Shostakovich: The Moral Conscience of Russia Masterarbeit

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1 Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz Institut 3 Saiteninstrumente Shostakovich: The Moral Conscience of Russia Masterarbeit Elizabeth MacCorquodale Supervisor: Univ.Prof. Mag.phil. Dr.phil. Ernst Hötzl

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3 2 Abstract: This thesis paper concentrates on the historical background of Shostakovich s music and his relationship with one of the most dangerous dictators ever to exist: Joseph Stalin. From the musical examples of Shostakovich s symphonies, quartets and opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, this paper demonstrates how his music represents a chronicle of the history of the Soviet Union during the 20 th century. Each composition depicts the political climate of the time, the specific issues or events which were occurring and the overall sentiment of the people. In effect, Shostakovich was the voice for his people as he exposed the evils of Stalin s terror through his music while almost everyone else who wished to live remained in silence. Looking beyond the music, this paper discusses the many disconcerting issues which Shostakovich raises as he protested against tyranny in the name of morality and humanity. Abstrakt: Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit dem geschichtlichen Hintergrund von Schostakowitschs Musik und seiner Beziehung zu einem der gefärlichsten Diktatoren die je existiet haben: Joseph Stalin. Anhand der Beispiele von Anhand der Beispiele von Schostakowitschs Symphonien,, Quartetten und seiner Oper Lady Macbeth vom Mtsenk Gebiet, zeigt diese Arbeit wie seine Musik eine Chronik der Geschichte der Sowietunion wärend des 20ten Jahrhunderts darstellt. Jede der Kompositionen stellt ein Politisches Klima ihrer Zeit dar, die spezifischen Angelegenheiten oder Geschehnisse die gerade stattfanden und die allgemeine Stimmung des Volkes. Tatsächlich war Schostakowitsch die Stimme seines Volkes, da er das Übel von Stalins Terror durch seine Musik exponierte, wärend weitgehend jeder Andere der den Wunsch hatte zu überleben schwieg. Über die Musik hinausblickend behandelt diese Arbeit die vielen beunruhigenden Probleme die Schostakowitsch Aufstellt während seines Protestes gegen Tyrannei im Namen der Moral und der Menschlichkeit.

4 3 Table of Contents: Introduction..p.3 Chapter 1: His Life...p.6 Chapter 2: Soviet History through Shostakovich s 15 Symphonies p.13 Chapter 3: Lady Macbeth and the Campaign against Formalism...p.35 Chapter 4: Shostakovich s intimate side through his 15 quartets p.43 Chapter 5: Shostakovich the yurodivy..p.55 Conclusion...p.68 Bibliography.p.71

5 4 Introduction A child of the Soviet state, Shostakovich grew up in what he considered to be an insane asylum of a country in which Communist ideology destroyed all spiritual and moral values. The church had no place in society after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and Russian culture became aggressively body centered. Immediately following the Bolshevik coup, the propaganda wheels started spinning to produce a society empty of morality and spirituality. Priests were shot and monasteries torn down. The importance of the individual diminished as the collective masses dominated and human behavior became rigidly prescribed. A few years after Stalin s take over; horror spread the land as people were being arrested, exiled and killed on false accounts of betrayal towards the system. Shostakovich watched friends being taken away to the purges never to return again. Entire families were disappearing as Stalin rapidly destroyed an entire nation in the span of just one decade. These were unimaginably cruel times especially for Shostakovich who lived almost his entire life in fear of being exiled or killed. Stalin, who took a special interest in Shostakovich, would play strange games with Shostakovich; at times he would single the composer out with intense critical attacks of his works, and at other times showered him with gifts and awards. Always kept on a tight leash, Shostakovich faced a lifetime of restrictions and deadly limitations. Many marvel at how Shostakovich managed to endure Stalin s repression while keeping his sanity and creating countless works of artistic genius. However after studying his works, one can see that it was his music making which allowed him to remain sane and survive through the terror. In a society where nobody could speak the truth without punishment, Shostakovich used his music to express himself. All of those built up feelings of frustration, anger, sadness, boredom, and love, all unrecognizable feelings in a communist society, could be unleashed in his music. Not only did Shostakovich express his own feelings, but also those of the general public. Shostakovich became the representative voice and witness to what was going on in his motherland during the Stalinist terror. His music speaks of the horrid truths of Russia in the 20 th century. As his life coincided with and reflected the rise and fall of the Stalinist Soviet regime, so did his music. Completely paralyzed under

6 5 totalitarian dictatorship as an artist of limited freedom, Shostakovich nevertheless managed to record a chronology of Russian history through the scores of his music. Playing the part of the holy fool Shostakovich revealed the truth of what was going on in front of him and dared to challenge the supreme powers. Shostakovich spoke through his music. For me, every note is a word. From childhood, we have been taught as musicians to understand what composers are trying to tell us. Music influences us immediately without words. 1 Shostakovich s most public works were his Symphonies which focused on the social events and sentiments at the time of composition. Shostakovich looked reality in the eye and recorded what he saw with wry understatement and enormous tragic force. 2 In his earlier symphonies he relied more on the open street revolutionary spectacles of the day, however as the dynamism of the revolution increased, the political events became much more wide spread and inescapable. Some of his symphonies are dedicated to the revolutionary events of 1905 and 1917; another is dedicated to the battle for Leningrad and another to the prisoners at Babi-Yar. He protested contemporary issues through his symphonies always pushing the boundaries of what was permitted of him to express. Through his music he fought in the name of morality, humanity and love. He was a man of truth and never allowed his morals, friendship and acquaintances to be pushed aside in the name of communism and conformity. Because his symphonies were very public, Shostakovich experienced much scrutiny from the high authorities, sometimes putting his life on the line. Despite the enormous pressure Shostakovich experienced, he never crumbled under the belt of corruption. He remained a figure of enormous moral strength his entire life. Taking a look into Shostakovich s string quartets, one becomes acquainted with the private and intimate nature of the composer. This is where he expressed his feelings towards the people and events which stood close to his heart. He did not have to worry nearly as much about their public reception as his quartets did not gather the degree of public attention that his symphonies did. This gave him more freedom to compose how he wished and about 1 Ho, Allan Benedict, Dmitry Feofanov, and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Shostakovich Reconsidered. [London]: Toccata, Print. P.401 Quote by Maxim Shostakovich 2 MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, Print. p.294 Quote by Ian MacDonald

7 6 whatever subject matters he desired. In times of intense public pressure and chaos, Shostakovich could hide himself in the composition of his latest string quartet to feed his artistic soul. Between both his Symphonies and his string quartets, Shostakovich has become one of the most important and intriguing composers of the 20 th century. Raising challenging and exciting issues which speak beyond the music, Shostakovich was more than just a composer. He was a political figure which protested against mass oppression and all of the corruption which it entails and fought for a society of high moral and humane standards. Shostakovich s music taps into our most fundamental, primal fear: the destruction of the self by outside forces, the fear of life being pointless and meaningless, and the sheer evil that may be found in one s fellow man. 3 Shostakovich stands as a highly unique individual who was not only an artist but a moral role model in the face of mass destruction. 3 Lawrence Hansen, American Record Guide, September-October 2000, p.212

8 7 1. The Life of Dmitri Shostakovich The story of Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich and his struggle against the terrifying regime of Stalin and his Communism is one of heroism, uniqueness, and that of The tragic horror of a trapped genius. 4 No other situation in the history of western music can compare to the incredible oppression and manipulation to which Shostakovich endured and survived throughout his entire life. From very early on, he lived under the constant surveillance of Stalin, and with every composition, he ran the risk of being condemned and put to death. Despite the fact that he did not always keep Stalin satisfied, and in fact underwent attacks for his formalistic writing, he survived the purges and came out a prevailing hero. Shostakovich s story raises intriguing issues that go far beyond the music. His story deals with issues which pertain to humanity, morality, and the strength and importance of one s conscience and soul. As Soviet Russia s number one composer, Shostakovich was placed in a paradoxical position of great praise and admiration, yet great life threatening risk and overwhelming expectations. He was a very complex and contradictory figure, a victor and a victim, a man of courage yet unrelenting fear and anxiety, a sarcastic character but very grave and on and on. The list could go on forever, as he was a man of unlimited colors and extremes. Due to the censorship of the Communist regime however, and the shameless use of propaganda, the image of Shostakovich has become extremely distorted over the years. During his life time, Soviet Russia had proclaimed him to the rest of the world to be a great supporter of Stalin and his Communist Regime, devoting his lifetime to the active involvement and promotion of it. Ironically, Shostakovich had also been savagely attacked on many accounts by Stalin and his followers for being the ultimate anti-people composer guilty of formalism and socialist realism. 5 After his death, the academic circles in the United States 4 Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitrievich, and Solomon Volkov. Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. New York: Harper & Row, Print Quote by Yehudi Menuhin 5 Ibid. p. IX

9 8 were declaring him to be perhaps Soviet Russia s most loyal musical son. 6 Shostakovich s image was being stretched and pulled in many different directions to create an image of a man who supported a regime which so brutally attacked him and put him under the constant fear of death. This unrealistic perspective seemed to have been accepted until a book claiming to be the real memoirs of Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich by Solomon Volkov was released into print shortly after his death crushing all previous theories and ideas about the composer. A drastically new image of an anti-communist Shostakovich who denied allegiance to the Communist Party and any assumed sympathy towards the Soviet system. As stated in his memoirs, I never tried to flatter the authorities with my music. And I never had an affair with them. I was never a favorite, though I know that some accuse me of it. They say that I stood too close to power. An optical illusion. 7 Despite suspicions against the authenticity of these memoirs, a more realistic portrait of a human being who had survived a life of horror under a dangerous regime had been presented to the world. Since then, much intensive research has been devoted towards discovering the true portrait of an unbelievably unique and fascinating composer. Shostakovich was born in Leningrad in Although his parents were not professional musicians, his mother was an amateur pianist and it was only a matter of time before she sat young Dmitri in front of a piano to see how he would respond. Apparently at first the only things which caught his attention were the gipsy songs that his father would perform on his Spanish guitar. It was not until the age of nine that music really began to impinge on his awareness. Thereafter-in the way that some cheerfully shrug off as the ineffable mystery of genius and others find simply eerie-he commenced to work out most of it for himself, learning to read music with remarkable speed and becoming sufficiently adept at the keyboard to graduate to Bach s Preludes and Fugues by the age of eleven. 8 The urge to compose his own music came shortly after, displaying his implausible facility and talent, providing great excitement to both of his parents. What was truly remarkable was his 6 Taruskin, Richard. Defining Russia Musically: Historical and Hermeneutical Essays. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, Print., p Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitrievich, and Solomon olkov. Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. New York: Harper & Row, Print., p.94 8 MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, Print. p.22

10 9 memory. On several occasions, he displayed a remarkable ability to remember what his mother had played at the previous lesson, and would get "caught in the act" of pretending to read, playing the previous lesson's music when different music was placed in front of him. 9 It did not take long for his parents to realize that they had a remarkable son, and he was soon sent to study at the Petrograd Conservatoire by the age of 13 (the youngest at the time to be accepted) under the instruction of Leonid Nikolayev for piano and Maximilian Steinberg for composition. 10 Shostakovich s abilities and accomplishments as a child were an impressive affair and certainly earned himself the title of a child prodigy. However, to Shostakovich, his childhood seemed irrelevant and of no interest. The young aren t interested in my childhood. And they re absolutely right. It may be interesting to know about Mozart s childhood, because it was unusual, and because his creative life began so early. But in my biography the events that could possibly be of some interest come much later. My childhood had no significant or outstanding incidents. 11 years of study at the Petrograd Conservatory were not always easy and provided many challenges for him both professionally and personally. On a professional level, Dmitri was often pitted against the very conservative musical outlooks of the professors of the Petrograd Conservatory whom often disregarded his efforts and ideas. He also experienced troubles in his political academic classes which complicated his student status at times. However these problems proved to be of such minimal struggle in comparison to the struggles which lied ahead of him. In 1922, Shostakovich s dad died of pneumonia, leaving the family in a desperate situation. Shostakovich began working as an accompanist/composer for silent films to help provide for his family while continuing his studies at the conservatory. As Shostakovich put it, his film work was simply mechanically depicting human passions on the piano. 12 His health declined steadily from overwork, lack of food and warmth and soon the onset of tuberculosis began to make its appearance. He was in and out of the hospital constantly throughout his studies and continued to suffer serious money problems. 9 Laurel Fay (2000), Shostakovich: A Life, p MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, Print., p Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitrievich, and Solomon olkov. Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. New York: Harper & Row, Print. p.6 12 Quoted in: D. Shostakovich, O vremeni I o sebe (Moscow, 1980) p.11

11 10 The extensive efforts and tireless devotion of the prestigious composer/director of the Petrograd Conservatory, Alexander Glazunov, towards the support and advancement of the young Shostakovich was an incredible source of stability and protection for the Dmitri. Glazunov s particularly active involvement in Shostakovich ranged from his personal growth as a composer of individual taste and skill to the support required to combat government bureaucracy and financial problems. Shostakovich graduated from the conservatory in 1925, stamping his mark as a composer of international stature with his graduation composition Symphony No.1. Premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic, accolades were heard all over the world as his composition made its way into western spotlight under the baton of such conductors as Bruno Walter and Arturo Toscanini. Shostakovich s reputation quickly escalated to one of the favored composers of the Communist Regime receiving commissions for various projects, predominantly for incidental music and film scores. His financial situation improved dramatically during the next few years and the receptions of his works were for the most part, positive. It was not until 1930 that Shostakovich received his first major criticism for his opera The Nose. These criticisms were more a reflection of the political atmosphere at the time rather than the actual worth of the composition itself, a pattern which dominated his career ever since the Bolshevik Revolution in From then on, his music and the success and failures which he experienced corresponded completely with the rise and fall of the Soviet communist regime. Shostakovich experienced his greatest freedom during the years of the New Economic Policy when Lenin was attempting to bring relief to the USSR by opening the country up to outside influences and modest international cooperation. Lenin realized that he needed some of the old bourgeois expertise to regain influence and power and so during the years new opportunities arose. Composers were permitted to experiment with the new avant-garde techniques of expressionism, futurism and so on, they were permitted to travel, to send works out for publication in Vienna and many artists were invited to come to the USSR for performances. It was during these times that Shostakovich wrote his first 3 symphonies which are known today to be Shostakovich s most non-traditional and experimental of his symphonic works.

12 11 The years following his graduation, the climate began to change with a gradual switch from Lenin s dictatorship to Stalin s. This translated into Shostakovich s role switch as well. He was expected to aid Stalin in his propaganda extravaganzas by writing screen music for films aimed towards the promotion of the USSR and communism. This was to be Shostakovich s main duty as one of the top composers in the USSR and when individual projects began creeping into the picture (such as the ballet The Bolt and the opera Lady Macbeth) taking his attention away from film music, the attacks began. Gradually, the more powerful Stalin became as dictator, the more obsessive he became in the control of the arts. Official starting with the Cultural Revolution in 1928, he began directing the creative artists of the USSR to produce works exactly as he pleased and eventually by 1930, one could say that creative style had been completely turned into a rigid formula or prescription. At the Congress on Proletarian Art held in Kharkhov in Nov. 1930, Leopold Averbakh, leader of RAPP, had dictated a set of formulations to be adhered to without question. Art, now denied as a class weapon, was to be collectivized and organized on a military model, all remnants of individualism and other petit-bourgeois attitudes being replaced by discipline 13 This affected all artists at the time, and Shostakovich was of no exception. Although given slightly more freedom than others due to his success with his film works and symphonic compositions, Shostakovich was extremely aware of what was happening to the arts in the USSR. The gradual increase in artistic restrictions started reflecting in Shostakovich s works around this time, especially the influences of the new body culture being promoted. The abolition of the soul, as many claimed it to be. 14 This movement was a result of Bolshevik ideology which promoted materialism and debunked values such as freedom, truth, honor, conscience and the human soul in attempt to erode inner values and to create a shallow society. Physical needs took precedence over spiritual needs and little by little society moved further away from the Church. The effect was to usher in a materialistic phase in which Russian culture became aggressively body-centered MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, Print p Ibid. p Ibid, p.47

13 12 Shostakovich s music began to relate to the surrounding environment around him, focusing on themes such as feminism, murder, corruption and promiscuity. His opera Lady Macbeth focused primarily on issues of feminism, and his ballet The Bolt on corruption. His first piano concerto reflects the frenetic world of Soviet materialism with its comic turns and raspberries ring mastered by the trumpet. 16 His compositional style also began showing resemblance to the growing body culture with use of more gestural, geometric textures and music-without-emotional-structure and less use of romantic lyricism and fantasy. This, however was not enough for Stalin, and in 1936, Shostakovich was attacked in the newspaper Pravda accused of writing anti-people music of inappropriate subject matter and compositional taste. The ability of good music to enthrall the masses has been sacrificed on the altar of petit-bourgeois formalism. Such games can only finish badly, charged the editorial. After this blow, things completely changed for Shostakovich. He was now officially on death row and under the watchful eye of Stalin at a dangerous level. Shostakovich ceased all compositional output which could be of any possible threat to his life and focused only on what Stalin ordered if any hope of keeping his life still existed. He turned to the theatre to vomit out more propaganda film music to keep his head on and prove himself a useful asset to the promotion of the Communist regime. Shostakovich s cinematic work was probably the one thing that kept Shostakovich alive when others close to him were perishing. Although it was the lowest of his compositional output, full of rubbish as he would call it, (including waltzes, disneyesque vocalizes and funeral or triumphal marches of pompous, cymbal-crashing banality) it was his most appreciated works under the shameless artistic direction of Stalin. 17 Shostakovich also put his 4 th symphony away in a desk and presented to Stalin his plans of a Symphony which would celebrate the USSR as a heroic nation and show attribute to those lost in battle. Shostakovich s compositional style after his Pravda attacks in 1936 up until Stalin s death in 1953 consisted of a much more traditional structural writing style full of mass songs, superficial positivity, little experimentation and as pleasing to Stalin s taste as 16 Ibid. p Ibid. p.92

14 13 possible without completely compromising Shostakovich s true desires as a creator of art. Anything that could cause controversy (such as his quartets) were hidden from the public and not released until after Stalin s death. Shostakovich s incredible talent as a composer saved his life, as he knew exactly how to compose a work to please any personality. His Symphony No.5 was a great success and thus put Shostakovich s life back into rollercoaster mode as he went back and forth from receiving awards to criticism in unpredictable patterns. He received the Stalin prize in 1941 for his Piano Quartet, in 1942 for his Symphony No.7, and in 1952 for his Ten Poems for Chorus op.88. At the same time, he kept his bags packed at night and waited to for the police to come take him away at any moment. He never knew if he was going to receive honor for his compositions or be condemned to death. With his life completely at limbo, his compositional style was greatly compromised and it is often debatable whether Shostakovich was able to develop to the full his artistic capacity under such conditions. 18 It was not until Stalin s death that Shostakovich could begin to breathe again and compose through his own personal desire. Perhaps after 31 years under an iron fist, Shostakovich had exhausted a great deal of his resources, however after 8 years away from symphonic writing, Shostakovich was able to expose many works which had been hiding ins his closet before. These works included his daring 4 th symphony hidden due to its infusion of dissonant sounds characteristic of modern music, the 4 th and 5 th quartet and his song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry due to its heavy Jewish reference. After Stalin s death, Shostakovich s world became freer yet the horror of the last decade had left scars all over him. Up until his death, Shostakovich wrote another 5 symphonies and a complete set of 15 quartets which later claimed to show Shostakovich s style in its most unprohibited style, all of which focus a great deal on the theme of death and fate. Shostakovich died of lung cancer on 9 August 1975 leaving behind an unforgettable legacy to all mankind. 19 Shostakovich has become one of the most enigmatic composers in the history of western music and his story of survival is one which has undergone years of intensive research. Many questions have come to attention including, how did he, who persistently 18 Smith, Jane Stuart., and Betty Carlson. The Gift of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, Print. p Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitrievich, and Solomon olkov. Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. New York: Harper & Row, Print, p.xix

15 14 exposed the truth through his compositions, survive despite the thousands of others who were killed? How did Stalin control Shostakovich and influence his compositional style and output? How is Shostakovich s compositions influenced by the political climate at the time and what are the hidden meanings behind his musical language? One can find the answers to most of these questions simply by listening to his music. 2. Soviet History through Shostakovich s 15 Symphonies If one is to truly understand Shostakovich s personality, life and the circumstances he lived through during the Stalinist Terror, it is essential to study his outpour of compositional works. Each work cries of the tragedies and horrors which were experienced by Shostakovich s people and by his motherland. Full of struggle, pain, sorrow and bitter sarcasm, his works tear at the soul of all who listen. Shostakovich was a man who looked reality in the eye and recorded what he saw with wry understatement and enormous tragic force. 20 His art was inextricably bound up with real life and what happened around himfrom trends to actual events-was intrinsic to the dynamism of his music. 21 His repertoire of compositions acts as an eye witness to the history of a great culture and the horrifying events which it experienced over the span of 50 years. Beginning with the Bolshevik Revolution, culminating into the Great Terror of Joseph Stalin and leaving behind the bare scrapings of a country completely destroyed and stripped of all its resources and citizens. Shostakovich s music expresses much about the foundations of soviet culture in the 20 th century and its consequential destruction and decline under the Stalinist yoke. At a time when words were as good as a death threat, Shostakovich recorded history in the only way that he could, through his music. Developing a disguisable language of his own, he attempted to express himself, what he was feeling, and what his country was experiencing through his music. Making compromises to please the authorities, he would add a layer of simple folk melodies and militaristic marches to his music to distract from 20 MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, Print, p Ibid p.225

16 15 the hidden layers of truth. He was one of the few artists during the Communist reign that refused to ignore the reality of what was going on, who openly mourned over the tragedies and who addressed the immoralities of the Regime. As stated by olkov, even though circumstances inexorably pushed him towards compromise with the authorities, toward hackwork and opportunism, he did not want to turn into a pretender. He wanted to survive, but not at any price. He had to find a way out of an impossible situation. 22 Despite the fact that a portion of his works were programmed as propaganda experiments aimed at brainwashing the masses, the truth can always be found at the very core, when one listens extra carefully. What may sound like a circus of festivities and parties is actually Shostakovich making a mockery of the cacophonic Communist Regime. What may sound like the patriotic usage of march music for the masses, is actually Shostakovich despisingly mimicking the reality of living in Communist Russia and having marches droned into one s head on a daily basis. What may sound like sadness for the USSR after the attack of the Germans is actually sadness for the country that had been ruined by the inhuman regime of the Soviets and Stalin. The list of two sided interpretations could go on and on. The multiple layers of meaning in his music is one of the reasons which makes Shostakovich such a fascinating character in the history of music. It was also this multi layering compositional ability of his which kept Shostakovich alive during the years of Purges. One layer was to please the authorities, while another expressing his own true sentiments. As stated above, each of Shostakovich s works, play a significant role in the historical record of history in Soviet Russia and the changes which took place throughout the years. Looking at his symphonies in particular, each work was composed under different politically climatic conditions, each inspired by various events and each addressing various themes concerning humanity and morality. A few themes which Shostakovich raises continuously throughout his life include death, fate, tyranny, and the idea of humans acting as machines or marionettes, among others. A very interesting timeline of Soviet Russia can be heard through the music of Shostakovich. As his symphonies were public works, 22 Volkov, Solomon, and Antonina W. Bouis. Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator. New York: Knopf, Print. p.71

17 16 inspired and composed for his nation, they can be viewed as a historical recording of Russia in the 20 th century. The history of the Communist Terror created by Stalin in Shostakovich s life cannot fully be understood without studying the scores of his music, and vice versa, one cannot truly understand his music without studying the history of Soviet culture during the 20 th century. The two factors cannot exist without one another. Beginning with his first symphony, as it was his first major contribution to the artistic community of St. Petersburg, the young Shostakovich was only a student at the time of composition and yet his music had already reached a level of astonishing maturity. This is most likely in correlation with the fact that he had already been critically exposed to the great amount of political turmoil and conflict taking place in his country since the Bolshevik Revolution. Lenin had passed away, and the country had turned into a chaotic scene full of social and economic complications. The country was suffering from unemployment, starvation, and social unrest everywhere. These issues were creeping its ways into the music of Shostakovich. As asserted by the soviet musicologist marina sabinina, In the earlier symphonies especially, the young Shostakovich relied for his scheme on the revolutionary spectacles of the day, such as open street theatrics in celebration of the revolution as well as the suffering famish spreading everywhere. 23 The political situation was inevitably hitting the private homes of soviet citizens ubiquitously, including that of Shostakovich, and tragically in 1922, his dad had passed away of malnutrition. Everything that was going on during these times was essentially a result of the political atmosphere and culture in the USSR. In the end, this had proved to play a prominent role in the shaping of Shostakovich s first symphony and future works to evolve. If one is made aware of the situation in Russia, Shostakovich s music immediately becomes unbearably real. To dwelve a little into the immediate past of the Shostakovich s symphony, the Bolsheviks gained power when Shostakovich was only 11 and their influence had been well established by the time of Shostakovich s first symphony. The Bolsheviks identified the Church as responsible for the pre-revolutionary status quo and went about shooting priests, 23 Fairclough, Pauline, and David Fanning. The Cambridge Companion to Shostakovich. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, Print. p.15

18 17 and razing monasteries. Propaganda was set in motion to discredit the idea that human beings possessed a spiritual aspect which survived death. 24 This was directed towards manipulating Russian culture into becoming aggressively body-centered and materialistic. With the destruction of the soul and spiritual life, inner values began to erode and life became increasingly superficial. Proponents of the new materialism were assiduously debunking fictions like freedom, truth, honor, conscience and the sanctity of life, anyone retaining belief in the outmoded values of the soul culture automatically became identified with the past. 25 This mindset, although not yet fully manifested into Soviet Culture, had definitely crawled its way into Shostakovich s music and is detectable in the loud, chaotic, circus-like sections in his works. Sections of exaggerated excitement are a reflection of the forced happiness and superficiality of the Bolshevik body culture surrounding Shostakovich. As Shostakovich s music is full of multilayered meanings, the same passages which portray the superficial outer layers of the Bolshevik body culture, also addresses another very important theme in soviet culture during the 20th century: The idea of human beings as machines or marionettes, with their free wills bound by biology and behaviorism. 26 The human-as-puppet theme portrays the soviet society that Shostakovich was beginning to recognize, which consisted of a society with very little control over their own lives and instead are controlled by others as if they puppets. This theme, at the time of Shostakovich s first symphony had not yet reached the meaning that it would later develop into. However, examples of this are apparent after Shostakovich s fame in the 1930s, when he was forced to sign letters not written by him, answer questions in an interview not created by him, and name his symphonies by request of the soviet officials. In Wilson s A Life Remembered Marina Sabinina relates Shostakovich s reaction, after having been forced in 1948 to read out a speech of self-accusation: And I got up on the tribune, and started to read out aloud this idiotic, disgusting nonsense concocted by some nobody. Yes, I humiliated myself, I read out what was taken to be my own speech. I read like the most paltry wretch, a parasite, a puppet, a cut-out paper doll on a string!!! Sabinina continues 24 MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1990, Print, p Ibid. p Ibid. p.36

19 18 This last phrase he shrieked out like a frenzied maniac and then kept repeating it. I sat there completely dazed 27 Already evident in his first symphony is Shostakovich s multi layered style characterized by satire and tragedy. Describe by MacDonald, After the psychological circus world of disconcerting gestures and unexpected fanfares in the first two movements, the symphony unveils Shostakovich s tragic side dealing with the subjects of Fate and Death. Shostakovich pours all of his adolescent experience of mortality into its slow movement, punctuating its disconsolate sorrow with an implacably skirling tattoo of indifference. 28 The idea of human marionettes and the body culture themes were not the only political influences seen in the Soviet art of the 20th, and particularly of Shostakovich. There were many other ways that the authorities and political climate influenced, or should I say, interfered with Shostakovich s compositional style. Along with the frowning upon depth, and music from the soul, the authorities were beginning to limit artistic freedom of experimentation. Composers were persistently scolded, especially Shostakovich, for writing music outside of the traditional norm. In the Conservatory, Shostakovich felt as though creative style was being rigidly prescribed. A standard had been set by the Great Russian composers, Gluck, Rimsky Korsakov, Mussorgsky and Glazunov (to name a few), and nothing too far from this was accepted easily. Shostakovich felt limited because of this, and it was these boundaries droned into him as a student which most likely influenced the relatively traditional format of his first symphony. This moderately traditional style was soon to change in his next symphony when he decided to update his arsenal as a composer. He would no longer be working under the barriors of being a student for the composition of his 2nd symphony, and decided that while the officials were still in a period of tolerance; Shostakovich would push things further in experimentation. From the beginning of Shostakovich s career as a composer, the communist leaders had always looked upon the artistic avant-garde artists with skepticism and distrust, as it was considered petit bourgeois. The 1920s was a period in which soviet officials 27 Wilson, Elizabeth (1994). Shostakovich: A Life Remembered. Princeton University Press. P MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1990, Print, p.37

20 19 begrudgingly allowed formal experimentation in exchange for the loyalty of the avantgarde artists political loyalty. This deal would soon come to a halt when Stalin put an end to the New Economic Policy and set to motion his own personal plans. 29 Moving on to his second symphony, the political climate had changed by 1927 and new life circumstances had led to a symphony quite different from the first. After his first symphony, Shostakovich had taken residence under the special radar of the authorities, and his service in the propaganda field was just beginning. He was commissioned by the head of the Propaganda Department of the Music Sector of the State Publishing House to write a large symphonic work with a choral finale called Dedication to October for the 10 th anniversary of the October Revolution in It was to include a poem by Alexander Bezymensky, which glorified Lenin's role in the struggle against the Bourgeois culture. This was in relation to the Leninist cult that had developed in the years immediately following his death in 1925 and had been imposed by the upper ranks of the Party with great force. 31 As apparent in the text at the end of the symphony: Oh Lenin! You hammered resolve out of our misery, forged strength into our work-worn hands. You taught us, Lenin, that our destiny has but a single name: Struggle! 32 Unlike the title suggests To October, the text resembles plain and simple Bolshevik propaganda rather than Octoberiana. The factory whistle blows at the end of the choral section reinforce the Bolshevik propaganda by giving significance to the factory worker. 33 Ironically, the theme of October represented something of a contradiction to Bolshevik beliefs. As stated by MacDonald, the October theme did not refer to the literal events of October 1918, but rather the spirit of the Revolution as it existed in the minds of Russians across the political spectrum from the center to the far left. It symbolized the New Age of freedom and permanent revolution as described in the Trotskyite doctrine Volkov, Solomon, and Antonina W. Bouis. Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator. New York: Knopf, Print p Ibid. p Ibid p MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1990, Print, p Volkov, Solomon, and Antonina W. Bouis. Shostakovich and Stalin, p MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1990, Print, p.57

21 20 This contradiction of the Lenin cult pitted against the idea of freedom and permanent revolution was just the beginning of Stalin s e ambiguous career as an interventionist in the arts. As he was just freshly reigning supreme power, things were at a turning point, and this symphony demonstrates this fact very well as his first work infiltrated by forced propaganda. As recognized by the Cambridge Companion, a program of the symphony can be heard as follows: at first there is obscure chaos symbolizing the unenlightened past of the working class, then the awakening of protest, the ripening of revolutionary consciousness and finally, glorification of the October victory. The 2nd is programmatic only in a generalized sense, from a state of inertia, through purposeful activity followed by laissez faire freedom. 35 With such a program, Shostakovich was hoping to stay on good terms with the authorities, as he was beginning to notice his fellow artists disappearing from the art society of Russia. As the situation worsened by 1929, (the composition year of Shostakovich s 3rd symphony,) it is assumed that Shostakovich was attempting to gain political brownie points by composing yet another state propaganda work. Composed with chorus to a proletarian text written by the talented working-class poet Semen Kirsanov, his 3 rd Symphony was entitled The First of May. Stalin s attack on artists had already been set in motion by then with the famous example of Mayakovsky, (among others), and Shostakovich s motives to please the authorities and avoid controversy were strengthened. The honeymoon with the Soviet government was over for genuine artists. Power had come to behave as it always must: it demanded submission. 36 It was the year of the great watershed, as referred to by Stalin was the year of brutal collectivization and the beginning of the liquidation of the kulaks as a class and the implementation of the cult personality. Changes had been made in the government, Trotsky had been exiled abroad while the right opposition headed by Nikolai Bukharin was completely destroyed, leaving Stalin in supreme power. He set in motion the first of his 35 Fairclough, Pauline, and David Fanning. The Cambridge Companion to Shostakovich. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, Print. chaos to order, darkness to light p Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitrievich, and Solomon olkov. Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. New York: Harper & Row, Print. p. xxv

22 21 mass purges attacking the dossiers of Party members, checking all government workers for their degree of loyalty and potential relations with hostile elements and skimming his way down the social ladder of Russian citizens. A wave of firings and arrests were set off among the white collar professionals of Leningrad, and propaganda articles were appearing in the leading newspapers everywhere, condemning various artists who had crossed Stalin s boundaries. They were pinned as undisguised enemies of the working class, traitors, and saboteurs. Threats, arrests, and punishments had set the atmosphere in 1929, and can explain the genesis of Shostakovich s Symphony No The rapid changes in the political climate were portrayed by the rapid changes of moods in the symphony, going from energetic and a bit chaotic to nocturnal stillness. This connection also shows how the composer was automated to associate certain soundscapes with conforming emotional states and experiences. It communicates the agitation, grandiosity and driven fear of the Russia Shostakovich was growing up in. 38 The idea of Stalin s cult personality also comes through in the symphony s choral envoi, carrying a massive unanimity depicting the soviet citizens as a great personality characterized by a single idea. 39 Collectivism became the watchword in every sphere of soviet life. This included the arts, and Shostakovich was very careful not to portray too much individualism in his symphony. Keeping things externally joyful rather than intimately thoughtful was the safest way to stay out of trouble from the authorities. The cult of personality included forced optimism, a concept that was just being introduced and would be reflected in a great deal of Shostakovich s later works. 40 Following the composition of Shostakovich s third symphony, Soviet society was soon to be transformed into a world of Soviet Terror. Stalin was molding Soviet society with his very own hands and taking absolute control over absolutely everything, including the musical output of his country. With the events which followed Shostakovich s opera Lady Macbeth composed in 1934, nothing would be the same again. 37 MacDonald, Ian. The New Shostakovich. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1990, Print, p Ibid p Ibid p Ibid p.88

23 22 Discussed in a further chapter, the Lady Macbeth affair in 1936 proved to be a pivotal moment in the creative life and musical output of Shostakovich and the entire musical community in Russia. He was denounced in a headline article in Pravda for writing music of complete and utter disgrace against the traditions and beliefs of the Soviet people. Shostakovich s position as a composer and living human being was put under serious question. Stalin was deeply offended by his opera and was condemning him and his music in front of the whole nation. Whether Shostakovich was to be exiled, or at best, given the right to compose ever again put Shostakovich in a tragic crisis. Shostakovich had already written the majority of his 4 th symphony before his Pravda condemnation, however he had not yet premiered the work, and due to the shocking turn of events, he would not until 1961 after Stalin s death. Full of new avant-garde experimentation and techniques, his 4 th symphony was exactly what Stalin was fighting against, and the premiere of such a work, especially after the events of Lady Macbeth would have been suicidal. The 4 th symphony was different than his patriotic 2 nd and 3 rd symphonies. It did not emulate the new style demanded by Stalin of socialist realism and contained nothing appeasing at all in it, as it was composed before the Pravda attacks. Bursting of satire by exaggeration mocking the Stalinist lozh, Shostakovich spits out optimism to nonsensical lengths. As described by MacDonald, There is a towering brutality about the 4 th symphony that could be influenced by the unprecedented impossible state of the country. The dislocating upward twist in the theme at bar 8 is for example, both arbitrary and exasperated, suggesting a destructive rage fundamentally infantile in nature. Likewise intrinsic-to the point of ubiquity-are snappish two note phrases, expressive of crass irritability. The very personifications of tyranny and egomania, these measures are almost certainly a musical mirror to the excesses of the Stalin personality cult. 41 Saturated in the megalomanic spirit of its time, the 4 th symphony expresses the political madness of fascist Russia leading up to the beginning of the Great Terror. Considered the last of Shostakovich s experimental symphonies, the fourth marked the end of an era in Shostakovich s life and forever after Shostakovich was a changed man producing music of a compromised style in attempt to survive. 41 Ibid, p.134

24 23 With his 4 th symphony put aside, and the political atmosphere growing tense following the Lady Macbeth affair, Shostakovich was in a critical position. He knew he would have to compose something which would bring back party favor. He would have to simplify his music and adapt it to classical models, heroic classicism and everything that could be applied to the new rules of socialist realism. In the midst of the Great Terror with hundreds being killed every week, Shostakovich bravely set out to compose a 5 th symphony. He had been instructed by the Composer s Union to straighten out his style of writing after the Pravda article and as a non-person on the brink of execution, he had no choice but to comply with state regulations. He was to produce a symphony which could be easily understandable to the masses, with nothing too eccentric and inclusive of Russian patriotism. He was forced to make compromises and to submit to the deadening one dimensional naiveties of socialist realism, as MacDonald put it. To completely surrender his style and inner morals was not something a man like Shostakovich could handle and so he simply learned how to compose in a more subtle, disguised way. He was a realist at heart, and his purpose was still the same as ever: to compose the truth whether it be deeply tragic or disgustingly grotesque. 42 He could not ignore the terror and corruption surrounding him and the utter disgust he felt towards the regime and so he produced a work cloaked in a disguise deceptive only to the uninformed. 43 He created a title and description of the work for the authorities, in attempt to avoid any suspicious opinion towards its real interpretation. The title of the 5 th symphony was A Soviet Artist s Practical Creative Reply to Just Criticism. The theme of the symphony, Shostakovich declared at the time of the premiere, is the making of a man. I saw man with all his experiences as the center of the composition.... In the finale, the tragically tense impulses of the earlier movements are resolved in optimism and the joy of living. The truth being later revealed by Shostakovich in Testimony, what exultation could there be? I think that it is clear to everyone what happens in the Fifth. The rejoicing is forced, created under a threat, as in Boris Godunov. It s as if someone were beating you 42 Ibid, p Ibid p.148