Have you all ever thought about Shostakovich? I played the final movement of his 5th symphony in orchestra in high school, but I didnât know he had so many crazy compositions. Iâm still trying to get my quartet to play his music. But he was writing in Russia during Stalinâs regime, and the story is actually pretty crazy. And it actually ended up effecting his music.
He wrote what he wanted, full of passion and dissonance and other unconventional elements. For example, he used Jewish folk songs in his music in opposition to the actively brewing anti-semitic culture in Russia, effectively pissing off Stalin. On the more musical side of things, his melodies were often inaccessible, (meaning Stalin couldnât sing them) and didnât sound like typical melodies of the time. But Shostakovich finally received the Soviet wrath when an important publication of the time, Pravda published a scathing article calling his opera âMuddle Instead of Music.â This article came right after Stalin heard a performance of Shostakovichâs opera âLady Macbeth of Mtsenskâ. And Pravda was known to basically be a government mouthpiece. And all of a sudden, Shostakovichâs friends started disappearing. Both because they didnât want to associate with him and because they were literally being executed. In the midst of the social rejection, a friend of Shostakovich stepped up to help. That man was party official Marshal Tukhachevsky who offered to talk to other party leaders on Shostakovichâs behalf. His act of friendship got him arrested. And shot.
Shostakovich tried to repair his public image by composing his 5th Symphony. He tried to channel all of the Soviet ideals into a single symphony, writing something to appeal to Stalin and the other Soviet party officials. The 4th movement is especially triumphant, but even contemporaries like Rudolf Barashi say that something isnât quite right, and that this expression of triumph and joy isnât genuine, but a twisted facade, and there is suffering evident in every note.
This anti-Soviet view of Shostakovich wasnât popular until his friend Solomon Volkov released his memoirs which proclaimed this version of Shostakovich unabashedly. It was quickly put into doubt by critics who pointed out the shady legitimacy of the memoirs. Were they even from Shostakovich? But several friends and family members of Shostakovich support the image of the composer as suffering anti-Soviet. âI am an admirer of Solomon Volkov. There is nothing false there [in Testimony]â says his daughter.
One reason Shostakovichâs anti-Soviet nature was doubted is because of his lack of pushback, and his docile nature outside of his music. In his music, he was progressive and striking, but in real life when interacting with others, he was quiet, humble and non-confrontational. But this could be because he feared for his life, or could simply be his nature. Rudolf Barashi said so in his interview. He said Shostakovich sat and listened as in a oerchestral rehearsal, a director changed one of his written notes to be less dissonant. He didnât speak out in this matter either.
Either way, I am hooked by the tragic and dramatic story of Shostakovichâs struggle. I hope you are too!
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