahler has astonished the world with symphonies ranging in violence to tenderness throughout the 20th century. During an era of musical progression in fin-de-siécle, an anxious mood, Mahler, a conductor and composer, took an inherent stance in composition. Even though much of his musical works weren’t popular until 40 years after his death, the discovery of his ingenious talents were unparalleled to other composers of that time. His role in war and revolutionary music has led to advancements in orchestral repertoire in his career as an opera conductor across Vienna. A unique sound in his nine full symphonies of various forms of Romanticism made him a pioneer of compositional techniques that refined music and influenced Arnold Schoenberg, Benjamin Britten, Dmitry Shostakovich, and other artists that have contributed to revolutionary music.
The performance consists of several presentations by different artists, but we would be focusing on the presentation of the Sonata and Violin of Leos Janacek, which was performed by Max Tan (Violin) and Cameron Richardson-Eames (Piano). This particular sonata has a structure that is composed of Con moto, Balada, Allegretto and Adagio. The style pieces is comprised of the Romantic period from the early 20th Century. The instrument used for this presentation was a violin and piano.