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Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975) Background Shostakovich was born in St Petersburg on 25th September, 1906, and was the son of an engineer. He developed great skills at the piano at an early age, and entered the Petrograd Conservatory at age 13, studying under Maximilian Steinberg. His talents as a symphonist were recognized early on when he gained worldwide acclaim for his magnificent First Symphony in 1926. This symphony was rich in orchestration and on a grand-scale. Over the next few years, Shostakovich became a well-respected composer and pianist. Works following his first symphony include the opera The Nose (1928), the ballet The Golden Age (1930), and a pair of symphonies illustrating recent Russian history. The first was called October (1927) and the other was May Day (1931). |
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Criticism from the authorities It was with his opera Lady Macbeth of Mzensk (1932) that Shostakovich ran into trouble with the Soviet authorities. Although experimental work in all the arts had been encouraged in Russia in the 1920's, the 1930's marked a time when heavy restrictions in the arts prevented Russian composers from exploring new ideas involving modernisation of music. Shostakovich was one of the first to be criticised for using modern elements in his works. His Lady Macbeth of Mzensk and Pravda operas almost cost him his job as a composer, and as a result, his life was practically ruined. Shostakovich was forced to go back to old formulas and methods, and his Fifth Symphony was the first of his works to demonstrate this new direction. He described the work as 'a Soviet artist's reply to just criticism', and the piece won the approval of the public and even the authorities. Later life and works Shostakovich became a teacher of composition in the Leningrad Conservatory in 1937, and in 1941 he composed his 7th Symphony, the Leningrad, in the midst of the war. Two years later, Shostakovich settled in Moscow, teaching composition at the Conservatory. It was in the mid-1940's that Shostakovich produced some of his greatest works. These include the Eighth symphony (1943), the Piano Trio (1944), and the Violin Concerto No.1 (1947-48). Shostakovich suffered yet another blow during the Cold War when Russian authorities decided to become stricter on new works being produced. At a Moscow conference in 1948, leading Soviet composers, including Shostakovich, were heavily attacked and disgraced. He still continued composing, later producing works such as his String Quartets numbers 4 (1949) and 5 (1951), and his Tenth Symphony in 1953. This work was another bold attempt at breaking away from old rules and methods, and despite the fact that it was 'morally wrong', the work achieved the same praise as his Fifth. He completed his 13th symphony in 1962, and his 14th in 1969 (a cycle of eleven songs about death). He visited the United States in 1949 and in 1958 toured western Europe. The European tour included Italy, where he had been elected an honorary member of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and Great Britain, where he received an honorary doctorate of music at the University of Oxford. He was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society's Gold Medal in 1969. He died in Moscow, 1975. Hidden messages Dmitri Shostakovich was a true master of his art, combining the colorful orchestral techniques of past Russian masters such as Rimsky-Korsakov with a highly intellectual sense of counterpoint and form. His music is uniquely dark and ominous, but there are many passages of bitter irony and sharp wit. The tantalising emotional ambiguity of his music has made him one of the most controversial figures in modern music. Was he a good Soviet who believed in the Communist cause, or was he deeply anguished by the oppressive restrictions placed on himself and his art? Recent research into the hidden 'meanings' behind his compositions suggests the latter, but it looks like he is going to keep historians guessing for a long time to come. Back to top of page |
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