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If last year's Shostakovich centenary celebrations proved
anything, it was that our appetite for the composer's music
is near inexhaustible. There's a power and immediacy to Shostakovich's
scores. His is an involving, honest and distinctive voice
- the symphonic voice, one might say, of the twentieth century.
Shostakovich's life is talked about almost as much as his
music is played, with disagreements and paradoxes at every
turn. And it's easy to see why the discourse rages around
his extraordinary catalogue of works: how could a man who
was so profoundly depressed during his life produce the relentless
flow of joyous ecstasy that is the final movement of the First
Piano Concerto, for example?
The Fifth Symphony, a towering masterpiece in the composer's
catalogue, has attracted more than its fair share of commentary.
Is the suggested suppression of the symphony's climax intended
to match that of the people? Or perhaps the work is more personal
than that. There's a quote in there from Bizet's Carmen,
a reference perhaps to the woman who had rejected Shostakovich
in favour of a man of that name during the composer's writing
of the symphony. Is the violins' two hundred and fifty times
repeated note - 'A', representing 'me' in the Russian system
of notation - a desperate plea from Shostakovich that we recognise
his personal trauma?
The Seventh Symphony's statement is unequivocal and desperately
powerful: a picture in sound of the suffering of the 3.2 million
people trapped in Leningrad during the city's blockade at
the hands of the German army during the Second World War.
This is music of immense power and devotion, and an indescribable
live concert experience. But what exactly did the composer
mean by his lengthy Boléro-like march - the relentlessness
of the Nazis or the indefatigable spirit of the people of
Leningrad?
In the end, the one important answer is staring us in the
face. Yes, the music is about Shostakovich the man, his times,
his city. But it's also about us, whoever we are. It's about
love, survival and joy, and that's probably why we'll never
tire of Shostakovich's scores. Anti-West or anti-East? We
can argue about it until the end of time - and so we should
- but if we don't recognise the humanity and joy in Shostakovich's
music, then we've really missed the point.
Shostakovich for your diary
Wednesday
3 October 2007 Symphony
5 >
Wednesday
5 March 2008 Symphony
7 >
Wednesday
16 April 2008 Symphony
4 >
Wednesday
23 April 2008 Piano
Concerto 1 >
Audio samples of these pieces can be accessed from the appropriate
performance calendar pages.
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