Shostakovich

Shostakovich’s compositions were literally a matter of life or death. Under Soviet rule, composers whose work was not seen as towing the party line could be liquidated, a fate met by many of his colleagues. One of these cases was a Jewish friend of his, actor Solomon Mikhoels, and he feared the same would happen to him. Despite his need for perfection, Shostakovich was known to write at an astonishing speed, and his Festive Overture was no exception. One of his most popular pieces, Festive Overture was written for a concert in November 1954 for the 37th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. The story behind its creation is quite astonishing; Shostakovich was visited in his apartment one day in autumn 1954 by

Soso Djugashvili, more commonly known as Joseph Stalin, ‘man of steel’, dictator of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Russia, can be considered a ‘Red Tsar’ to an extent when features of Stalinism are compared to those of Tsarism and Russia ruled by Nicholas II’s autocratic regime from 1894 to 1917. A ‘Red Tsar’ is a communist leader whom follows similar principles followed under the leadership of a Tsar, that were influenced by few opinions allowing sole leadership and little opposition from others. Stalin can be considered a ‘Red Tsar’ to an extent as he ruled Communist Russia as a somewhat totalitarian state and was considered a ‘God-like’ figure sent to Earth to lead the nation and its people. From Stalin’s reign of terror from 1929 to 1953 there can be similarities seen in his regime to features of Tsarism as well as differences, this is why there are alternative interpretations for Stalin being considered a ‘Red Tsar’.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the author of six symphonies and the finest and most popular operas in the Russian repertory. Tchaikovsky was also one of the founders of the school of Russian music. He was a brilliant composer with a creative imagination that helped his career throughout many years. He was completely attached to his art. His life and art were inseparably woven together. "I literally cannot live without working," Tchaikovsky once wrote, "for as soon as one piece of work is finished and one would wish to relax, I desire to tackle some new work without delay." The purpose of this paper is to give you a background concerning Tchaikovsky's biography, as well as to discuss his various works of

Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson starts with a simple strip of film presenting Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony. This symphony was what arose from incomprehensible horrors and extensive losses, just to inspire millions of people. To examine this symphony, we go back in time to see Shostakovich’s life. Born around the time of two important revolutions in the USSR, Dmitri saw much death and change. During this time, he remarkably made it into the Petrograd conservatory at twelve. He immediately found success in music with his first symphony. However, this celebrity status did not assist him in the dark times of Stalin. Numerous renowned Russian artists, including many of his friends, were purged in the Great Terror. Dying seemed close to Dmitri, and was one step away from being executed by the NKVD, the Russian Secret Service. Curiously, his fame was what saved him from being stuck in the besieged city of Leningrad when the hard times kicked in. This first rate symphony was made to honor Mother Russia, and in particular, Leningrad, for surviving the savage attacks of Germany. An ending just as bright as the third movement of his seventh symphony brought

Throughout historical times, the rule of Josef Stalin has been questioned due to his position as being one of the most popular and contentious leaders. Through the evaluation of his ruling within the Soviet Union, he can be seen as both a positive and negative ruler. His methods of changing the country following World War I were sudden, causing a complete change in societal ways of life in controversial ways. While his changes created one of the most powerful countries the world had ever seen at its’ time, they also caused for massive discontent within the citizens of Soviet Russia.

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.

This paper will cover Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s life, starting with his childhood and education, and how he grew up with music and how he pursued his interests. It will also cover how Tchaikovsky started his career as a composer and the musical aspects of his adult life. His personal life and how it shaped the way we see his music will also be included. The purpose of this written assignment is to discuss Tchaikovsky’s life and why his music is so influential and revolutionary. His compositions that were notable for its intense emotions and melodic inspiration is the reason Tchaikovsky is regarded as a master composer.

During the latter part of his life, rumors emerged of Tchaikovsky being a homosexual. This effected how his works were received, mainly in the Western part of the world. According to Poznansky, “His music began to be criticized as sentimental, romantically excessive, charged with many imperfections and even pathological” (Poznansky, 2012). It is now known that although Tchaikovsky was married to Antonina Miliukova in July 1877, their marriage lasted less than three months. Tchaikovky admits to having homosexual escapades in 1861 and even to falling in love with a student, Losif Kotek. It is quite obvious that these events have no bearing on the popularity of his work now.

The Cold War was a worldwide conflict from 1948 to 1989 which put socialist states against communist states around the world. This was a time of political hatred and for musicians this was a time of uproar and crackdowns by the government. One of the largest communist states at the time was the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) and within this state there was the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Although this group were not law makers they did hold a great deal of power within the state. “The Central Committee’s membership was elected by the party congress in which this membership ordinarily went to the holders of the most important positions in the Soviet government and economy, thereby enabling the committee to serve as the party’s chief tool within the government” (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica). In 1948, this group had made a special resolution to music which criticized many famous Soviet composers. Through this resolution there would now be strict criteria for which music was acceptable including the music had to use traditional harmony, should not be too discordant, should include folk and popular idioms, should have words, and many others. These criteria would keep the music in line therefore keeping the artists and from there the people in line. We have seen through this course that music is a very powerful motivator for not only the artist but also for the audience.

piano by playing in a serious, commanding manner as though she were playing a Russian piano

The outbreak of World War II stopped him in his tracks. Just like his father and uncle, Lutoslawksi and his brother were taken prisoner by the Germans, however, Lutoslawski was able to escape with his life. Returning to Warsaw, he was hired as the in house pianist at a café accompanying vocalists. Lutoslawski began writing transcriptions of popular classical pieces for piano duet with his friend Andrzej Panufnik, one of the most famous being Variation on a Theme by Paganini. After the war, communism spread in Poland, and Lutoslawski’s music was affected as well. Music was turned into a form of propaganda, and Lutoslawski wrote folk tunes and melodies into all of his works. His music was labelled “Formalist” and was banned from performance. To still make a living, Lutoslawski was forced to break away from his own creativity and write piano works for students and children, as well as music for the radio. The forced structure was far from what he would develop later as his signature style. A modern composer, he would blend folk rhythms and harmonies seamlessly with tone rows of his own creation, evident in his work Five Songs to Kazimiera Illakowiczowna’s Poems. Lutoslawski also delved into the world of chance music with his trademark “controlled aleatorism.” His extensive use of ad libidum created scores almost unrecognizable, and completely avant-garde. Very few at the time knew that even while Lutoslawski was made famous by his modern creations and entirely avant-garde style, he was still making a living writing music for students and pop tunes for radio and dance under the pseudonym

It is undeniable that Stalin had a profound impact on the Soviet Union following Lenin’s death. His rise to power within the Soviet Union has provided historians with a hotbed of political intrigue for many years. He was an opportunist, coming to dominance by manipulating party politics and influential figures in the politburo to eliminate his opposition by recognising and exploiting their weaknesses thus becoming the dominant leader of the Soviet Union. He was severely underestimated by other members of the Politburo about his potential within the party, leading to missed opportunities to ally and stand against him- a mistake that Stalin never made. He gained support from the public by exploiting the idea of ‘the Cult of Lenin’ in 1924 at Lenin’s funeral, and then adopting this concept for himself, thereby likening himself to Lenin; and, more importantly, gained support from other party members by following the wishes of Lenin, for example, initially supporting the continuation of the NEP and supporting the idea of factionalism. This essay will also argue that he was ideologically flexible as he was able to change his ideas for the party according to who he needed as an ally, in order to achieve dominant status in the party. He sought out which individual was the biggest threat, and eliminated them before they could stand against him.

After Dvorak left the Organ School in 1859, he basically disappeared from the public eye for twelve years until 1871, which is when he emerged back into the public as a composer. For those twelve years he spent in seclusion, he was occupied with extensive writing in the classical form (8). To much grief and disappointment Dvorak’s first son died in September and his second daughter in October of 1877. These tragic losses were experienced within his grandiose oratorio “Stabat Mater.” For the next twenty years, Dvorak was invited to other European countries to conduct performances of his own works while enduring a struggling relationship with his publisher Hitherto Simrock (7).

ATchaikovsky=s music is not only one of the cornerstones of Russian musical society and world music . . . It is at the same time a creative and technical encyclopedia to which every Russian composer has reference in the course of his own work,@ commented Dimitri Shostakovich.1 This was a typical view held by Tchaikovsky=s contemporaries. He was well known and well respected, especially in his later years. In addition, Tchaikovsky was recognized as the most expressive Romantic composer in Russia.2 He was often idolized and put on a pedestal, particularly during his tour of the United States in 1891 when he conducted concerts of his own works in some of the leading concert halls. Tchaikovsky brought national attention to

“Crude, primitive, vulgar”; “muddle instead of music”; “a cacophonous and pornographic insult to the Soviet people”. Pravda, the Soviet government newspaper, made these comments after Joseph Stalin attended a 1936 performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s opera. His second and final opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, got it him into all sorts of trouble because it denounced sexism in Russia. After this intense criticism from the government and threats of arrest, Shostakovich was forced to withdraw the premiere of his equally controversial Fourth Symphony. In order to please the government, he quickly put together a more traditional, triumphant Fifth Symphony (1937); he even referred to it as “a Soviet artist’s reply to just criticism.”