Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Russian: Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович) (… Read Full Bio ↴Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Russian: Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906, (St Petersburg, Russia) – August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period.
Shostakovich had a complex and difficult relationship with the Soviet government, suffering two official denunciations of his music, in 1936 and 1948, and the periodic banning of his work. At the same time, he received a number of accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet. Despite the official controversy, his works were popular; he is now held to be, as Grove's judges him, the most talented Soviet composer of his generation.
After a period influenced by Prokofiev and Stravinsky (Symphony No. 1), Shostakovich switched to modernism (Symphony No. 2 and The Nose) before developing a hybrid of styles with the opera "The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk "and the ill-fated Fourth Symphony. This hybrid style ranged from the neo-classical (with Stravinskian influences) to the post-romantic music (with Mahlerian influences). His tonality involved much use of modality and some astringent neo-classical harmonies à la Hindemith and Prokofiev. His music frequently includes sharp contrasts and elements of the grotesque.
Shostakovich prided himself on his orchestration, which is clear, economical, and well-projected. This aspect of Shostakovich's technique owes more to Gustav Mahler than Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His greatest works are generally considered to be his symphonies and string quartets, fifteen of each. Other works include operas, six concertos, and a substantial quantity of film music. David Fanning concludes in Grove that, "Amid the conflicting pressures of official requirements, the mass suffering of his fellow countrymen, and his personal ideals of humanitarian and public service, he succeeded in forging a musical language of colossal emotional power." Shostakovich is now regarded as "the most popular composer of serious art music of the middle years of the 20th century".
Shostakovich had a complex and difficult relationship with the Soviet government, suffering two official denunciations of his music, in 1936 and 1948, and the periodic banning of his work. At the same time, he received a number of accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet. Despite the official controversy, his works were popular; he is now held to be, as Grove's judges him, the most talented Soviet composer of his generation.
After a period influenced by Prokofiev and Stravinsky (Symphony No. 1), Shostakovich switched to modernism (Symphony No. 2 and The Nose) before developing a hybrid of styles with the opera "The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk "and the ill-fated Fourth Symphony. This hybrid style ranged from the neo-classical (with Stravinskian influences) to the post-romantic music (with Mahlerian influences). His tonality involved much use of modality and some astringent neo-classical harmonies à la Hindemith and Prokofiev. His music frequently includes sharp contrasts and elements of the grotesque.
Shostakovich prided himself on his orchestration, which is clear, economical, and well-projected. This aspect of Shostakovich's technique owes more to Gustav Mahler than Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His greatest works are generally considered to be his symphonies and string quartets, fifteen of each. Other works include operas, six concertos, and a substantial quantity of film music. David Fanning concludes in Grove that, "Amid the conflicting pressures of official requirements, the mass suffering of his fellow countrymen, and his personal ideals of humanitarian and public service, he succeeded in forging a musical language of colossal emotional power." Shostakovich is now regarded as "the most popular composer of serious art music of the middle years of the 20th century".
Allegro
Dmitri Shostakovich Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Allegro' by these artists:
ACIDMAN 最初に気付いたのは ある坂の上だった 薄く靄がかった 街の息が止まり 無情に流れる 流れは妙に早く 真ん中でひ…
Anna Holbling Lady Madonna, children at your feet Wonder how you manage to…
Bach/Savall/Koopman Freude, Tochter aus Elysium, Deine Zauber binden wieder Was …
Chancho En Piedra Desde que comencé a vivir Me di cuenta que no era…
Concerto Grosso D-Moll Op. 6 Nr. 10 Oh leaving you here on your own It's probably best for…
Concerto No. 10 Oh leaving you here on your own It's probably best for…
Disk01 - 10 - Guitar Quintette Nr.5 D-dur G.449 - II.Minuetto Oh leaving you here on your own It's probably best for…
Eckart Haupt C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra Hartmut Haenchen 3. Leichte Segler in den Höhen Leichte Segler in den Höhen, …
Enrico Onofri - violin; Il Giardino Armonico Milano con. Giovanni Antonini. Quae moerebat et dolebat pia Mater cum videbat nati poenas i…
Glen Borling Edward Deskur - baroque horns; Paolo Grazzi Andrea Mion Marco Cera - oboe; Alberto Graz Quae moerebat et dolebat pia Mater cum videbat nati poenas i…
Il Gardino Armonico - ensemble Le paysan fête les vendanges Par des chants et des danses I…
José-Luis Garcia Ay como suena el raudal, ay como se oye el rumor, y…
Jugo ürdens Von weit, weit her Von weit, weit her Hmm, von weit, weit…
Mekong Delta [out of "Symphony Nr. 10" by Dimitri Schostakowitsch]…
Michita feat. Haiiro Allegro 揺られる Night train in India 身 心に 振動が 心地よく 伝達 Like…
Midnight Grand Orchestra ハローハローハロー 幕はもう開いてるんだずっと いま 真空さえ揺らして響かせる そんな音楽を! さあ 切り裂く静寂 全…
Oboenkonzert G-Moll Op. 3 Nr. 10 Oh leaving you here on your own It's probably best for…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Jimmy The Turtle
flyforce16 not just the chaos of that era, but also that in his mind
"I reflected that if I die someday then it's hardly likely anyone will write a work dedicated to my memory. So I decided to write one myself. You could even write on the cover: 'Dedicated to the memory of the composer of this quartet'."
So Shostakovich wrote on the 19th July 1960 to his friend Isaak Davidovich Glikman, the theatre historian and receiver of over three hundred letters from the composer which were published in 1993. The irony of Shostakovich's words clearly reveals his awareness that any overt self-dedication would be absurd.
There are many possible reasons for his depression when composing this quartet. He had never recovered from the loss of his first wife Nina Vasilievna Shostakovich née Varzar who had died in November 1954. (The love lament quoted from Lady Macbeth is even more poignant because it is to Nina that this opera was dedicated). He had married quickly afterwards but this second partnership proved unsuccessful and terminated in divorce in the summer of 1959. Now alone and still grieving for his former marriage Shostakovich wrote his Seventh Quartet, dedicating it to Nina.
He also felt that he had betrayed his principles. Under pressure from Khrushchev's officials he had recently applied to join the communist party, which he had previously sworn never to do, and for months he underwent bouts of self-loathing for his perceived cowardice and chronic sense of fear.
Finally he was beginning to have problems moving his right hand: a nightmare for any pianist. This disability would spread in the coming years causing him mobility problems in all his limbs. After years of uncertainty it was finally diagnosed in 1969 as a rare form of poliomyelitis.
The musicologist and friend of Shostakovich since the early fifties, Lev Nikolyevich Lebedinsky, believes that Shostakovich intended to commit suicide by taking sleeping tablets on his return from Dresden. The plan failed only because he, Lebedinsky, was able to steal the pills and give them to Shostakovich's son, Maxim, for safe-keeping. However, as with so much in Shostakovich's life, this is far from certain because Maxim totally rejects Lebedinsky's assertions6.
So the heart-felt anguish of the Eighth Quartet may show Shostakovich's awareness that the memories of early triumphs (the First and Fifth Symphonies) failed to compensate for the loneliness and the malaise of age. Or perhaps the work is haunted by the memory of his first marriage; or perhaps by the loss of self-esteem. Or maybe it resulted from contemplating the senseless destruction of Dresden so reminiscent of that which he had experienced in his now distant, beloved Russia. The musical ambiguity inherent in the quartet just reflects the uncertainty of its conception.
Although Shostakovich maintained that he could never hear the Eighth Quartet without breaking into tears, the work is not self-pitying. Rather its genius is that it transcends individual pain to address all human despair. It is this which explains its profundity. The torment that it voices is the tragic, human agony of all those who have experienced grievous loss whether it be due to fascism, war, or personal bereavement. Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet resonates with this bitter universal experience; it is truly 'music written with the heart's blood'; that is why it is a masterpiece of the twentieth century7.
GreenBaldrick
"Tchaikovsky provides the clue, like his Sixth Symphony, the 'Pathetique', Shostakovich's Eighth Quartet is also a suicide note. Both works were composed by composers suffering suicidal depression.
"I reflected that if I die someday then it's hardly likely anyone will write a work dedicated to my memory. So I decided to write one myself. You could even write on the cover: 'Dedicated to the memory of the composer of this quartet'.
So Shostakovich wrote on the 19th July 1960 to his friend Isaak Davidovich Glikman.
There are many possible reasons for his depression when composing this quartet. He had never recovered from the loss of his first wife Nina Vasilievna Shostakovich née Varzar who had died in November 1954.
He also felt that he had betrayed his principles. Under pressure from Khrushchev's officials he had recently applied to join the communist party, which he had previously sworn never to do, and for months he underwent bouts of self-loathing for his perceived cowardice and chronic sense of fear.
Finally he was beginning to have problems moving his right hand: a nightmare for any pianist. This disability would spread in the coming years causing him mobility problems in all his limbs. After years of uncertainty it was finally diagnosed in 1969 as a rare form of poliomyelitis.
The musicologist and friend of Shostakovich since the early fifties, Lev Nikolyevich Lebedinsky, believes that Shostakovich intended to commit suicide by taking sleeping tablets on his return from Dresden.
So the heart-felt anguish of the Eighth Quartet may show Shostakovich's awareness that the memories of early triumphs (the First and Fifth Symphonies) failed to compensate for the loneliness and the malaise of age. Or perhaps the work is haunted by the memory of his first marriage; or perhaps by the loss of self-esteem. Or maybe it resulted from contemplating the senseless destruction of Dresden so reminiscent of that which he had experienced in his now distant, beloved Russia. The musical ambiguity inherent in the quartet just reflects the uncertainty of its conception.
Although Shostakovich maintained that he could never hear the Eighth Quartet without breaking into tears, the work is not self-pitying. Rather its genius is that it transcends individual pain to address all human despair. It is this which explains its profundity. The torment that it voices is the tragic, human agony of all those who have experienced grievous loss whether it be due to fascism, war, or personal bereavement. Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet resonates with this bitter universal experience; it is truly 'music written with the heart's blood'; that is why it is a masterpiece of the twentieth century7." (www.quartets.de/compositions/ssq08.html)
Frank Kelley
I had a friend tell me "I love classical music, it's so relaxing." So I played this for him. ;-)
okay but why though
Had?
Frank Kelley
@okay but why though He was a drinking buddy, I stopped drinking in 1990, he didn't. We drifted apart.
okay but why though
@Frank Kelley
Oh. That makes sense.
Weerawatch Suriyo
Frank Kelley well that's a great thing to do when your friend doesn't stop his addiction, I appreciate you.
JJP
@okay but why though lmao. I found the humor in this comment. "Had?" As if he 'off'd his friend during the listening session. Hacked to bits.
Das Entshuldigung
To put this into perspective, the whole quartet was written in 3 days. Before he started composing this Shostakovich was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease(aka ALS or Lou Gehrig's), had been divorced by his second wife, was forced into joining the Communist party in Russia, and was by some accounts suicidal. In a letter to a friend he wrote about this piece saying "I started thinking that if some day I die, nobody is likely to write a work in memory of me, so I had better write one myself".
Maria Cabral
To put thi
Reg Gen
You forgot the part where he dedicated this piece "to the victims of fascism"
Hatred
Mozart: "An angelic and jovial bycicle ride through the park."
Tchaikovsky: "A heroic and passionate journey through the valleys of death, and an ascending to heaven."
Beethoven: "The infinite mind of a scientist in his journey to create life."
Shostakovich: "The rise of god Cthulhu."