Ladan Ibrahim

Shostakovich
Shostakovich was born on the 25th of September 1906, and died in 1966 from a
heart attack. He was the second child of three children born to Dmitri
Boleslavovich Shostakovich and Sofiya Vasilievna Kokoulina.
His mother, who was a pianist herself, gave Shostakovich his first piano lessons
at age nine. During these lessons Shostakovich began pretending to play the
music in front of him, when actually playing what was previously taught to him in
another lesson, remembering clearly what he was taught. It was only a few
years later, at age thirteen, composer Alexander Glazunov, deemed
Shostakovich ready to start his studies at Petrograd Conservatory.
This was where Shostakovich became close friends with Leonid Nikolayev, his
teacher. Shostakovich perceived Nikolayev a first-class musician and a man of
great wisdom and learning, and composed a Piano Sonata in 1943 dedicated to
Nikolayev.
When Shostakovich was growing up, Russia was ruled by the Tsar Nicholas II.
Under the Tsars reign, Russia had a military and economic collapse, when
previously it was once recognised as one of the greatest powers in the world. In
this time, Russia faced defeat after defeat, like in the Russo-Japanese War, and it
wasnt long before the Tsar abdicated and received the nickname Nicholas the
Bloody by his political enemies.
However, during the time most of Shostakovichs work was being composed, two
leaders would have had an obvious effect on his material: Lenin, who wanted to
transform Russia into communist Russia, and Stalin, who after Lenins death led
the country into a dictatorship.
After The Civil War in 1919-1921, and the famine (1921-1923) that followed close
after, an estimated 6 million people died because of the severe living conditions
in Russia. The famine was a result of both War Communism, which used grain
requisitioning, and previous economic struggle during WW1, squeezing the
peasants who made up to 80% of the population, of their grain. In 1922,
Shostakovichs father had also died unexpectedly, which made matters even
more difficult for Shostakovich and his family.
Coming from bourgeois family, Shostakovichs background put him at a
disadvantage. His mother had to work thirteen hours a day after her husbands
death, and Shostakovich spent many hours after school as a silent-movie pianist
for work, to help his family.
Before Shostakovichs First Symphony premiered in 1926, Stalin had eliminated
all his political enemies after Lenins death, and the country was slowly changing
in its sleep. Stalin was countering Trotskys criticism in secret speeches, and soon
Trotsky was dropped from the Communist Party in 1926.

Ladan Ibrahim
Shostakovichs First Symphonys was an enormous success, Shostakovich even
calling the premiere his second birth. At the time his First Symphony was being
composed, which was his graduation piece that ended his studies at the
conservatory, Shostakovich wrote to a friend that his work should be called
symphony-grotesque , as he also composed the ending of his first symphony
from sheer misery.
Despite his thoughts, the symphony had gained worldwide recognition.
Following the success of his first symphony, Shostakovich was told to do a
composition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution in 1917.
Many people had believed that the anniversary was to represent what the
revolution had stood for, and not what it led to, which was why propaganda
written by Komsomol poet Aleksander Bezymensk, was commissioned by the
authorities. This propaganda placed Lenin on a platform, saving the workers from
the harsh conditions they faced.
Although Shostakovich said at the time that he always wanted to create music
that reflects our era, and the thoughts and the feelings of the Soviet person, he
thought of this as quite disgusting very bad poetry abominable

Shostakovich took a lot of inspiration from various composers, such as

Tchaikovsky, which can be seen from passing references in his First Symphony.
And also taking inspiration from Bach, he composed his own 24 preludes and
fugues in every key for the piano.
During significant parts in his later work, Shostakovich used DSCH in German
music notation to sign off where there was personal importance. This was
similar to Bach, who used the letters BACH to sign off.
Shostakovichs style of music is typical of the Romantic era, was also influenced
greatly by Beethoven, whose traditional symphonic structure, Shostakovich took
note from.
Also In 1927, Shostakovich had won First International Chopin Piano
Competition in Warsaw, despite often being criticized for his "emotional restraint"
and "riveting rhythmic drive. This had also led to him wanting to have a duel
career as a composer and a concert pianist.
Shostakovichs first and only opera, written in 1932, and performed in 1934 with
Stalin watching, received harsh criticism from the communist party newspaper
Pravda. This had resulted in performances of the opera being banned. Stalin
who was there for the performance, also walked out from the theatre.
During this time, The Red Terror was spreading through Russia, where Stalin was
making things even harder for anyone who opposed his views. Everyone had to
praise Stalin constantly, and people had to applaud every time his name was
mentioned. Anyone suspected of disloyalty was also murdered.

Ladan Ibrahim
Therefore, for Pravda, and Stalin to mock Shostakovichs work, meant the
political and cultural views the opera presented, were not the kind Stalin wanted
civilians to feel influenced by. Because of the ban on this opera, and Stalins
personal hatred, Shostakovich had become the enemy of the people. With the
rising mention of Shostakovichs work, now being greatly in the limelight for all
things wrong, Shostakovich resulted in keeping a small suitcase ready, fearing
for his life, and of arrest.
The Fifth symphony, which was composed in the summer of 1937 being one of
Shostakovichs most memorable work, it was also the first major work since the
criticism received from the opera that undermined Stalins regime at the time.
Shostakovich had created the symphony that the authorities wanted, to show the
strength of Russia while simultaneously mocking it. At the time when composing
this piece, Shostakovich also didnt know his life depended on it.
The Fifth Symphony has Four Movements, the third being the one that evoked
the most emotion. It was said the Third Movement made the audience cry
because of the sorrowful atmosphere created by the instrumentation. The
response to the Symphony was a success, receiving a standing ovation that
lasted over a half an hour after the emotional ending. The people had felt that
their struggle as a country was represented, and the authorities believed it
represented Russia as strong, so it was a win for all.