I don’t often write about classical music; the life of Shostakovich is an exceptional case though, especially with a book so titled, for as with jazz musicians in the shadow of racism, Dmitri Shostakovich lived in the shadow of Stalin. Reading the book encouraged me to revisit Shostakovich’s symphonies, starting with the First in F minor, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein conducted Deutsch Grammophon edition. The symphony was actually submitted for the precocious musician and writer’s composition diploma. Brian Morton suggests a Stravinsky influence, ‘Petrushka’ in particular, in the opening two movements and Tchaikovsky in the third and fourth. The triplets of doomy piano chords are described by Moron as “vicious” and “a disgruntled response”. The ‘coded life’ referred to in Morton’s book might have attracted the censor’s attention here, and on the lento part that the author suggests might signify “the fading of innocent political hope”. The mood is certainly ‘down’. Stalin and his Politburo may well have approved of the more optimistic and upbeat moments. Morton reminds us that there were four curtain calls at its premier, a blessing and a curse for the young Shostakovich as Stalin did not like to be upstaged by anyone. The gifted young composer also had to take care as his popularity grew, having to be very guarded in what he said even in visits to Europe (once in Edinburgh, a fact I had not picked up on before), and in so doing incurring the suspicion of fellow artists that he was prepared to ‘sell out’ which was not really the case. Tragically, some of his musical friends eventually fell foul of the ‘state’, i.e. Stalin.
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