Interview:
1. Me: Where are you from?
Dmitri Shostakovich: Petrograd, Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
Me: What was it like?
D. SCH: Harsh. In the winter, food was scarce and houses:
very cold (Martynov, 2). 20th century Russia was a place of great chaos; power
hungry leaders, and both violent and revolutionary ideas. The society of Russia
was very strict, and the population was divided into structured social classes.
Unfortunately, even in the modern world of today with new laws, society seems
to directly replicate the social hierarchies of 20th century Russia (19th
Century Russia).
Me: How?
D. SCH: Well, what I’ve seen (and this is just an example) “in
schools is that there are hierarchies among students and there are also
hierarchies among staff. The class system of students may be based upon
multiple aspects of one’s life, such as his or her popularity, grades,
personality, or beliefs and moral values (19th Century Russia).”
Me: How did the Russian Revolution impact music?
D. SCH: With all the chaos, fear, and violence, it led many
composers, including me, to compose strong and passionate music. They- we
practically poured all our feelings/ experiences into it all.
Me: Tell me about your family.
D. SCH: Well my parents had a good musical back round. My
mom, Sofia Vasilyevna, played piano and studied at a conservatory hoping to
play piano professionally. But after marrying my father, she became committed
to family. My father, Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich, was a chemist. He
liked to sing and accompany himself on guitar. I have an older sister- Maria,
and my younger sister Zoya (Sollertinsky, 3-4).
2. Me: What events in your early life made you get
interested in the arts?
D. SCH: Well, both my parents were musicians: my mother being
a graduate in music. Music was a big part of my life. My parents would play a
lot. And when company (guests) came over, my parents would entertain them with
music. When I was little, I would try to hide in a corner, hoping not to be
found, so I could listen to the music and not have to go to bed. But my family
and I also often went to the opera for a matinée performance, which made up a
lot of my earliest musical impressions (Sollertinsky, 4-5).
I got my first piano lesson from my mother actually (His
Life). Before though, I would pay attention to my older sister- Maria’s-
lessons. When I was around the age of nine I got my first lesson. My mother
didn’t believe in forcing people to play music and I never showed interest in
lessons in my very young years, but after that first lesson I took off. My mom
realized what I had and took me to the best pianist in St. Petersburg: Ignati
Glyasser (Sollertinsky, 5-7).
3. Me: What role did mentors play in helping you develop the
interests and talents you have as an artist?
D. SCH: When I took lessons
from Ignati Glyasser… well let’s just say, we didn’t get along. He was an
excellent technician at the piano but not a great musician (Sollertinsky, 7).
Me: What do you mean by that? Him not being a great
musician?
D. SCH: His playing was dry and unfeeling. He paid little
attention to the musical beauty of the piano. I tested about with composition,
but he opposed it. We did not like each other, so I left and took next from
Professor Rozanova (Sollertinsky, 7-8).
When I took from Professor Rozanova at the Petrograd
Conservatory, the lessons were great. She worked patiently without losing her
temper and she concentrated on different kinds of touch and mood of a piece.
With her, I learned how to listen to music with the meticulous sensitivity of a
poet. She also encouraged my experimenting with composing (Sollertinsky, 8).
4. Me: What was the world of music like when you entered it?
D. SCH: Well, like today, there were conservatories and
musical performances. Little children and adults took and taught music lessons.
One difference is, back then we did not have technology as close to as advanced
as today. And we did not rely on it as much as people today do. One thing
iTouches or iPods- whatever you call them- cannot change is: what a real, live
performance gives to you. The sound, the feel, quality; cannot be recorded and
sounded back with the same energy, feel.
But back then, all art had to appeal to the Communist Party.
You see when a dictator is in power, you can’t have freedom of speech and so
on. You’ll get killed, tortured, arrested. If anyone dared speak out against
Stalin or whoever was in power; you never heard from them again. I actually
spoke out with my music. I was so scared I was going to get arrested and killed
(Olga).
Me: (Calmly) how do you think that we are more reliant on
technology, versus ‘back then’?
D. SCH: Well back then, we didn’t have mobile phones (and
such small phones for that matter!). It was rare(r) to see people in their own
cars and we didn’t have mobile devices that we could listen to music on… if you
wanted to hear it, you had to be near a radio or a watch a live show. We also
didn’t have… computers(?).
Look around and as I walk down the street I see children and
adults bent over these things 24/7. It’s like the devices are attached to them.
5. Me: I see now, and I agree, it’s pretty disgusting how
close we are to our devices. Now how did the major cultural situations of the
time impact your work?
D. SCH: Stravinsky and many others criticized my work. They
claimed it to be too ‘eh’… Not real Russian music (Music)! There was, I must
admit, a lot of non-Russian style in my music. My music was mostly influenced
by Europe and their culture (Sollertinsky).
Many people thought I was Jewish, maybe because I wrote
numerous Jewish pieces, but no, I was not Jewish (Olga). Russia has a rich
history and we can boast with a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of
the arts (Russian Culture).
Also, back then I was considered a child prodigy (multiple
sources) most nearly all of them).
Me: Well I totally agree, but please elaborate; how? How
were you considered a child prodigy?
D. SCH: At young age I was addicted to music. In certain
instances I would listen to music and replay it. I also composed at a very
young age.
Me: Ok, so how did major economic situations of your time
impact your work?
D. SCH: Back in Russia, we were a pretty poor country.
People starving on the street, disease spreading, slave labor.
Me: Why was all this happening?
D. SCH: Stalin was in power. We- he spent all of Russia’s
money on the military. No one cared for anyone. Murderers roaming the streets,
mugging people. Police officers beating and arresting innocent people (Olga).
When I finishing up college, my father died. With him gone,
I was left to keep my family afloat. I left to play for a cinema for a living, with
my mother not able to get a public job. But soon my youth and urge to keep
composing overcame me. (Martynov, 5)
Me: What about major political situations?
D. SCH: Russian Revolution and World War II really
influenced my work. Between famine and death… it was a scary time (Olga).
Me: What do you mean by that?
D. SCH: I watched people I knew get arrested, killed. One
night I thought I was going to be arrested: not wanting to worry my parents, I
sat by the door all night waiting (Olga).
Me: Why would they want to arrest you?
D. SCH: They (the Communist Party) arrested whomever they
liked whenever they liked. There was no protection for the citizens. They did
not always like the music I wrote. During Stalin’s rule, I spoke out through my
music. Stalin was a bloodthirsty man, didn’t care about the people. I was
criticized for not creating real Russian music or I was also called a
non-proletarian composer. But I did write some music to the Communists liking; just
to stay out of trouble (Olga).
6. Me: What were your major accomplishments and the methods
you used in music?
D. SCH: Well during most of the Soviet Era, music was highly
watched/ analyzed and kept within a conservative, accessible language in
conformity with the policy of Socialist Realism (Russian Culture: Classical
Music). But my passion for music led me to composing. I wanted to make music my
own, not play what others wrote. To be free, and show my own style and
portrayal of things.
Me: Did you compose just music?
D. SCH: Oh no, I composed much more. I did plays, heh, I
even wrote some poetry when I was younger (Sollertinsky, 10). But I composed, many
of quartets, duets, trios, symphonies! And it all just comes to me. All of
these are ideas buzzing in my head… just like anyone else.
Me: But you transformed that into art.
D. SCH: Yes! Exactly!
7. Me: What were the key opportunities you had that led to
your turning point in your life as a musician?
D. SCH: Hmmm, the debut of my First Symphony, performed in
the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic on May 12, 1926. I believe Nikolai
Malko was the conductor that night. Soon afterwards it was broadcast in Moscow.
A year later it was performed abroad for the first time. That was a glorious
moment for me and my turning point in my career. From then on I was known (Martynov
5).
Me: Wow, so one debut of your music and you became famous!?
D. SCH: Not
necessarily, some other pieces of my music debuted, not as big as when the
First Symphony was debuted, but… you know.
8. Me: Ok… so what hardships did you have to overcome in
order to be an artist?
D. SCH: In 1936, I fell from official favor. The year began
with a series of attacks on me, due to people writing and publishing their
reviews on my works (they were negative). In particular, an article entitled,
"Muddle Instead of Music". I was away on a concert tour in
Arkhangel’sk when I heard news of the article. Two days before the article was
published in January, a friend had advised me to attend the production of my
Lady Macbeth.
When I arrived, I saw that Stalin and the Politburo were
there.
Me: Was that bad?
D. SCH: I watched once as Stalin shuddered every time the
brass and percussion played too loud. Equally horrifying was the way Stalin and
his companions laughed at the love-making scene between Sergei and Katerina. It
was embarrassing.
The article, which condemned Lady Macbeth as formalist,
"coarse, primitive and vulgar," was thought to have been instigated
by Stalin. Sadly, everything began to crumble, and not only was I ‘humiliated’,
but my income fell by about three quarters.
More widely, 1936 marked the beginning of the Great Terror,
in which many of my friends and relatives were imprisoned or killed (First
Denunciation).
9. Me: Who are people that you admire both in the arts and
beyond? Why do they inspire you?
D. SCH: I admire my parents. They were so associated with
music and creative… They, quite frankly, are the people who made me who I am
today.
Me: I can see many people be inspired by their parents.
D. SCH: Much of my music was inspired by European culture.
Just look and all those brilliant composers that came from their: Handel,
Beethoven, Mozart… Brilliance, and so much life, culture, and ideas
(Sollertinsky).
10. Me: What personal stories best illustrate how you became
successful in the arts?
D. SCH: Memories from my childhood had a lot of influence on
me; “The cranberry seller, a sprightly old woman in a bright shawl, would cry
piercingly to an intricate rhythm, ‘Cranberries, cranberries, fresh from the
snow!’ Before long the girl from the pastry shop would take over: ‘Fresh pies,
fancy buns!’ The hurdy-gurdy man was also a frequent visitor: when he began to
turn the handle on his brightly painted box, the entire yard would be deafened
with strident, off-key polkas and waltzes (Sollertinsky, 5).”
When I was finishing up college, my father died. With him
gone, I was left to keep my family afloat. I left to play for a cinema for a
living, with my mother not able to get a public job (Martynov, 5). That
experience taught me how to endure through the worst as many others did.
Me: When you say you played in a cinema for a living, what
do you mean by this?
D. SCH: During my time in Russia, a cinema was where live
drama’s or other performances were showed and I would play the music (along
with other instrumentalist’s).
Me: Oh, well thank you for your time. This was awesome!
D. SCH: (Smiles) Anytime!
Works Cited:
Dmitri & Ludmilla, Sollertinsky. Pages From the Life of Dmitri Shostakovich. New York: Har-
court Brace
Jovanovich, Inc., 1980. Print.
Martynov, Ivan. The
Man and His Work. New York: The Philosophical Library, Inc., 1947.
Print.
Seroff, Victor Ilyich. The
Life and Background of a Soviet Composer. New York: Alfred A
Knopf, 1943.
Print.
Harlamova, Olga. Personal Interview. 29 Feb. 2012.
Neeleman, Edwin. Dmitri
Shostakovich. Wed. 15 Feb 2012.
Nurijand, Joseph. 19th
Century Russia. Thurs. 1 March 2012.
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