Shostakovich: Stalin's Composer? - WW2 Biography Special

Leningrad’s Dmitri Shostakovich has risen from a child prodigy to be one of the Soviet Union’s most celebrated composers, having rescued his career from Stalin’s interference along the way. Desperate to defend Russia after the German invasion, he fights back, not with a rifle, but with music.

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Hosted by: Spartacus Olsson
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Bodo Rittenauer
Creative Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Written by: James Newman
Research by: James Newman
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
Map research by: Markus Linke
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński
Colorizations by:
- Mikołaj Uchman

Image sources:
- Huydang2910 from Wikimedia Commons
- Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe
- Dmitry Shostakovich Publishing House (DSCH)
- Rafail Mazelev / TASS photo chronicle
- Samara State Philharmonic
- St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic named after D.D. Shostakovich

Soundtracks from the Epidemic Sound:
- Ominous - Philip Ayers
- London - Howard Harper-Barnes
- The Twelve Spies - Silver Maple
- The Inspector 4 - Johannes Bornlöf
- Spellbound - Edward Karl Hanson
- Symphony of the Cold-Blooded - Christian Andersen
- Dawn Of Civilization - Jo Wandrini
- Deviation In Time - Johannes Bornlof

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

[WorldWarTwo]

Some might say that Shostakovich is a coward or a hypocrite for working for the very regime that had so brutally condemned him. But, this compromise saves him from artistic ruin, and perhaps even the horrors of the Gulag. More importantly, for Shostakovich, it means he can do his part in defending his beloved Russian homeland.

[harbl]

Spartacus: "He is introduced to the piano by his mother at the age of eight."
My treacherous brain: "Dmitri, this is Piano Pianovitch Pianov. I hope the two of you will get along."

[NaumRusomarov]

"bombastic, lengthy and lacking any subtlety"

well yeah he wrote that thing during the siege of Leningrad.

[donna]

Anyone who says that Shostakovich was a hypocrite for compromising while Stalin was alive is being disingenuous. Shostakovich got the last laugh with the first symphony he wrote after Stalin’s death. Great video.

[Daniel-kqbx]

13:10 That is horrifying. Its like a diagnosis that would normally state things like "Violin broken" "Piano needs tuning" but now its just casually stating that the musicians are dead. The way it does that so cold just gets to me. A time where the loss of a human life was no more than a fact

[dynasty]

Dimitri's niece, Svetlana, had an interesting life of her own. Before the war, she was an actress and model with ambitions of making it in Hollywood before becoming a US Army nurse in the Pacific Theater. She would go on to marry American fighter ace Louis Edward Curdes. Curdes gained fame as the only ace with a friendly "kill"; he shot down a low-on-fuel C-47 that mistakenly approached a Japanese airfield to prevent its crew and occupants from becoming POW's. Coincidentally, Svetlana was on board that C-47 and had met Curdes the night before.

[henrykissinger]

Shostakovich, one of the most influential komposers in modern times.

[ryanlegrand]

Some important details that really give a lot more insight into Shostakovich's works. After the disapproval of Lady Macbeth by Stalin and the subsequent denunciaton by Pravda, Shostakovich was, quite literally, writing for his life. Many of his works you can see him try to balance his artistic vision and opinions, with that of what is acceptable to the Party, and his 5th Symphony is no exception to that.

If you look at the 3rd movement (the slow movement) of the 5th Symphony, you'll see that many of the themes are actually Russian Orthodox funeral themes, and that movement is in memoriam for the victims of Stalin's purges. Had Shostakovich stopped the symphony there, that likely would have been the end of Dimitri, but he pens a fourth "triumphant" movement. If you listen to the finale, you'll notice that the "triumphant" ending isn't quite so triumphant, it's forced with an incessant repeated high note from the strings, as though saying "the beatings will continue until morale improves"

Now, take a look at the 7th Symphony, the Lenningrad symphony, and the first movement sounds as though it's a depection of the German invasion. There's a docile Russian folk tune for the main theme that is interrupted and overwhelmed by an invading theme. These two themes fight each other for quite a while, before they come to a climax, with the Russian theme ultimately victorious. Sounds like the Great Patriotic War, no?

But if you look deeper, the "invading" theme is also a Russian folk melody and is also analagous to Stalin, who comes and invades, conquers, and oppresses the ordinary people of Russia.

Once this was realized, Pravda took a negative view of the symphony again, and Shostakovich was again writing for his life. He really is an interesting story, and his music is almost always filled with emotion.

And even further, once Stalin died Dimitri published his 10th symphony, and the 2nd movement is considered a "portrait" of Stalin.

[el_rod]

The second waltz is probably one of the greatest music piece of all time, what a great composer!

[gunman]

Ah Symphony No. 7, the most famous of them all composed by Dmitri Shostakovich that will be played during the ongoing siege of Leningrad in the coming weeks...

[michaelkthcfan]

Any artist during that era if he or she wanted to survive had to make a deal with the devil. Eisenstein and Prokfiev had similar roller coaster relationships with Stalin.

[indianajones]

Bio special idea: Raffaele Cadorna Jr, the son of Luigi Cadorna (Yes Isonzo Cadorna) he participated in the Italio-Turkish War and WW1. Now in WW2 Raffaele participated in the Italian actions against France and defended Rome against Germany. He also commanded a resistance movement against the Germans in northern Italy

[taekatanahu]

Such a shame modern politicians don't come with their own soundtracks.

[histoky]

One of the composers who didn't die on his 9th symphony

[yanneldor]

Thank you so much for the beautiful explanation about Shostakovich life during the WW2. Shostakovich is one of my favorite composers and what makes him so special to me, is the way that he was able to capture those images he saw, the fear of the war, the destruction everywhere, and make it come to life through his music. An Absolute genius that went down in the books of history as one of the best composers to have ever lived.

[thanos_.]

My greatuncle was also a musician during WW2, like the rest of my family back then. He played several instruments in his young age, but then had to fight in WW2. He lost his arm and the only instrument he could play for the rest of his life was trompet. During the funeral of my grandmother (motherside), I visited the grave of my great uncle for the first time, on whos gravestone was a trumpet.

[ryanheng]

It's so cool you guys covered a major figure from the Humanist faction in Tomsk!

[arielism]

I was hoping you guys would do a special on Shostakovich!!! He is one of my favorite composers and the work he made during the purges and the war is without parallel:)

[RedShocktrooperRST]

"You'll have to watch our upcoming episode of War Against Humanity to see how that unfolds"

Oh no.

[andreborges]

"Rehersal did not take place. Srabian is dead. Petrov is sick. Borishov is dead. Orquestra not working". As a musician that has shook my spirit hard enough. Chilling and sad words...