Shostakovich bust, Leningrad
Man With A Movie Camera, 1929, score by Shostakovich
Shostakovich, Alexander Sitnikov, 1985
25 September 2006 marks the centenary of Dmitri Shostakovich's birth. The great Russian composer, who died on 9 August 1975, produced his First Symphony at the age of 19, taught at the Moscow and Leningrad Conservatives, and wrote more than thirty-five film scores. But as his star rose, he caught the attention of the Soviet authorities, who always kept a close eye on their artists. In 1936, Stalin used the Communist Party Paper, Pravda, to denounce Shostakovich's opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk as ‘muddle not music.' From then on, the composer lived in fear of ‘disappearing' - like so many others who had displeased Stalin. In 1948 there was even a public ban of the performance of his work. Thirty years after his death, controversy remains over his political affiliations; was he an ardent supporter of Stalinism, or, as argued by many critics, does his music contain hidden dissident messages?
For more information on Shostakovich and centenary events, please see the following links:
