died,
we'd help out
our bereaved near ones.
Dear
Olga Panteleimonovna,
if in any difficulty,
any hardship,
I pray you,
in the name of the memory
of Ivan Ivanovich,
do tell me
about it.
Kiss the children
for me.
Yours Shostakovich."
"In my work, there have been
many serious failings,
but throughout
my composing,
I've been thinking
of our people.
I try to be self-critical
of each of my works,
still,
with a few exceptions,
I like them.
Otherwise,
I wouldn't compose."
Artist
"While the Soviet people
were cultivating a musical ear
gradually developing
a sense of melody,
some of our composers
preferred false innovations,
crippling their music
with formalism,
depriving it of melody" -
alleged Asafiev.
"The 9th Symphony
- a thoughtless,
formal work -
is unworthy
of our musical culture."
The composer
Bely:
"In the 7th Symphony,
we felt a deep patriotic inspiration,
so we accepted it
and temporarily excused
Shostakovich
for the flaws
in his music.
But the 8th Symphony
made a stunning
yet also
repulsive impression.
He fell prey
to individualism.
He must overcome
the inequality of his work,
the withering influence
of formalism and naturalism."
Dunaevsky:
"Our exaggerated consideration
and complacency,
after
his 5th Symphony,
made us declare Shostakovich
a true Socialist realist.
We didn't want to wait
for his work
to provide proof of this.
His formalism is tenacious.
The dead seize the living."
"The country is being rebuilt.
We read about
heroic deeds in factories
and fields.
Ask these people,
- wrote composer Zakharov,
are they really so fond
of the 8th and 9th Symphonies,
as our press
pretends?
To lead people,
one must speak
a language
they understand.
In Leningrad,
the dying
asked for
folk music,
not the 7th Symphony.
We must say
openly:
Our symphonic music
has come to a standstill."
"One cannot say
all our composers
write only cacophonic
or disharmonic music.
It's debatable.
Perhaps to some
it was difficult," -
Shebalin, head
of the Moscow Conservatory.
"The teaching staff
of the Leningrad Conservatory
have bad tendencies", -
said professor Serebriakov.
"As a result,
we find in our students
little Shostakoviches
and little Prokofievs."
"Decree nє 154
of the Leningrad Conservatory.
Due to the new rules
for music education
concerning staff,
from September 1, 1948 on,
Professor Shostakovich D. D.
must leave his position,
as he holds
another
at the Moscow Conservatory."
The Motherland hears,
the Motherland knows,
She watches him...
...breaking through
the thunder-clouds.
For however long
the dark storm rages,
no matter
what happens,
The first
Soviet composers
were now mature.
Shostakovich's birthday
celebrated
all our music.
Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich
turned 50.
During those years,
Dmitri and Nina Shostakovich
were often separated
from each other.
Nina spent months
in Armenia,
at the remote
Aragats laboratory.
There she suddenly fell ill.
Dmitri came at once.
He worried that
with an open window
she might
catch a cold.
He didn't know
she was dead.
No one knew
how to tell him.
He wasn't to know then
that 21 years later
their tombs would be
side by side.
The best conductors
felt the happiness
of interpreting
Shostakovich.
His music is reborn
with every concert,
like here
with the finale of
the 5th Symphony,
by Mravinsky
and by Bernstein.
1958.
Together with other
Soviet artists,
Dmitri Shostakovich
goes
to receive his
Lenin Prize.
He was nominated
the year before,
but he convinced
everyone
that the first Soviet composer
to get this prize
should be
Sergei Prokofiev.
In 1957,
Sergei Prokofiev received...
...the Lenin Prize
posthumously.
A year later, Shostakovich himself
was awarded the Prize.
Shostakovich was preparing
for a tour in France.
His 1st piano concerto
was part of the programme.
He came to Paris.
The concert
and a recording
were