Book Description
For this authoritative post-cold-war biography of Shostakovich's illustrious but turbulent career under Soviet rule, Laurel E. Fay has gone back to primary documents: Shostakovich's many letters, concert programs and reviews, newspaper articles, and diaries of his contemporaries. An indefatigable worker, he wrote his arresting music despite deprivations during the Nazi invasion and constant surveillance under Stalin's regime. Shostakovich's life is a fascinating example of the paradoxes of living as an artist under totalitarian rule. In August 1942, his Seventh Symphony, written as a protest against fascism, was performed in Nazi-besieged Leningrad by the city's surviving musicians, and was triumphantly broadcast to the German troops, who had been bombarded beforehand to silence them. Alone among his artistic peers, he survived successive Stalinist cultural purges and won the Stalin Prize five times, yet in 1948 he was dismissed from his conservatory teaching positions, and many of his works were banned from performance. He prudently censored himself, in one case putting aside a work based on Jewish folk poems. Under later regimes he balanced a career as a model Soviet, holding government positions and acting as an international ambassador with his unflagging artistic ambitions. In the years since his death in 1975, many have embraced a view of Shostakovich as a lifelong dissident who encoded anti-Communist messages in his music. This lucid and fascinating biography demonstrates that the reality was much more complex. Laurel Fay's book includes a detailed list of works, a glossary of names, and an extensive bibliography, making it an indispensable resource for future studies of Shostakovich.
Customer Reviews:
Will There Ever Be A Definitive Shostakovich Biography?.......2007-03-13
I have read 'Testimony' by Volkov, and followed much of the controversy about it. It is a fascinating read to be sure, but does it truly reflect Shostakovich the man? While this book by Fay does have it's limitations, I found it a valuable counter weight to 'Testimony'.
Shostakovich was a great composer, no doubt. His complacency within the Soviet system of the time can be looked at in different ways. What I have gotten out of both of these books is that Shostakovich was a man that in many ways was beaten by a repressive system. For those who did not directly experience those times, it is easy to criticize the man for some of the things he did. We must remember that it was literally a matter of life and death. Not just for him, but for his family too. It is no wonder that he became so secretive.
And it is that secretive nature that makes me wonder if there ever will be a definitive biography. We also must not lose sight of the fact that it is his music first and foremost that has attracted music lovers to him. Shostakovich wrote much music, with much of it of the highest quality. That he was all too human like the rest of us doesn't detract from that. That he could write so much music that touches the humanity of others while suffering under a repressive regime is remarkable.
I have been a Shostakovich 'fan' for a long time, and he has carved out a place in musical history as a great composer. As such, scholarship about his life and work will continue to provide more insights on both. I enjoyed this book, despite any shortcomings. There is much information and value within it. That is why I gave it 5 stars, and would recommend anyone interested in the man and his music to read it.
Ease up a bit please!.......2005-04-25
This is a fine book--well researched and well written. I had a great time with it as a casual on-the-sofa read and learned much from it about a composer I like. I recommend it. I'm a little stunned by the viciousness of some of the revues--failing to deify the composer is no crime; having opinions--even controversial ones--about what motivated the composer is just a biographer's job. Some of the really negative comments about the book, and more disturbingly, the author make me wonder if she's being brutally victimized a bit here--ironically, in an almost Stalinist way. I'm having difficulty imagining why the venom. Is there a Shostakovich cult?
If you are interested in learning about the man and his music the number of books available on the topic is surprisingly small--you might as well read them all. In contrast the controversies surrounding Shostakovich's life are absurdly large. The definitive book on Shostakovich won't be written until everyone who had anything to do with him is long gone and emotional involvement has settled a bit. Even then, well, no great composer, nobody in fact, ever gets consistent appraisals from biographers.
No, sorry, I don't think DS was the "greatest" composer of the last century, I'm not even sure he was the bravest. I'm not sure those words really apply at all to evaluating the creators of art music during that bizarre time. I think we lacked a single stand-out genius on the order or Mozart, Beethoven, or Bach but I'd argue the 20th Century had numerically more genuinely inspired and original composers than any other era. Mull over Bach, Telemann, Handel, Vivaldi and lesser lights of the first half of the 18th Century--then mull over Bartok, Stravinsky, Nielsen, Shostakovich, Strauss, Janacek, Puccini, Mahler, Elgar, Prokofiev and the long list that follows--up to mid-century when real problems start to show. No mediocities in their ranks but no Beethovens either. Something unprecedented was going on back then, maybe Western art music's Indian Summer. There's a good book in this I'm sure.
Irony is that during a time when so much compositional genius was floating around, the interest in art music began to decline--rapidly. This may in fact account for the diversity of the music of that time and, more importantly, the inconsistency of it. You can actually trace the careers of various composers as they create and then respond to the lack of response or to extramusical pressures that make a hash of their individual geniuses.
I'd say Shostakovich, then, was not the greatest 20th Century composer but he is the greatest example of the dilemma of the 20th Century composer.
"Scholarship" of this sort ----.......2005-03-21
-- reminds me of a line from "Apocalypse Now"
"You are an errand boy, sent by clerks to collect a bill."
To write 'from the library' as it were, and not interview those living who new the man and his work and the times first hand, is to perpetrate a fraud.
An Injustice To A Great Man.......2004-08-26
aDmitri Shostakovich (DDS) was probably the gretest composer of the 20th century. Unfortunately, a burning controversy has unjustly erupted around the perceptions of his personality and actions during his illustrious career regarding the question of whether he was a principled opponent of the totalitarian
Communist and Stalinist regime of the USSR, or whether he was a passive opportunist who used his talents to ensure a comfortable life for himself at the expense of his moral integrity. In 1979 Solomon Volkov published DDS's memoirs in the West. This showed DDS to be a bitter opponent of the regime, writing music that reflected this, while at the same time, castigating himself for the public face he had to show ostensibly in support of the system (just as everyone else had to do in order to survive especially during Stalin's terror, but also during other, more supposedly "relaxed" periods). The author of this book being reviewed, Laurel Fay, has devoted the last 25 years to a crusade trying to discredit Volkov and the image of DDS he presented to the world, saying that while DDS was a great composer, his music doesn't reflect any protest against the system which he willingly accomodated himself to. This biography is another contribution to this argument.
Unfortunately for her position, the fall of the Communist regime in the USSR has allowed many friends and relatives of DDS to speak openly for the first time and their view of him overwhelmingly strengthens the view of DDS provided by Volkov's book "Testimony" and rebuts Fay's point of view.
Fay seems to be oblivious to the terrible dilemmas that people faced living in the totalitarian regime that was the USSR and there was terrible pressure on everyone to conform. This book contains many quotations of what people call "source material" consisting of quotations from articles in Pravda (the USSR's official newspaper) and other "official sources". Fay accepts these basically uncritically, apparently unaware that these organs of communication did not exist in order to provide information to their readers, but rather to propagandize in favor the the regime, regardless of the truth. She does acknowledge in the book that articles that had DDS's name on them, supposedly indicating that he had written them, often were written by others and submitted to him for his signature, which he provided without even looking at the manuscript, but she then goes on to say that this doesn't necessarily mean that he DIDN'T
agree with what was written there. Fay does not bring any proof for this statement, and so the reader has no way of knowing which viewpoints expressed in the articles DDS supposedly agreed with. Perceptive people in the USSR ignored the propaganda entirely and didn't take what was written in these "official" organs seriously at all.
Fay also claims that DDS's composing his famous "From Jewish Folk Poetry" in 1948 which was rejected by the establishment musical authorities because of the the gathering "anti-Cosmopolitan" (i.e. anti-Jewish) campaign was the result of a pathetic attempt to please the authorities by writing music based on traditional folk music of the various nationalities of the USSR and it was just his "rotten luck" to choose a group that would soon be under attack. This claim of Fay's is nonsense because the the anti-Jewish attitude of the regime started already in 1942 and was accelerating in 1948. DDS had many Jewish friends and contacts with people in high places and was quite aware of what was going on. He wrote this piece as a protest against the regime's anti-Semitism! Fay is again oblivious to this.
Finally, Fay views DDS's joining the Communist Party in 1960 as another attempt to promote his personal interests, yet Fay has fallen for the prevailing myth that after Stalin died and the "Thaw" began under Khruschev, the regime stopped terrorizing the intelligentsia. In reality, there was still coercion, but it was done in a more subtle manner. Instead of threatening arrest and deportation to the Gulag, people could be threatened instead by refusing to allow one's children into good schools and jobs, or possibly, in DDS's case, refusal to allow decent medical care since his health was deteriorating. DDS castigated himself because he felt he had capitulated to the system, but it is probable that he had no other choice. As one gets older, it is harder and harder to keep up the frontal struggle.
In summary, a reader interested in the life of DDS would be better served by reading "Testimony", Elizbeth Wilson's "Shostakovich-A Life Remembered", Ho and Feofanov's "Shostakovich Reconsidered" and by looking at thewritings of the late Ian MacDonald on his "Music Under Soviet Rule" website.
Flat Earthers and deep denial.......2004-06-17
This is one of the small numbers of books on Shostakovitch which is almost completely unreliable. There is a type of intellectual (mercifully rare now that the Berlin Wall is history) who delighted in telling us how wonderful in every wayb the Soviet Union was, how much delight, life and freedom could be found there. Evidence - such as the experienmces of those who had the misfortine to live there - were dismissed as looney tunes or fascist propaganda or some such. Somehow these flat earthers would never dream of living there themselves.
This book is one such. Don't touch it with a barge pole.
But do get Semyon Volkov's Testimony instead
I am amazed that fifteen years after the end of communism in Europe this intellectually bankrupt book is actually still available. It should be in the Black Humour section. It is certainly not scholarship.
Book Description
Shostakovich: A Life Remembered is a unique study of the great composer Dmitri Shostakovich, based on reminiscences from his contemporaries. Elizabeth Wilson covers the composer's life from his early successes to his struggles under the Stalinist regime, and his international recognition as one of the leading composers of the twentieth century. She builds up a detailed picture of Shostakovich's creative processes, how he was perceived by contemporaries, and of the increased contrast between his private life and public image as his fame increased.
This new edition, produced to coincide with the centenary of Shostakovich's birth, draws on many new writings on the composer. In doing so, it provides both a more detailed and focused image of Shostakovich's life and a wider view of his cultural background. In particular, Shostakovich's sardonic and witty sense of humor reveals itself in many of his letters to close friends. Shostakovich offers fascinating insight into the complex personality and musical life of this great composer, and examines his position as one of the major figures in the cultural life of twentieth-century Russia.
Customer Reviews:
perfect timing.......2007-09-14
Book arrived as quickly as advertised, which was great because I needed it to write my New York Times antiques column (published today). THanks!
Wendy Moonan
Astounding, intimately clear.......2007-03-10
Although not as thorough on the music of the great composer itself, this book is a must read for anyone interested in Shostakovich, or music and Soviet history in general.
Wilson lucidly supports her interviews and articles from colleagues, friends, and family of the composer with a curious detachment that serves to clarify rather than alienate the subject matter. The articles and interviews themselves are priceless artifacts, and presented here in an intelligent fashion.
Shostakovich's life is portrayed here with startling intimacy. The reader will find him or herself able to visualize the genius composer and his quirks, and those who listen to the relevant works of music will find their messages so much more meaningful.
Book Description
Between 1929 and 1970, Dmitri Shostakovich wrote almost 40 film scores of Soviet films, from Stalinist cult epics to classical literary adaptations. His long and distinguished cinema career has hitherto been overlooked. Combining analysis and anecdote, John Riley provides this first account to examine the scores and their contexts in the films for which they were written, the ways in which contemporary events shaped both films and scores, and how he thought about, developed and applied his film music.
Amazon.com
This book offers a unique perspective on one of our century's most complex, enigmatic, and controversial geniuses, set in the musical and political context of his time. The author is well equipped for the task: she is a cellist who studied with Mstislav Rostropovich in Moscow from 1964 to 1971, when her father was British ambassador there. Her book is a compendium of official documents, private letters, diaries, and interviews with Shostakovich's family, friends, and enemies (in Russia and elsewhere), as well as articles written especially for the book. The result is a fascinating, first-hand portrait of Shostakovich the man as husband, widower, father, and friend, and Shostakovich the composer, who--by turns officially reviled and extolled--became a symbol for the suffering of his people. Indomitably creative despite constant fear, repression, bereavement, and debilitating illnesses, his ultimate tragedy was that the political "thaw" came too late for his failing health. Naturally, many of Wilson's respondents are musicians who knew that Shostakovich encoded his music with hidden subtexts to express his secret thoughts. On the other hand, his political statements, written and spoken under duress, were often ambiguous and contradictory, and she quotes both conciliatory and hostile reactions to them. She also cites many testimonials of his spontaneous generosity to friends and colleagues in need. Among the most delightful episodes are visits by the composer Benjamin Britten and the tenor Peter Pears. The latter gives a loving description in his diary of a splendid Christmas and New Year's celebration with the Rostropovich and Shostakovich families, never even mentioning differences of language, culture, or politics. --Edith Eisler
Book Description
Shostakovich: A Life Remembered is a unique study of the great composer Dimitri Shostakovich drawn from the reminiscences and reflections of his contemporaries. Using much material never previously published in English, as well as personal accounts from interviews and specially commissioned articles, Elizabeth Wilson has built a fascinating chronicle of Shostakovich's life.
Customer Reviews:
A Revealing Look at the Composer.......2006-05-12
If I were asked to name a book that would give a complete portrait of Dmitri Shostakovich this would be the book that I would name. Elizabeth Wilson's Shostakovich: A Life Remembered is a collection of remembrances of the composer by many people: family, friends, colleagues, admirers and some who simply observed the composer from a distance. There is a wide variety of people who relate an event of Shostakovich's life, provide background on events in the composer's life or simple relate a personal story about him. The number of sources that Ms. Wilson consulted is vast and she also had the opportunity to interview many of the people who know Shostakovich who died since this book was published.
Ms. Wilson (who met the composer when she accompanied Benjamin Britten on a visit) has nicely divided the book into sections dealing with major events, such as the "War Years" and then deals with specific events that occurred like the "Seventh Symphony" and the "Teacher and Master" concerning Shostakovich's students during the period. One of my favorite sections is an interview with Mstislav Rostropovich where he relates a story just after he had won the All-Russia competition. He bought a suit to wear for his concert performances and to celebrate Shostakovich bought a bottle of moonshine vodka that turned out to the worst drink of their lives. Such anecdotes may not be highly important to Shostakovich's professional career but say volumes about him as a human being. The book gives as complete a life of Shostakovich as one would want, and we get a complete perspective. We get insight into why some friends cut themselves off from Shostakovich late in his life from what seemed to be his support of the Communist Party but, probably more important, we get the composer's reactions from his friends and colleagues in an unvarnished way.
The book is illustrated with some interesting photographs from various periods in Shostakovich's life. I have also used this book as a reference when I wanted to know something about one of his compositions. It is a very rewarding book that should not be missed if you have an interest in Dmitri Shostakovich.
Excellent reference, too........2005-09-29
Not only is the book a compelling narrative, it is an excellent reference. The index and biographical notes have been quite useful over time when exploring Shostakovich's works and other Russian music of the period.
The REAL Testimony.......2004-09-04
Since my teen years I have been an avid Shostakovich fan. Soon after consuming as much of his music as I could, I also began to read about Shostakovich, one of my favorite composers. I started with "Testimony" by Solomon Volkov. Initially I was very intrigued and impressed with what I thought were the man's candid thoughts on his and his colleagues' lives and careers. Then I came across the now old violent debate about the authenticity of Testimony. It appears that the Testimony's credibility is dubious at best. I felt cheated. Then I bought Elizabeth Wilson's book. Here I found credible and probably much more accurate testimony on the man's life and career than what had been purported by Volkov. The stories and anecdotes that reside in Wilson's book are informative, fascinating, varied in narrative, and responsibly laid out and supplemented. One comes to feel empathy for Shostakovich and all of the horror he went through, but also in awe of the bravery and ingenuity of the composer as well as his friends, his family, and his colleagues. Much can be gleaned from the wealth of reminisces presented in the book. For anyone seeking a genuine glimpse into the life and personality of Shostakovich, as well as the circumstances surrounding him, this book is the best on the market.
A Life Understood Through the Eyes of Others.......2002-10-21
We have too easily forgotten that sport, art, music, science and dance were all sites where Cold War battles were fought. The deprivations of post-Revolution Leningrad combined with the Stalinist years worked to drive the naturally introverted, intense and secretive Shostakovich even more into himself.
This has made Shostakovich a fascinating topic for biographers, speculators and ideologues of all kinds. In addition, we also overlook the fact that musicians will by nature reveal themselves most fully in their art. So if we wish to understand the "real" Shostakovich, we need to turn to his music.
Given these reflections, I found this to be an informative, insightful and moving book. The technique of breathing life into the man through the eyes of others - from his Godmother to neighbours, conductors and family - built a unique multi-level picture of the man underneath the many myths. Will we ever know him fully? Probably no more than we know Shakespeare or Rembrandt both of whose art rises above their particular context.
Finally, I am greatful to Wilson because her book acted to drive me back to the music. I have since returned to Shostakovich's symphonies, chamber music and even the jazz suites with new love and energy. Well worth reading.
An enthralling journey through the life of Shostakovich.......2001-06-29
Elizabeth Wilson has compiled a series of wonderful reminiscences about Shostakovich, which paint a rounded and sometimes thrilling picture of the composer's life. The most wonderful thing of all is being able to purchase the music, and to experience (often in original recording) what is being described. Some of these recordings are available on amazon.com
Elizabeth Wilson has so much original material in this book, and one feels that one is on this voyage of discovery with her.
For anyone who loves Russian music, or is interested in 20th century Russia, this is a superb insight.
Paul Foulkes-Arellano, London, March 2000
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Dmitri Shostakovich: An Essential Guide to His Life and Works (Classic FM Lifelines)
Stephen Jackson
Manufacturer: Pavilion Books
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 Shostakovich, Dmitrii
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ASIN: 1862050163 |
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Martin Buber's Life & Work: The Early Years, 1878-1923
Maurice Friedman
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ASIN: 085532516X |
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