Shostakovich: Behind his glasses

Imagine being summoned for interrogation by a ruthless dictator, who holds your fate in his hands. Imagine being spared by a stroke of luck, such as the interrogator’s own arrest, but only to face the same threat later. This was the fate of Dimitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, one of the most influential composers of the 20th Century, who lived under the shadow of Stalin's tyranny. Shostakovich's music was constantly scrutinized and criticized by the Soviet authorities, who demanded conformity from artists. Shostakovich had to walk a fine line between expressing his vision and appeasing the regime, often resorting to hidden messages and subtle irony in his works His music became a source of hope for many oppressed people in the Soviet Union, and a powerful indictment of totalitarianism. This essay aims to explore how Shostakovich used the language of music to survive and resist Stalin's dictatorship.

Shostakovich used music as a medium to express his dissent of the Stalinist regime in Russia. Music, unlike other forms of art, has the advantage of being ambiguous, allowing for multiple interpretations. Stalin wanted music to serve as propaganda for his ideology, demanding that music is supposed to be “national in form, socialist in content" (Socialist Realism 9). Shostakovich, on the other hand, saw music as a powerful means to capture the subtle and nuanced emotions of “suffering and ecstasy” that were “unattainable “ in other arts (Shostakovich 1). He said that most of his symphonies were “tombstones” for people who died or were buried in unknown places during Stalin's Great Purge, and that only music could “put tombstones...for them”(Testimony the memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich 156). Shostakovich lived in constant fear under Stalin's tyranny, and many of his friends, colleagues and family members were imprisoned or executedHe had to pack a small suitcase and sleep in the stairwell, expecting to be arrested at any moment. He described his life as “ unbelievably mean and hard” (Testimony 229). Even in such a dangerous environment, Shostakovich still chose to speak out through his music, but he had to resort to camouflage in writing it to avoid censorship.

Shostakovich’s 5th symphony comforts terrified souls agonized over the Great purge. On Jan 28, 1936, an editorial called Chaos Instead of Music criticized Opera Lady Macbeth, a piece which previously helped Shostakovich achieve prominence, in the newspaper Pravda, which was “the megaphone for communist thought” (“Pravada” 1). The ominous editorial put a target on Shostakovich’s back at the start of the Great Purge. During the bloody Purge, many military, political, and cultural figures inexplicably disappeared or were secretly shot; terror hung over the bleak and bitter Russian land, and the shadow of death, for the first time so clearly appeared in front of Shostakovich, almost palpable. In order to show “atonement” to the Stalin government and make a political gesture of “ deep introspection and self-examination,” Shostakovich completed his most famous Symphony No. 5 (Testimony 137). From the first few chords in the 1st movement, it is obvious that Shostakovich’s novel musical language and sharp style had been altered in favor of a more conservative musical language, illustrating the subject of the whole symphony— compromise. The 3rd movement of the Symphony speaks to the heart wordlessly and resonates powerfully by its sorrowful main melodic layer; it is a feather that caresses the face of those who are threatened by the high pressure and soothes fearful souls. As for the 4th movement, the drums boom and trumpets sound as if they were constructing a traditional Soviet paean. However, the harmony indicates that the hymn is very mechanical and cold, prevailed without any joyfulness. In comparison to the sad slow 3rd movement, the final movement evokes a mood of dancing in chains; when the artist could no longer express his true feelings, he compromised to compose this lame hymn—and had to sing it. The greater the contradiction between the underlying harmonic language and the outlying rhythmic and melodic layers of the symphony, the greater the despair of helplessness and pain the author and audiences can comprehend. At the end of the infinite light in the rhythmic tone of the 4th movement, the hymn closes, and the shackles on Shostakovich remain (Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47). The mood of praise intuitively explained the official analysis of the symphony for the authorities, who saw it as a simple hymn to the Soviet Union, but discerning listeners can feel the more subtle and complex emotions behind the music. People who survived the Great Purge could lose themselves in their shared inner feelings with Shostakovich and be temporarily relieved with the comforting phrases in the symphony. The language of music gave Shostakovich the power to speak for an entire generation; his music was a wave in a still sea of oppressive silence.

Shostakovich peacefully protested against the totalitarian government and the siege of the city Leningrad during the Nazi invasion in his 7th (Leningrad) Symphony. The siege of Leningrad by the German Wehrmacht in 1941 during World War II was probably “the greatest catastrophe” ever to befall a city, killing some one million from a population only double that number (Leningrad: Siege and Symphony 122). In December of 1941, Shostakovich completed the 7th symphony amid the roar of artillery fire; on August 9, 1942, the 7th Symphony shivered over Leningrad when the German army was planning to occupy the city. Stalin billed the 7th Symphony as the Soviet people’s “unbreakable symphony of courage” (The war Symphonies 2). In the 1st movement, woodwinds introduce a beautiful and peaceful melody under the interruption of the strings evoking the theme of invasion, indicating the destruction of the peaceful life before the war. The snare drum building from weak to strong in the background mimics the approach of enemy soldiers; later, the brass joins in to portray the enemy troops on the border and the suffering city (Shostakovich 7th Symphony in C Major, Op.60). However, in Testimony, Shostakovich’s autobiography published after his death, the composer himself stressed that the 7th symphony was “designed before the war” and cannot be regarded as “only inspired by Hitler’s attack”; Shostakovich also emphasized that the 1st movement is filled with sadness in a “requiem style” (Testimony 135). Shostakovich’s friend and conductor Muravinsky once stated that he thought that Shostakovich created a “universally stupid and extremely vulgar” image in the symphony by quoting from a popular tune from Leija’s operetta “The Merry Widow” and using it as the theme of invasion; the “foolish and...vulgar” image should be the actual enemy that Shostakovich intended to depict (Testimony 146). Thus the 7th Leningrad Symphony is about the Leningrad that was first destroyed by Stalin, and further made to suffer by Hitler during the siege. Overall, the 7th Symphony is supposed to be a wordless indictment of totalitarianism in the midst of hunger, fear, and “[the]mountains of corpses” after Stalin’s Great purge and the Nazi invasion (Testimony 156).

In fearful times, Shostakovich spoke up for the devastated souls of his oppressed countrymen in his music when most people were tamed by the totalitarian government’s arbitrariness and chose to remain silent. Shotakovich’s entanglement with the Stalin government sometimes overshadows the voice in his music and diminishes our appreciation of his art. However, the strength and comfort Shostakovich granted listeners through his music, and the helplessness and struggle at that time that audiences were experiencing, reveals the cruel and cold years and a part of what made Shostakovich the epitome of the twentieth-century artist. Shostakovich’s music witnesses not only his life, but also the tumultuous times in which he lived. As Shostakovich summarized, “Looking back, I see nothing but ruins, only mountains of corpses... I'm not exaggerating, I mean mountains...” (Testimony 156).

Schostakowitsch: 7. Sinfonie (»Leningrader«) ∙ hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Klaus Mäkelä:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB3zR_X25UU
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 / Dudamel · Berliner Philharmoniker:
Attached Below