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» Add News | Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer most prominent during the Soviet era, born on September 25th, 1906 inSt.Petersburg. His life and times extend into some very complex social dwellings, and often question many ethical andmoralnorms. His mother first noticed a peculiar amount of musical talent, particularly for the piano, at just the modest ageofeight. During his teens, he went on to compose a lot of music, after having being solely trained by his mother. At justtheage of thirteen he was accepted into the Petrograd Conservatory of Music.After his final graduation there, he went on t ...read more
Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer most prominent during the Soviet era, born on September 25th, 1906 inSt.Petersburg. His life and times extend into some very complex social dwellings, and often question many ethical andmoralnorms. His mother first noticed a peculiar amount of musical talent, particularly for the piano, at just the modest ageofeight. During his teens, he went on to compose a lot of music, after having being solely trained by his mother. At justtheage of thirteen he was accepted into the Petrograd Conservatory of Music.After his final graduation there, he went on to pursue a career mainly in composition, but also that of a concert pianist. Hisplaying style was widely regarded as immoral to many of the compositions he played of other composers. This publicrejectionled him to quickly move solely into composition, and more importantly, concert performer of his sole works only. While such apublic reaction would have scared his persona, it did give him the necessary push towards a career that wouldland him inmore comfortable terrain.From 1926, to 1932, Shostakovich composed four symphonies, among other works. His first, composed at the age of 20wasa minor success, and from then on, consequent symphonies further gained him wider musical approval. He wasn'thoweverwithout his critics, who were quick to reject much of his music as recycled Mahler material. Certainly forShostakovich, themusic of Mahler, Stravinsky and Prokofiev played a major part in his musical development, but to simplydenounce his music asrecycled material nowadays is widely disregarded.Unfortunately for him, and many others, he himself was quickly denounced within his own homeland. The everincreasinglypowerful iron fist of Joseph Stalin’s regime was gouging the landscape wherever it touched. The result of thisbattering ofmedia criticism was his Fifth Symphony - a reply of sorts to that criticism. The fifth saw a much moreconventionalsymphonic approach, perhaps a last effort to silence the crowd. Four years later, World War II plagued much ofEurope, andthe infamous Siege of Leningrad took hold upon the city's populace. During this increasingly uncertain time, hecomposed theinitial movements of his Seventh Symphony whilst waiting out the German attacking force for over two years. His seventh, iscertainly his most patriotic musical attempt with its four movement structure heralding the titles "War,""Memories," "MyNative Field," and finally "Victory," celebrating thelift of the siege.Even though his seventh served for him a celebration of freedom, or at least that of his fellow citizens, his music wasstillgenerally restrained. It wasn't until Stalin's death in 1953 that saw the liberation of many artists to finally be able toexpressthemselves in a manner they dictated. For that reason, Shostakovich produced many illustrations of the time, fromhis PianoConcerto No. 2, to his widely acclaimed Tenth Symphony and other chamber works. Also during this time his workfinallypushed through the barriers so many government committees placed before him.In 1960, he joined the Communist Party, which for many concluded the belief that he was merely giving into topoliticalpressure at the time. Such a dramatic move still generates ill responses amongst the public to this day. Despitepressurefrom his third wife and relatives to give up bad habits such as heavy drinking and smoking, Shostakovich maintainedhis usualstubbornness towards his health. Unfortunately, this deemed that his later life was to be spent mostly undermedicalsupervision as he was now suffering from chronic illness, meaning also that his musical ties were coming to a slow andgrindinghalt. After finally composing his Fifteenth Symphony in 1971, again a return to his earlier influences ofimpressionistcomposers, Shostakovichdied from a length battle with lung cancer on August 9th, 1975.He left behind a musical legacy for his son in particular who went on to perform and record many of his works. As well ashisacclaimed symphonies, he also composed a large file of film music, wrote a classic yet Shostakovich driven 24 PreludesandFugues, as well as two operas, an array of concertos and countless other works. Most are rarely performed, howeversomestill continue to make their mark upon society to this day, such as those which were used at the 2004 Olympic’sopeningceremony. While his music a lot of the time spoked as blips on the radar, Shostakovich’s music will always continueto inspirethe current generation of composers, who commonly attribute him as one of their major influences. « hide |
Similar Bands: Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Mahler, Anton Bruckner |
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| LPs |  | String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat minor, op. 144
1974
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 | Symphony No.15 in A major, Op.141
1972
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 | String Quartet No. 14 in F-sharp major, op. 142
1972
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 | Symphony No. 14, Op. 135
1969
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 | String Quartet No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 138
1969
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 | String Quartet No. 12 in D-flat major, Op. 133
1968
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 | Cello Concerto No.2 in G minor, Op.126
1966
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 | String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 122
1966
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 | String Quartet No. 9 in E-flat major, op. 117
1964
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 | String Quartet No. 10 in A-flat major, op. 118
1964
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 | Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113
1962
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 | Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112
1961
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 | String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108
1960
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 | String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110
1960
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 | Cello Concerto No.1 in E♭ major, Op.107
1959
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 | Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102
1957
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 | Symphony No. 11 in G Minor,
1957
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 | String Quartet No. 6 in G major, Op. 101
1956
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 | Suite for Variety Orchestra
1956
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 | The Gadfly Suite, Op. 97a
1955
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 | Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
1953
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 | String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 92
1952
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 | String Quartet No. 4 in D major, op. 83
1949
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 | Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.77
1948
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 | String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73
1946
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 | Symphony No. 9 in E-flat major, op. 70
1945
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 | String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68
1944
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 | Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65
1943
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 | Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60
1942
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 | Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57
1940
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 | Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54
1939
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 | String Quartet No. 1 in C major, Op. 49
1938
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 | Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
1937
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 | Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
1936
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 | Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Op.29
1934
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 | Piano Concerto No.1 in C minor, Op.35
1933
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 | Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 20
1930
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 | Opera: The Nose, Op.15
1928
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 | Symphony No. 2 in B major, Op. 14
1927
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 | Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10
1925
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| EPs |  | The Execution of Stepan Razin, Op.119
1964
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 | Overture on Russian and Kyrgyz Folk Themes, Op.115
1963
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 | Concertino for 2 pianos in A minor, Op. 94
1953
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 | 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op.87
1951
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 | Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67
1944
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 | Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2
1938
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 | Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op. 40
1934
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 | Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1
1934
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 | 24 Preludes, Op.34
1932
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 | Ballet: The Bolt, Op.27
1931
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| Compilations |  | Jansons: Complete Symphonies [EMI.10]
2006
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 | The Best of Shostakovich [Naxos.CD]
1997
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Contributors: FR33L0RD, Greem, dariosoares, GiaNXGX, liledman, taylormemer, Jom, Sowing, ReefaJones, SandwichBubble, Snowdog808, forkliftjones, Skull917, Pon, Havey,
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