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Shostakovich:
The Man and His MusicEdited by
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), the outstanding Russian composer of his generation and one of the greatest of modern composers, has always been the object of discussion and controversy. For the artist to become 'a legend in his lifetime' is at best an ambiguous blessing, and at worst a painful test of creative endurance. Shostakovich was thrust into public prominence from the outset of his career, achieving the kind of representative status, as Soviet citizen-composer, which made his every work and utterance a topic of debate.
This volume of essays by musicians, composers and critics embraces all his principal works, and discusses the historical circumstances and the political and cultural atmosphere of their composition.
Contents:
Interpreting the String Quartets by Christopher Rowland and Alan George
The First Twelve Symphonies: portrait of the artist as citizen-composer by Robert Dearling
The Piano Music by Ronald Stevenson
The Operas by Geoffrey Norris
Words and Music in Late Shostakovich by Malcolm MacDonald
Shostakovich and the British composer by Bernard Stevens Shostakovich: politics and musical language by Christopher Norris
Shostakovich and the Soviet system, 1925- 1975
Shostakovich (biog) by Alan Bush