SHOSTAKOVICH, BORODIN, & TCHAIKOVSKY Notes on the composer and the pieces Dmitri Shostakovich Alexander Borodin Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
Dmitri Shostakovich: Festive Overture, Op. 96 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) was one of the greatest composers of the last century, yet for much of his life he led a dual existence as both a rebellious composer and the musical face of Josef Stalin’s Soviet Union. He walked a fine line and often worked in fear of his life. Things came to a head when his racy opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, was denounced in Pravda after Stalin attended a performance. The frightened composer responded by setting aside his audacious Fourth Symphony (written in 1936 but premiered in 1961) to produce a more conservative Fifth that he called “a Soviet artist’s response to just criticism.” The work served its purpose, but his fortunes varied from there. His Sixth Symphony (1939) was not denounced but played to mixed reviews. The Seventh (1940), dedicated to the besieged city of Leningrad, was popular and accepted by Stalin. Three years later, the dark, powerful Eighth was criticized for its pessimism, and in 1945, the Ninth’s witty reaction to the end of the war was disparaged for its alleged lack of patriotism. The last straw was when the Eighth and Ninth (and works of other composers) were banned as “formalism” in 1948. For six years after that, Shostakovich composed several safely patriotic works like The Sun Shines over the Motherland and Song of the Forest. He enjoyed writing those pieces—some were indeed quite good—but he also managed to write a few that did not fit the patriotic mold. —Roger Hecht Roger Hecht plays trombone in the Mercury Orchestra, Lowell House Opera, and Bay Colony Brass (where he is the Operations/Personnel Manager). He is a former member of the Syracuse Symphony, Lake George Opera, New Bedford Symphony, and Cape Ann Symphony. He is a regular reviewer for American Record Guide, contributed to Classical Music: Listener’s Companion, and has written articles on music for the Elgar Society Journal and Positive Feedback magazine. His latest fiction collection, The Audition and Other Stories, includes a novella about a trombonist preparing for and taking a major orchestra audition (English Hill Press, 2013). |
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