Dmitri Shostakovich

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

century and the most important Soviet composer, Dmitri Shostakovich created some of the most richly complex and experimental pieces of his time. His musical education and career took place entirely in the Soviet Union, where he created his greatest masterpieces including 15 symphonies and 15 string quartets. He forayed into several different mediums including compositions of concertos, ballets, motion-picture scores, and opera. In addition, Shostakovich was at often the center of controversy because

Shostakovich, like many other artists at this time, is a man who simply wants to make music, however, he faces many hardships and injustices as the Party uses him for their own benefit. Oppressive societies supress natural human instincts and treat people unjustly

Dmitri Shostakovich was Russian composer born on September 25, 1906. He was born and raised in St. Petersburg Russia. He was the second of 3 children. For the first 9 years of his life, he was not involved with music. It wasn’t until he was nine that he started actively learning and playing music, starting with piano lessons taken under his mother. From 1919-1925 he studied piano and composition at St. Petersburg Conservatory. He wrote his First "Classical" symphony as his graduation piece

In the forty-one years since his passing, Dmitri Shostakovich is one of the most widely discussed and fiercely debated composers in Western Music. His compositions are known throughout the world, and his life and morals are a discussed passionately amongst musicologists with his catalogue consisting of 15 symphonies, 15 string quartets, 37 film scores, and a number of pieces in other genres. For someone that is considered one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century, there lacks a consensus

Shostakovich, Soviets, and Suppression Scholars and artists commonly describe music as a reflection of the human condition. The period in history from the mid-1930s onward marked a tragic phase in twentieth century music and this reflection: the total politicizing of the art by totalitarianism means. Dictators, including Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, were manipulating popular culture to take control of their people. Stalin supported the idea of a “Soviet modernism,” a school of art that would

Stalin’s immense displeasure after viewing this opera precipitated the official condemnation of Shostakovich. In a Soviet newspaper, called the Pravda, Shostakovich and his opera were bitterly attacked as “formalist, bourgeois, course, and vulgar.” The article, its title directly translated to “Chaos Instead of Music” and written anonymously, describes the orchestral score as “shrieking” and claims the opera’s success abroad was due to the perverted taste of the west, rather than Shostakovich’s brilliance

question, however, is written with the intent of persuading his audience to agree with his view that composers of the time were political puppets- which could also be used as a differing viewpoint for the research essay. Mitchinson, P 2004, "Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator" Solomon Volkov. Reviewed in: 'Wishful Thinking', Nation, vol. 278, no. 17, pp. 54-57. This book review contradicts the ideas

Antonin Dvořàk Symphony No. 8 Antonin Leopold Dvorak born in Czech in 1841 he was the second major Czech composer to become recognised across the world. Although he did not come from a wealthy family Dvorak showed much musical talent. During 1857 he entered the Prague Organ School where he received in depth musical training both theoretically and instrumentally. Symphony No.8 was composed during 1889 and premiered on February 2, 1890 and conducted by Dvorak himself. It was composed in a small-town

other side of the world. Both Paul Hindemith, under the Nazi Regime, and Dmitri Shostakovich, under the communist reign of Stalin, managed to fight political oppression through their music. The two composers had very different ways of doing so. Hindemith wrote two separate pieces, one that directly opposed the Nazi regime, and another that was so nationalistic he was forgiven for his previous ‘mistakes’, whereas Shostakovich wrote a single piece which seemed just as nationalistic as Hindemith’s symphony