Presentation Type
Poster
Department
Political Science
Location
Walker Conference Center B
Description
Born in the year 1906 in St. Petersburg, Russia, was Dmitri Shostakovich. The son of a piano teacher and an engineer, Shostakovich began playing the piano early in childhood, during which he learned his love for learning music and his love for composition. Less than twenty years after his birth, Soviet control began, and by 1924 Joseph Stalin gained control over the Soviet Union. As Shostakovich rose as a composer, so did Stalinistic Russia. Soon World War II would begin, allowing Stalin and Adolf Hitler to rise higher in the midst of chaos and destruction. It was Shostokovich who stuck to his own beliefs and composed against the ideologies and requests given by Stalin.
Over the course of World War II, Shostakovich composed five major symphonies that are widely known as The War Symphonies. These included symphonies four through nine. When writing his seventh symphony, Shostakovich was living in Leningrad, where a siege was about to begin. Now, it is known as the Leningrad Symphony, giving hope to those suffering and avenging the destruction done by Stalin and his army to not only his hometown, but to the world. During the composition of Shostakovich's other symphonies, Stalin publicly persecuted and denounced Shostakovich as a composer. At one point during World War II, Shostakovich was brought in and questioned by the KGB for plotting against Stalin. Thus began his paranoia and timidness. Knowing the risks though, Shostakovich continued fighting for justice against Stalin’s dictatorship the best way he could: through music.
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Included in
Russian Nationalism: Dmitri Shostakovich
Walker Conference Center B
Born in the year 1906 in St. Petersburg, Russia, was Dmitri Shostakovich. The son of a piano teacher and an engineer, Shostakovich began playing the piano early in childhood, during which he learned his love for learning music and his love for composition. Less than twenty years after his birth, Soviet control began, and by 1924 Joseph Stalin gained control over the Soviet Union. As Shostakovich rose as a composer, so did Stalinistic Russia. Soon World War II would begin, allowing Stalin and Adolf Hitler to rise higher in the midst of chaos and destruction. It was Shostokovich who stuck to his own beliefs and composed against the ideologies and requests given by Stalin.
Over the course of World War II, Shostakovich composed five major symphonies that are widely known as The War Symphonies. These included symphonies four through nine. When writing his seventh symphony, Shostakovich was living in Leningrad, where a siege was about to begin. Now, it is known as the Leningrad Symphony, giving hope to those suffering and avenging the destruction done by Stalin and his army to not only his hometown, but to the world. During the composition of Shostakovich's other symphonies, Stalin publicly persecuted and denounced Shostakovich as a composer. At one point during World War II, Shostakovich was brought in and questioned by the KGB for plotting against Stalin. Thus began his paranoia and timidness. Knowing the risks though, Shostakovich continued fighting for justice against Stalin’s dictatorship the best way he could: through music.