Shostakovich & Other Russians. Session Three Bob Fabian LIFEcourses.ca/Shostakovich

Transcription

1 Shostakovich & Other Russians Session Three Bob Fabian LIFEcourses.ca/Shostakovich

2 Plan for session Housekeeping October 1917 Eisenstein film (intro) Left behind Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Stravinsky 1917 Musical establishment Rachmaninoff Harvest of Sorrow (intro) Glazunov, Myaskovsky, etc Enter Shostakovich Close Up part 1 Symphony No. 1 Opera The Nose

3 Housekeeping 3rd hour 10 minute break, then we talk, continue with a video started in class, or listen to what you bring Course limitation Can, at best, cover selected composers I don't have the knowledge to do better And YouTube doesn't cover everything Certainly not with good/great video Don't assume everything was covered Keep exploring

4 Very partial list

5 Another smidgen of history 989 Vladimir I, decided in favor of Greek Orthodoxy 1695 Peter the Great, became the Tsar Effort to modernize, founded St. Petersburg 1762 Catherine the Great, coup against her husband Because it allowed alcohol? Initially continued Peter the Great's reforms 1789 (French Revolution) reforms reversed 1812 Napoleon's disastrous invasion

6 Continuing smidgen 1861 Alexander II officially abolished serfdom 1905 War with Japan, growing unrest, concessions granted Very limited practical effect Nicholas II attempted to reverse reforms after war 1912 Social Democrats split into Bolsheviks & Menshiviks 1914 Very unsuccessful entry into WW I Demoralizing defeats, food shortages, economic collapse

7 More smidgen February 1917 Riots in St. Petersburg Duma approved new Provisional Government March 1917 Tsar abdicated, his brother abdicated the next day October 1917 Lenin & workers stormed the Winder Palace 1920 Civil war ended, Bolsheviks in power Highly creative & innovative work in arts & sciences 1924 Lenin dies, increasing central control Civil war, White Russians in opposition Beginning of control of thought in arts & sciences 1925 Shostakovich Symphony No. 1

8 October 1917 Directed by Sergei Eisenstein Music by Dmitri Shostakovich Released

9 Not everyone applauded Sergei Rachmaninoff Last great Russian romantic Entered conservatory at age of 10 5 works for piano & orchestra 3 symphonies 24 études for piano Troubled life & career With some fame & success 1917 left Russia 1943 died in California

10 The Russia left behind

11 The 1917 musical establishment Alexander Glazunov Director, St. Petersburg Conservatory, Left Russia in 1928 Taught Shostakovich Reconciled Russian nationalism and cosmopolitanism Violin Concerto in A minor, Hilary Hahn

12 Nikolai Myaskovsky "Father of the Soviet Symphony" Awarded Stalin prize five times 27 symphonies, 13 string quartets, 9 piano sonatas Retained connection to Prokofiev during Prokofiev's exile CBS survey in 1935: Myaskovsky would be among the top 10 composers in 100 years Others: Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Ravel, de Falla and Fritz Kreisler.

13 Myaskovsky - String Quartet 13 "From the opening bars of the quartet and over the pulsing 8th notes in the viola and second violin, the cello brings forth a rising melody--it is like a prayer, humble and resigned, yet fervent. There is no mistaking that this is a masterpiece." State Borodin Quartet, St Petersburg, November

14 The truth about Shosakovich Free, 326 page pdf download

15 The real truth(s) What was the motivation of the composer, at the time of composition? What did the composer believe was motivating him/her, at the time of composition? What did the composer say was motivating him/her? In the future, how would the composer explain his/her motivation? In the future, how would others explain the composer's motivation?

16 After Shostakovich's death

17 Range of explanations Shostakovich was a loyal communist and always followed the party line or Shostakovich consistently opposed Stalin's oppressive artistic dictates or Some of Shostakovich's music was composed in intentional opposition to the party line

18 A film portrait Directed by Oliver Becker, 2006 (part 1 of 6)

19 Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri's father was middle-class and liberal (chemist in the civil service) Dmitri entered St. Petersburg conservatory at age 13 In 1926 he graduated and his first symphony was performed Symphony No. 1, LSO, Gergiev

20 Early revolutionary years Time of great creativity in the arts and the sciences Vassily Kandinsky - Composition 6 Lev Vygotsky Psychologist

21 The Nose The Nose is Shostakovich's first opera, a satirical work completed in 1928 The plot concerns a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own Based on Nikolai Gogol's story of the same name (1836) Very far from socialist realism Moscow Chamber Opera Theatre Chorus & Orchestra

22 Next week Prokofiev returns to Russia Was Stravinsky/Prokofiev Became Shostakovich/Prokofiev 1936 denunciation of Shostakovich The first string quartet is composed 1939 Weinberg seeks refuge in USSR Then comes World War II Heroic symphonies from Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Myaskovsky,...and a host of others