In the summer of 1941, Shostakovich began to play his seventh symphony for his friends and family in the city of Leningrad. His new symphony’s first movement began to fill the room, which centered on the sounds of the German invasion. Just as the first movement was coming to a close though, disaster struck as the bomb sirens began to echo throughout the city, the Germans had arrived. Shostakovich quickly gathered his family together and headed for shelter, promising everyone the performance would resume as soon as the sirens went off. Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky, a composer that attended this performance later wrote, the Seventh Symphony “is an extraordinary example of a synchronised, instant creative reaction to events as they are being lived through, transmitted in a complex, large-scale form, yet without the slightest hint of compromising the standard of the genre” (https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/02/war-music-the-humanity-heroism-and-propaganda-behind-shostakovich-symphony-no-7)
This Symphony in my opinion embodies the idea of an artist recording personal political turmoil on paper and using it to covey and scream a message to his audience. Shostakovich had the worlds throat with his own two hands with his music.
The premiere of the Seventh Symphony is astonishing. In August of 1942, in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Shostakovich premiered his new masterpiece with a starving orchestra, some close to death. These musicians had seen tremendous suffering at the hands of the Germans to the ones they loved most. They defied Hitler’s control, and in response, they made history by using their gift of art to make a political statement. In August of 1942, they filled the “Grand Hall” with sounds that longed and begged for victory and an end to their suffering. G
An interesting thought as a conservatory student: Shostakovich not only was a soviet composer that used propaganda in his music but he was a hero that protected the Leningrad conservatory as a firefighter to keep the school from being destroyed in the war. Shostakovich protected what he loved most. I wish my conductors loved me like this </3 :(…. On July 20, 1942, Dmitri Shostakovich became the first composer to appear on the cover of TIME Magazine. “Amid bombs bursting in Leningrad,” said the caption under a portrait of Shostakovich in an ornate fireman’s helmet, “he hears the chords of victory.” https://www.seattlesymphony.org/watch-listen/beyondthestage/shostakovich
The idea that a composer could write a symphony of this magnitude while a city was being bombed and starved inspired listeners to believe that the Nazis would not gain control of Russia.
Shosti as a firefighter :P.
http://www.interlude.hk/front/fireman-shostakovich/
The first movement is centered around a simple, singular tune, that implodes and causes destruction throughout the movement. This is meant to resemble Hitler, a singular, simple man who caused destruction on masses of populations and changed the world forever. He later told a friend that he wasn’t exactly trying to portray fascism, but all forms of terror including slavery and control of peoples spirit and joy.
https://youtu.be/adMB97J7hCk (first movement)
The symphony eventually builds up until the final movement (4) where you would think we would hear a joyous victory. We do, BUT, Shostakovich throws in the simple tune a couple more times and adds sounds of the pain and suffering that occured in his country, reminding the listener of the terrible horror that happened.
Fast forward: Leningrad siege ends 1944->Great Patriotic War->1948, Shostakovich’s music is banned.
As Shostakovich’s 7th symphony travels through time, we get to observe new interpretations that pertain to the political turmoil today, Shostakovich may have written this Symphony in defiance for Russia, but in the end, it can be as a political outcry for anyone. We can see an example of this when Colin Kaepernick refused to stand as the Star Spangled Banner played at a football game. This can clearly be compared to Shostakovich’s act of political resistance with his seventh symphony because both figures used peaceful protest in order to effectuate their point that what was going on in their countries at both times wasn’t right. I personally agree with Colins choice because the state of our nation is weaker than ever and seems to be heading in the wrong direction. People like Colin with large social platforms have the ability to make change and wake people up, which is exactly what he did.
You can read more on the article here on Colin here: