Dmitry Shostakovich, whose biography is of interest to many lovers of classical music, is a famous Soviet composer who became famous far beyond the borders of his native country.

Shostakovich's childhood

Born September 25, 1906 in St. Petersburg in the family of a pianist and chemist. Music, which was an important component in his family (his father is a passionate music lover, his mother is a piano teacher), was carried away from an early age: a taciturn thin boy, sitting down at the piano, turned into a daring musician.

He wrote his first work "Soldier" at the age of 8, under the influence of constant conversations of adults about the outbreak of the First World War. D. Shostakovich, whose biography was associated with music all his life, became a student of the music school of I.A. Glyasser, a well-known teacher. Although Dmitry was introduced to the basics by his mother.

In Dmitry's life, along with music, there was always love. For the first time, a magical feeling visited the young man at the age of 13: 10-year-old Natalia Kube became the object of love, to whom the musician dedicated a short prelude. But the feeling gradually faded away, and the desire to dedicate his creations to beloved women remained with the virtuoso pianist forever.

After studying at a private school, in 1919 Dmitry Shostakovich, whose biography took a professional musical start, entered the Petrograd Conservatory, successfully graduating in 1923 in two classes at once: composition and piano playing. At the same time, a new sympathy met on his way - beautiful Tatiana Glivenko. The girl was the same age as the composer, pretty, well-educated, cheerful and cheerful, who inspired Shostakovich to create the First Symphony, which, upon graduation, was handed over as a graduation work. The depth of feelings expressed in this work was caused not only by love, but also by an illness that became the result of many sleepless nights of the composer, his experiences and depression developing against the background of all this.

A worthy start to a musical career

The premiere of the First Symphony, which spread all over the world after many years, took place in 1926 in St. Petersburg. Music critics considered the talented composer a worthy replacement for Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev, who emigrated from the country, and this same symphony brought world fame to the young composer and virtuoso pianist. When performing at the First International Chopin Piano Competition in 1927, held in Warsaw, one of the members of the competition jury, Bruno Walter, an Austro-American composer and conductor, drew attention to Shostakovich's unusual talent. He suggested that Dmitry play something else, and when the First Symphony began to sound, Walter asked the young composer to send him a score to Berlin. On November 22, 1927, the conductor performed this, which made Shostakovich famous all over the world.

In 1927, the talented Shostakovich, whose biography includes many ups and downs, inspired by the success of the First Symphony, set about creating the opera The Nose based on Gogol. Then the First Piano Concerto was created, after which two more symphonies were written in the late 1920s.

Affairs of the Heart

But what about Tatyana? She, like most unmarried girls, waited long enough for a marriage proposal, which the timid Shostakovich, who had exceptionally pure and bright feelings for his inspirer, either did not guess, or did not dare to do. A more agile cavalier, who met Tatiana on the way, took her down the aisle; to him she bore a son. After three years, Shostakovich, who had been pursuing all this time now someone else's beloved, invited Tatyana to become his wife. But the girl chose to completely break off all relations with a talented admirer who turned out to be too timid in life.

Finally convinced that his beloved could not be returned, Shostakovich, whose biography was closely intertwined with music and love experiences, in the same year married Nina Varzar, a young student with whom he lived for more than 20 years. The woman who bore him two children steadfastly endured all these years of her husband's passion for other women, his frequent infidelities, and died before her beloved husband.

After the death of Nina Shostakovich, whose brief biography includes several masterpieces and worldwide famous works, created a family twice: with Margarita Kaionova and Irina Supinskaya. Against the backdrop of affairs of the heart, Dmitry did not stop creating, but in relations with music, he behaved much more decisively.

On the waves of the mood of the authorities

In 1934, the opera Lady Mtsensk district", immediately accepted by the viewer with a bang. However, after a season and a half, her existence was in jeopardy: musical composition was sharply criticized by the Soviet authorities and was removed from the repertoire. The premiere of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony, which was characterized by a more monumental scope in contrast to the previous ones, was to take place in 1936. Due to the unstable situation in the country and government representatives to people of creativity, the first performance of a musical work took place only in 1961. The 5th symphony was published in 1937. During the years of the Great Patriotic War Shostakovich set to work on the 7th symphony - "Leningrad", first performed on March 5, 1942.

From 1943 to 1948, Shostakovich was engaged in teaching at the Moscow Conservatory of the city of Moscow, from where he was later expelled by the Stalinist authorities, who undertook to “put things in order” in the Union of Composers, due to unsuitability. The “correct” work released by Dmitry on time saved his position. Further, the composer was expected to join the party (forced), as well as many other circumstances, of which there were still more ups than downs.

Last years Shostakovich, whose biography is studied with interest by many music fans, was very ill, suffering from lung cancer. The composer died in 1975. His ashes were buried in Novodevichy cemetery city ​​of Moscow.

Today, Shostakovich's works, embodying a pronounced inner human drama, conveying a chronicle of terrible mental suffering, are the most performed in the whole world. The most popular are the Fifth and Eighth symphonies out of fifteen written. Of the string quartets, which are also fifteen, the Eighth and Fifteenth are most performed.

Awards Autograph shostakovich.ru Audio, photo, video  at Wikimedia Commons

Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich(September 12, St. Petersburg - August 9, Moscow) - Russian Soviet composer, pianist, musical and public figure, doctor of art history, teacher, professor. In - gg. - Secretary of the Board of the Union of Composers of the USSR, in - years - Chairman of the Board of the Union of Composers of the RSFSR.

Dmitri Shostakovich - one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, is the author of 15 symphonies, 6 concertos, 3 operas, 3 ballets, numerous works of chamber music, music for films and theatrical productions.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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✪ Shostakovich documentary / Shostakovich - Sketches for the portrait of the composer

✪ D. Shostakovich. Symphony No. 10. Conductor G. Rozhdestvensky (1982)

✪ "My Shostakovich" - documentary(Russia, 2006)

✪ Shostakovich works on his piano trio, op. 67 (1944)

✪ To the 110th anniversary of the birth of Dmitry Shostakovich

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Biography

Origin

The great-grandfather of Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich on the paternal side - veterinarian Pyotr Mikhailovich Shostakovich (1808-1871) - in the documents he considered himself a peasant; as a volunteer he graduated from the Vilna Medical and Surgical Academy. In 1830-1831, he participated in the Polish uprising and after its suppression, together with his wife, Maria Yuzefa Yasinskaya, was exiled to the Urals, to the Perm province. In the 40s, the couple lived in Yekaterinburg, where on January 27, 1845 their son was born - Boleslav-Arthur.

In Yekaterinburg, Pyotr Shostakovich rose to the rank of collegiate assessor; in 1858 the family moved to Kazan. Here, even in his gymnasium years, Boleslav Petrovich became close to the leaders of the "Earth and Will" . At the end of the gymnasium, at the end of 1862, he went to Moscow, following the Kazan "landlords" Yu. M. Mosolov and N. M. Shatilov; worked in the management of the Nizhny Novgorod railway, took an active part in organizing the escape from prison of the revolutionary Yaroslav Dombrovsky. In 1865, Boleslav Shostakovich returned to Kazan, but already in 1866 he was arrested, escorted to Moscow and brought to trial in the case of N. A. Ishutin - D. V. Karakozov. After four months in the Peter and Paul Fortress, he was sentenced to exile in Siberia; lived in Tomsk, in 1872-1877 - in Narym, where on October 11, 1875 his son, named Dmitry, was born, then in Irkutsk, he was the manager of the local branch of the Siberian Trade Bank. In 1892, at that time already an honorary citizen of Irkutsk, Boleslav Shostakovich received the right to live everywhere, but chose to stay in Siberia.

Dmitry Boleslavovich Shostakovich (1875-1922) went to St. Petersburg in the mid-90s and entered the natural department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University, after which, in 1900, he was hired by the Chamber of Measures and Weights, shortly before created by D. I. Mendeleev. In 1902, he was appointed senior trustee of the Chamber, and in 1906, head of the City Proofing House. Participation in the revolutionary movement in the Shostakovich family had already become a tradition by the beginning of the 20th century, and Dmitry was no exception: according to family testimony, on January 9, 1905, he participated in a procession to the Winter Palace, and later proclamations were printed in his apartment.

The maternal grandfather of Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich, Vasily Kokoulin (1850-1911), was born, like Dmitry Boleslavovich, in Siberia; after graduating from the city school in Kirensk, at the end of the 1860s he moved to Bodaibo, where the "gold rush" attracted many in those years, and in 1889 became the manager of a mine office. The official press noted that he "found time to delve into the needs of employees and workers and satisfy their needs": he introduced insurance and medical care for workers, established trade in cheap goods for them, and built warm barracks. His wife, Alexandra Petrovna Kokoulina, opened a school for the children of workers; there is no information about her education, but it is known that in Bodaibo she organized an amateur orchestra, widely known in Siberia.

The love of music was inherited from her mother by the youngest daughter of the Kokoulins, Sofya Vasilievna (1878-1955): she studied piano under the guidance of her mother and at the Irkutsk Institute for Noble Maidens, and after graduating from it, following her older brother Yakov, she went to the capital and was accepted into the St. the conservatory, where she studied first with S. A. Malozemova, and then with A. A. Rozanova. Yakov Kokoulin studied at the natural department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of St. Petersburg University, where he met his countryman Dmitry Shostakovich; brought together by their love of music. As an excellent singer, Yakov introduced Dmitry Boleslavovich to his sister Sofya, and in February 1903 their wedding took place. In October of the same year, a daughter, Maria, was born to the young spouses, in September 1906, a son named Dmitry, and three years later, the youngest daughter, Zoya.

Childhood and youth

Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich was born in house number 2 on Podolskaya Street, where D. I. Mendeleev rented the first floor for the City verification tent in 1906.

In 1915, Shostakovich entered the Commercial Gymnasium of Maria Shidlovskaya, and his first serious musical impressions date back to the same time: after attending a performance of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, young Shostakovich announced his desire to seriously engage in music. The first piano lessons were given to him by his mother, and after several months of classes, Shostakovich was able to start studying at a private music school of the then-famous piano teacher I. A. Glyasser.

While studying with Glasser, Shostakovich achieved some success in piano performance, but he did not share his student's interest in composition, and in 1918 Shostakovich left his school. In the summer of the following year, A. K. Glazunov listened to the young musician, who spoke approvingly of his composer talent. In the autumn of 1919, Shostakovich entered the Petrograd Conservatory, where he studied harmony and orchestration under M. O. Steinberg, counterpoint and fugue under N. A. Sokolov, while also conducting. At the end of 1919, Shostakovich wrote his first major orchestral work - Scherzo fis-moll.

The following year, Shostakovich entered the piano class of L. V. Nikolaev, where among his classmates were Maria Yudina and Vladimir Sofronitsky. During this period, the "Anna Vogt Circle" was formed, which focused on the latest trends in Western music of that time. Shostakovich also became an active participant in this circle, he met composers B. V. Asafiev and V. V. Shcherbachev, conductor N. A. Malko. Shostakovich wrote "Two fables of Krylov" for mezzo-soprano and piano and "Three Fantastic Dances" for piano.

At the conservatory he studied diligently and with particular zeal, despite the difficulties of that time: World War I, revolution, civil war, devastation, famine. There was no heating in the conservatory in winter, transport was poor, and many people gave up music and skipped classes. Shostakovich, on the other hand, "nibbled on the granite of science." Almost every evening he could be seen at the concerts of the Petrograd Philharmonic, which reopened in 1921.

A hard life with a half-starved existence (the conservative ration was very small) led to severe exhaustion. In 1922, Shostakovich's father died, leaving the family without a livelihood. A few months later, Shostakovich underwent a serious operation that almost cost him his life. Despite his failing health, he is looking for work and gets a job as a pianist-tapper in a cinema. Great help and support during these years is provided by Glazunov, who managed to get Shostakovich an additional ration and a personal scholarship. .

1920s

In 1923 Shostakovich graduated from the conservatory in piano (with L. V. Nikolaev), and in 1925 - in composition (with M. O. Steinberg). His graduation work was the First Symphony. While studying at the graduate school of the conservatory, he taught reading scores at the music college named after M. P. Mussorgsky. In a tradition dating back to Rubinstein, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, Shostakovich intended to pursue a career both as a concert pianist and as a composer. In 1927, at the First International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where Shostakovich also performed a sonata of his own composition, he received an honorary diploma. Fortunately, the famous German conductor Bruno Walter noticed the unusual talent of the musician even earlier, during his tour in the USSR; upon hearing the First Symphony, Walter immediately asked Shostakovich to send the score to him in Berlin; The foreign premiere of the symphony took place on November 22, 1927 in Berlin. Following Bruno Walter, the Symphony was performed in Germany by Otto Klemperer, in the USA by Leopold Stokowski (American premiere November 2, 1928 in Philadelphia) and Arturo Toscanini, thereby making the Russian composer famous.

In 1927, two more significant events took place in the life of Shostakovich. In January, the Austrian composer of the Novovensk school Alban Berg visited Leningrad. Berg's arrival was due to the Russian premiere of his opera Wozzeck, which became a huge event in the cultural life of the country, and also inspired Shostakovich to start writing an opera "Nose", based on the novel by N.V. Gogol. Other important event was the acquaintance of Shostakovich with I. I. Sollertinsky, who, during his many years of friendship with the composer, enriched Shostakovich with acquaintance with the work of great composers of the past and present.

At the same time, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the following two symphonies by Shostakovich were written - both with the participation of the choir: Second ( "Symphonic dedication to October", to the words of A. I. Bezymensky) and the Third ( "Pervomaiskaya", to the words of S. I. Kirsanov).

In 1928, Shostakovich met V. E. Meyerhold in Leningrad and, at his invitation, worked for some time as a pianist and head of the musical part of the V. E. Meyerhold Theater in Moscow. In 1930-1933 he worked as the head of the musical department of the Leningrad TRAM (now the Baltic House Theater).

1930s

In the same 1936, the premiere of the Fourth Symphony was to take place - a work of a much more monumental scope than all the previous symphonies of Shostakovich, combining tragic pathos with the grotesque, lyrical and intimate episodes, and, perhaps, should have begun a new, mature period in the composer's work . Shostakovich suspended rehearsals of the Symphony before the December premiere. The Fourth Symphony was first performed only in 1961.

In May 1937, Shostakovich completed the Fifth Symphony, a work whose dramatic nature, unlike the previous three "avant-garde" symphonies, is outwardly "hidden" in the generally accepted symphonic form (4 parts: with sonata form of the first movement, scherzo, adagio and finale with outwardly triumphant end) and other "classic" elements. Stalin commented on the premiere of the Fifth Symphony on the pages of Pravda with the phrase: "The businesslike creative response of a Soviet artist to fair criticism."

Since 1937, Shostakovich taught a composition class at the Leningrad Conservatory. In 1939 he became a professor.

1940s

	Message Shostakovich on writing seventh symphony
	Leningrad, radio broadcast 1941
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To express his innermost ideas, thoughts and feelings, Shostakovich used the genres of chamber music. In this area, he created such masterpieces as the Piano Quintet (1940), the Second Piano Trio (in memory of I. Sollertinsky, 1944; Stalin Prize, 1946), String Quartets No. 2 (1944), No. 3 (1946) and No. 4 (1949) ). In 1945, after the end of the war, Shostakovich wrote the Ninth Symphony.

Despite the accusations, Shostakovich visited the United States the very next year (1949) after the Decree as part of the delegation of the world conference in defense of peace, which was held in New York, and made a lengthy report at this conference, and in the next (1950) year he received the Stalin prize for the cantata "Song of the Forests" (written in 1949) - an example of the pathetic "grand style" of the official art of those times.

1950s

The fifties began for Shostakovich with very important work. Participating as a jury member at the Bach Competition in Leipzig in the autumn of 1950, the composer was so inspired by the atmosphere of the city and the music of its great resident - J. S. Bach - that upon arrival in Moscow he began to compose 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano.

In 1952 he wrote a cycle of pieces "Dances of the Dolls" for piano without orchestra.

Many works of the second half of the decade are imbued with optimism. These are the Sixth String Quartet (), the Second Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (), the operetta "Moscow, Cheryomushki". In the same year, the composer created the Eleventh Symphony, calling it "1905", continued to work in the genre of instrumental concerto (First Concerto for Cello and Orchestra,). In the same years, Shostakovich's rapprochement with official authorities began. In 1957 he became secretary of the SK USSR, in 1960 - SK RSFSR (in 1960-1968 - first secretary). Also in 1960, Shostakovich joined the CPSU.

1960s

In the same 1962, Shostakovich visited (together with G. N. Rozhdestvensky, M. L. Rostropovich, G. P. Vishnevskaya and other famous Soviet musicians) the Edinburgh Festival, the program of which was composed mainly of his compositions. Performances of Shostakovich 's music in Great Britain caused a great public outcry .

After the removal of N. S. Khrushchev from power, with the beginning of the era of political stagnation in the USSR, Shostakovich's music again acquired a gloomy tone. His quartets No. 11 () and No. 12 (), Second Cello () and Second Violin () Concertos, Violin Sonata (), a vocal cycle to the words of A. A. Blok, are imbued with anxiety, pain and inescapable longing. In the Fourteenth Symphony () - again “vocal”, but this time chamber, for two solo singers and an orchestra consisting of only strings and percussion - Shostakovich used the poems of G. Apollinaire, R. M. Rilke, V. K. Kuchelbeker and F. Garcia Lorca, which are connected by one theme - death (they tell about unfair, early or violent death).

1970s

During these years, the composer created vocal cycles based on poems by M. I. Tsvetaeva and Michelangelo, the 13th (1969-1970), 14th () and 15th () string quartets and Symphony No. nostalgia, memories. In it, Shostakovich resorted to quotations from famous works of the past (collage technique). The composer used, among other things, the music of G. Rossini's overture to the opera "William Tell" and the theme of fate from R. Wagner's opera tetralogy "The Ring" of the Nibelung, as well as musical allusions to the music of M.I. Glinka, G. Mahler and, finally , his own pre-written music. The symphony was created in the summer of 1971, the premiere took place on January 8, 1972. Shostakovich's last composition was the Sonata for Viola and Piano.

In the last few years of his life, the composer was very ill, suffering from lung cancer. He had a very complex disease associated with damage to the muscles of the legs. In 1970-1971. he came to the city of Kurgan three times and spent a total of 169 days here for treatment in the laboratory  (at the Sverdlovsk NIITO) of Dr. G. A. Ilizarov.

Dmitri Shostakovich died in Moscow on August 9, 1975 and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery (site No. 2).

Family

1st wife - Shostakovich Nina Vasilievna (nee Varzar) (1909-1954). She was an astrophysicist by profession, studied with the famous physicist Abram Ioffe. She abandoned her scientific career and devoted herself entirely to her family.

Daughter - Galina Dmitrievna Shostakovich.

2nd wife - Margarita Kainova, an employee of the Central Committee of the Komsomol. The marriage quickly fell apart.

3rd wife - Supinskaya (Shostakovich) Irina Antonovna (born November 30, 1934 in Leningrad). Editor of the publishing house "Soviet composer". She was the wife of Shostakovich from 1962 to 1975.

The meaning of creativity

The high level of composing technique, the ability to create bright and expressive melodies and themes, mastery of polyphony and the finest mastery of the art of orchestration, combined with personal emotionality and colossal efficiency, made his musical works bright, original and of great artistic value. Shostakovich's contribution to the development of the music of the 20th century is generally recognized as outstanding, he had a significant impact on many contemporaries and followers.

The genre and aesthetic diversity of Shostakovich's music is enormous, it combines elements of tonal, atonal and modal music, modernism, traditionalism, expressionism and "grand style" are intertwined in the composer's work.

Style

Influences

In his early years, Shostakovich was influenced by the music of G. Mahler, A. Berg, I. F. Stravinsky, S. S. Prokofiev, P. Hindemith, M. P. Mussorgsky. Constantly studying classical and avant-garde traditions, Shostakovich developed his own musical language, emotionally filled and touching the hearts of musicians and music lovers around the world.

In the work of D. D. Shostakovich, the influence of his favorite and revered composers is noticeable: J. S. Bach (in his fugues and passacals), L. Beethoven (in his late quartets), P.I. Tchaikovsky, G. Maler and partly S. V. Rachmaninov (in his symphonies), A. Berg (partly - along with M. P. Mussorgsky in his operas, as well as in using the technique of musical quotation). Of the Russian composers, Shostakovich had the greatest love for Mussorgsky, for his operas "

😉 Hello my dear readers! The article "Dmitry Shostakovich: Brief Biography, Facts" tells about the main stages in the life of the outstanding Soviet composer, pianist, teacher, doctor of art history. The famous composer of the Soviet era received well-deserved fame far beyond the borders of the country.

Biography of Dmitry Shostakovich

This child prodigy was born on September 25, 1906 in St. Petersburg. Sign of the zodiac - To some extent, the fate of Shostakovich was predetermined from childhood. His father was a chemist, but passionately loved music, his mother was a pianist and taught piano lessons.

Parents: Sofia Vasilievna and Dmitry Boleslavovich Shostakovich

Dmitry absorbed the sounds of the piano from childhood and received a gift of musical talent at the genetic level. In addition to Dima, his sisters were brought up in the family: the eldest - Maria and the youngest - Zoya.

In 1915, nine-year-old Shostakovich entered the Commercial Gymnasium of Maria Shidlovskaya. Around the same time, under the impression of watching the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, written by Rimsky-Korsakov, he decides to take music seriously.

He received his first lessons, of course, from his mother. Later, he began to study piano, choosing for this a private school from the famous teacher I.A. Glasser. Some progress has been made in the course. In 1918, the young man decided to interrupt his studies and start composing music.

creative path

In the summer of 1919 Shostakovich was auditioned by A.K. Glazunov, in the autumn of the same year, the young talent enters the Petrograd Conservatory. There he continued his studies with Steinberg and Sokolov, and took conducting lessons. By the end of 1919, he wrote his first composition - Scherzo fis-moll.

In 1920, many new acquaintances took place among the musicians and he wrote such works as "Two Krylov's Fables" and "Three Fantastic Dances".

Despite the hard times, the revolution, civil war, all the hardships of the First World War, hungry and cold time, Shostakovich continued his studies at the conservatory.

When the city philharmonic was reopened in 1921, the young man practically visited it every evening. Many left music lessons, but not him.

The musician led a half-starved existence, this affected the severe exhaustion of the body. And in 1922 his father died, the family had a very bad time. In the same year, Dmitry also underwent a complex operation, miraculously surviving. But all these difficulties could not discourage his love of music. With great difficulty, he found a position as a pianist in a cinema.

Dmitri Shostakovich, 1925

In 1923, Dmitry graduated from the conservatory, studying composition and piano. He wrote the first symphony specifically for his thesis. After that, he decides to continue his education in graduate school, completely devoting himself to music.

Confession

In 1927, a international competition pianists and Shostakovich were invited to take part. There he presented his own composition - a sonata, for which he was rewarded with a diploma.

The talented musician was spotted by a German conductor during his tour of the Soviet Union. It was Bruno Walter. He became interested in the First Symphony and asked to send him the score.

The premiere of the symphony took place in Berlin on November 22, 1927, a year later - the premiere in Philadelphia (USA). Dmitri Shostakovich became famous far beyond the borders of the USSR.

• the late 1920s and early 1930s were notable for the writing of three more symphonies;
• 1930-1932 - the brilliant composer writes the opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", which the audience greeted with delight;
• 1936 - The Fourth Symphony was completed. It was performed for the first time, many years later, only in 1961;
• 1937 - work on the Fifth Symphony was completed. And in the same year, Shostakovich was awarded the title of professor;
• 1939 - Sixth Symphony;

• the Seventh Symphony was written in the first years of the Great Patriotic War. But the world heard it in 1942 in America;
• Dmitry Dmitrievich devoted the next year to writing the Eighth Symphony;
• in 1945, the Ninth Symphony was written and performed after the end of the war. (Total 15 symphonies);
• in 1943 - Shostakovich moved to Moscow;
• 1943-1948 - Work as a professor at the Moscow Conservatory.

In 1948, it was difficult for the composer. The Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU brought him several accusations: "groveling before the West", "formalism", "bourgeois decadence" and unsuitability. He was stripped of his professorship and fired from his positions.

Despite this, Shostakovich continued to write his immortal works and visit other countries as part of delegations. Stalin's "press" could not crush this man! Dmitry Dmitrievich had the opportunity to stay in the West, but he did not.

In 1950, the composer was awarded the fourth Stalin Prize. In total there were five Stalin Prizes and many of the highest awards, the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. (The list of well-deserved awards is very extensive).

Personal life

Who was the great Shostakovich? The main features of his character:

• isolation;
• modesty;
• honesty;
• shyness;
• tact;
• strength of will;
• courage;
• independence;
• good manners;
• honor.

Dmitry Dmitrievich entered into his first marriage with Nina Vasilievna Varzar (the years of her life 1909-1954). She was an astrophysicist by profession, but her family was more important to her than a scientific career. In this marriage, son Maxim and daughter Galina were born. The son also became a musician and conductor.

The second wife is Margarita Kainova, an employee of the Central Committee of the Komsomol. The marriage did not last long.

The third time Shostakovich married Irina Anatolyevna Supinskaya. She worked as the editor of the Soviet Composer magazine and remained the musician's wife until his death.

In the last years of his life, Shostakovich struggled with a difficult disease - lung cancer. He smoked a lot! Great composer ended his days in Moscow on August 9, 1975, was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Dmitry Shostakovich: short biography (video)

Shostakovich Dmitry Dmitrievich - an outstanding Russian composer, musical and public figure; talented teacher, professor and people's artist. In 1954 he was awarded the International Peace Prize. Born September 25, 1906 in St. Petersburg in the family of a chemical engineer, who was also a passionate connoisseur of music. Dmitry's mother was a talented pianist and music teacher, and one of his sisters later also became a pianist. Little Mitya's first piece of music was associated with military theme and was called "Soldier".

In 1915, the boy was sent to a commercial gymnasium. In parallel, he studied music, first under the supervision of his mother, then at the Petrograd Conservatory. There, such eminent musicians as Steinberg, Rozanova, Sokolov, Nikolaev became his teachers. First for real worthwhile work was his graduation work - Symphony No. 1. In 1926, a period of bold stylistic experiments was outlined in his work. Somehow he anticipated musical discoveries and innovations in the field of micropolyphony, sonorics, pointillism.

top it early creativity was the opera "The Nose" based on the story of the same name by Gogol, which he wrote in 1928, and presented on stage two years later. By that time in Berlin, the musical beau monde was already familiar with his 1st symphony. Encouraged by the success, he wrote both the 2nd and 3rd, and then the 4th symphonies, as well as the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. At first, criticism rained down on the composer, which, however, subsided with the advent of the 5th symphony. During the Second World War, he was in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and worked on a new symphony, which was performed first in Kuibyshev (now Samara), and then in Moscow.

Since 1937, he taught at the Leningrad Conservatory, but was forced to move to Kuibyshev, where he was evacuated. During the 1940s. he received several Stalin Prizes and honorary titles. The personal life of the composer was difficult. His muse was the same age as Tanya Glivenko, with whom he was passionately in love. However, without waiting for decisive action on his part, the girl married another. Over the years, Shostakovich also married another. Nina Varzar lived with him for 20 years and gave birth to two children: a son and a daughter. But he dedicated his main lyrical musical compositions to Tanya Glivenko.

Shostakovich died at the age of 68 on August 9, 1975 after a long lung disease. He was buried in Moscow, not the Novodevichy cemetery. In the hearts of fans, he remained an Honored Art Worker and a talented artist.

Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich (September 12 (25), 1906, St. Petersburg - August 9, 1975, Moscow) - Russian Soviet composer, pianist, teacher and public figure, one of the most significant composers of the 20th century, who has provided and continues to provide creative influence on composers. In his early years, Shostakovich was influenced by the music of Stravinsky, Berg, Prokofiev, Hindemith, and later (in the mid-1930s) by Mahler. Constantly studying classical and avant-garde traditions, Shostakovich developed his own musical language, emotionally filled and touching the hearts of musicians and music lovers around the world.

In the spring of 1926, the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nikolai Malko played Dmitri Shostakovich's First Symphony for the first time. In a letter to the Kyiv pianist L. Izarova, N. Malko wrote: “I have just returned from a concert. Conducted for the first time the symphony of the young Leningrader Mitya Shostakovich. I feel like I opened a new page in the history of Russian music.”

The reception of the symphony by the public, the orchestra, the press cannot simply be called a success, it was a triumph. The same was her procession through the most famous symphonic stages of the world. Otto Klemperer, Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Hermann Abendroth, Leopold Stokowski bent over the score of the symphony. To them, the conductor-thinkers, it seemed implausible the correlation between the level of skill and the age of the author. I was struck by the complete freedom with which the nineteen-year-old composer disposed of all the resources of the orchestra to translate his ideas, and the ideas themselves struck with spring freshness.

Shostakovich's symphony was truly the first symphony from the new world, over which the October thunderstorm swept. Striking was the contrast between the music, full of cheerfulness, the exuberant flowering of young forces, subtle, shy lyrics and the gloomy expressionist art of many of Shostakovich's foreign contemporaries.

Bypassing the usual youthful stage, Shostakovich stepped confidently into maturity. This confidence gave him a great school. A native of Leningrad, he was educated at the Leningrad Conservatory in the classes of pianist L. Nikolaev and composer M. Steinberg. Leonid Vladimirovich Nikolaev, who raised one of the most fruitful branches of the Soviet pianistic school, as a composer was a student of Taneyev, in turn a former student of Tchaikovsky. Maximilian Oseevich Steinberg is a student of Rimsky-Korsakov and a follower of his pedagogical principles and methods. From their teachers, Nikolaev and Steinberg inherited a complete hatred of dilettantism. A spirit of deep respect for work reigned in their classes, for what Ravel liked to designate with the word metier - craft. That is why the culture of mastery was already so high in the first major work of the young composer.

Many years have passed since then. Fourteen more were added to the First Symphony. There were fifteen quartets, two trios, two operas, three ballets, two piano, two violin and two cello concertos, romance cycles, collections of piano preludes and fugues, cantatas, oratorios, music for many films and dramatic performances.

The early period of Shostakovich's work coincides with the end of the twenties, a time of heated discussions on the cardinal issues of the Soviet artistic culture when the foundations of the method and style of Soviet art crystallized - socialist realism. Like many representatives of the young, and not only younger generation Soviet artistic intelligentsia, Shostakovich pays tribute to the passion for the experimental works of director V. E. Meyerhold, operas by Alban Berg (Wozzeck), Ernst Ksheneck (Jump over the Shadow, Johnny), ballet performances by Fyodor Lopukhov.

The combination of acute grotesqueness with deep tragedy, typical of many phenomena of expressionist art that came from abroad, also attracted the attention of the young composer. At the same time, admiration for Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Berlioz always lives in him. At one time, he was worried about the grandiose symphonic epic of Mahler: the depth of the ethical problems contained in it: the artist and society, the artist and modernity. But none of the composers of bygone eras shakes him like Mussorgsky.

At the beginning creative way Shostakovich, at the time of searches, hobbies, disputes, his opera The Nose (1928) is born - one of the most controversial works of his creative youth. In this opera, on Gogol's plot, through the tangible influences of Meyerhold's The Inspector General, musical eccentrics, bright features were visible that made The Nose related to Mussorgsky's opera The Marriage. The Nose played a significant role in Shostakovich's creative evolution.

The beginning of the 1930s is marked in the composer's biography by a stream of works of different genres. Here - the ballets "The Golden Age" and "Bolt", the music for Meyerhold's production of Mayakovsky's play "The Bedbug", the music for several performances of the Leningrad Theater of Working Youth (TRAM), finally, Shostakovich's first entry into cinematography, the creation of music for the films "One", "Golden Mountains", "Counter"; music for the variety and circus performance of the Leningrad Music Hall "Provisionally Killed"; creative communication with related arts: ballet, drama theater, cinema; the emergence of the first romance cycle (based on poems by Japanese poets) is evidence of the composer's need to concretize the figurative structure of music.

The central place among the works of Shostakovich in the first half of the 1930s is occupied by the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (Katerina Izmailova). The basis of its dramaturgy is the work of N. Leskov, the genre of which the author designated with the word “essay”, as if emphasizing the authenticity, reliability of events, portraiture actors. The music of "Lady Macbeth" is a tragic story about a terrible era of arbitrariness and lack of rights, when everything human was killed in a person, his dignity, thoughts, aspirations, feelings; when primitive instincts were taxed and ruled by actions, and life itself, shackled in shackles, walked along the endless paths of Russia. On one of them, Shostakovich saw his heroine - a former merchant's wife, a convict who paid the full price for her criminal happiness. I saw - and excitedly told her fate in his opera.

Hatred for the old world, the world of violence, lies and inhumanity is manifested in many of Shostakovich's works, in various genres. She is the strongest antithesis positive images, ideas that define the artistic, social credo of Shostakovich. Belief in the irresistible power of Man, admiration for the wealth of the spiritual world, sympathy for his suffering, a passionate thirst to participate in the struggle for his bright ideals - these are the most important features of this credo. It manifests itself especially fully in his key, milestone works. Among them is one of the most important, the Fifth Symphony, which arose in 1936, which began a new stage creative biography composer, a new chapter in the history of Soviet culture. In this symphony, which can be called an "optimistic tragedy", the author comes to a deep philosophical problem of the formation of the personality of his contemporary.

Judging by Shostakovich's music, the symphony genre has always been for him a platform from which only the most important, most fiery speeches aimed at achieving the highest ethical goals should be delivered. The symphonic tribune was not erected for eloquence. This is a springboard for militant philosophical thought, fighting for the ideals of humanism, denouncing evil and meanness, as if once again affirming Goethe's famous position:

Only he is worthy of happiness and freedom,
Who every day goes to fight for them!
It is significant that not one of the fifteen symphonies written by Shostakovich escapes the present. The First was mentioned above, the Second is a symphonic dedication to October, the Third is May Day. In them, the composer turns to the poetry of A. Bezymensky and S. Kirsanov in order to more clearly reveal the joy and solemnity of revolutionary festivities that burn in them.

But already from the Fourth Symphony, written in 1936, some alien, evil force enters the world of joyful comprehension of life, kindness and friendliness. She takes on different forms. Somewhere she rudely steps on the ground covered with spring greenery, with a cynical grin defiles purity and sincerity, rages, threatens, portends death. It is internally close to the gloomy themes that threaten human happiness from the pages of the scores of Tchaikovsky's last three symphonies.

And in the Fifth and II parts of Shostakovich's Sixth Symphony, this formidable force makes itself felt. But only in the Seventh, Leningrad Symphony, she rises to her full height. Suddenly, a cruel and terrible force invades the world of philosophical reflections, pure dreams, sports cheerfulness, like Levitan's poetic landscapes. She came to sweep away this pure world and establish darkness, blood, death. Insinuatingly, from afar, a barely audible rustle of a small drum is heard, and a harsh, angular theme appears on its clear rhythm. Repeating eleven times with dull mechanicalness and gaining strength, it acquires hoarse, growling, some kind of shaggy sounds. And now, in all its frightening nakedness, the man-beast steps on the earth.

In contrast to the "theme of invasion", the "theme of courage" is born and grows stronger in music. The monologue of the bassoon is extremely saturated with the bitterness of loss, forcing one to remember Nekrasov's lines: "These are the tears of poor mothers, they will not forget their children who died in the bloody field." But no matter how mournful the loss, life declares itself every minute. This idea pervades the Scherzo - Part II. And from here, through reflections (part III), leads to a victorious-sounding finale.

The composer wrote his legendary Leningrad symphony in a house constantly shaken by explosions. In one of his speeches, Shostakovich said: “I looked at my beloved city with pain and pride. And he stood, scorched by fires, hardened in battles, having experienced the deep suffering of a fighter, and was even more beautiful in his severe grandeur. How was it not to love this city, erected by Peter, not to tell the whole world about its glory, about the courage of its defenders ... Music was my weapon.

Passionately hating evil and violence, the composer-citizen denounces the enemy, the one who sows wars that plunge peoples into the abyss of disaster. That is why the theme of war riveted the composer's thoughts for a long time. It sounds grandiose in scale, in depth of tragic conflicts in the Eighth, composed in 1943, in the Tenth and Thirteenth Symphonies, in the piano trio written in memory of I. I. Sollertinsky. This theme also penetrates into the Eighth Quartet, into the music for the films "The Fall of Berlin", "Meeting on the Elbe", "Young Guard". In an article dedicated to the first anniversary of Victory Day, Shostakovich wrote: fought in the name of victory. The defeat of fascism is only a stage in the irresistible offensive movement of man, in the implementation of the progressive mission of the Soviet people.

Ninth Symphony, Shostakovich's first post-war work. It was performed for the first time in the autumn of 1945, to some extent this symphony did not live up to expectations. There is no monumental solemnity in it, which could embody in music the images of the victorious end of the war. But there is something else in it: immediate joy, a joke, laughter, as if a huge weight had fallen from the shoulders, and for the first time in so many years it was possible to turn on the light without curtains, without blackouts, and all the windows of the houses lit up with joy. And only in the penultimate part there appears, as it were, a harsh reminder of the experience. But darkness reigns for a short time - the music returns again to the world of the light of fun.

Eight years separate the Tenth Symphony from the Ninth. There has never been such a break in Shostakovich's symphonic chronicle. And again we have before us a work full of tragic collisions, deep philosophical problems, captivating with its pathos the story of an era of great upheavals, an era of great hopes for mankind.

A special place in the list of Shostakovich's symphonies is occupied by the Eleventh and Twelfth.

Before turning to the Eleventh Symphony, written in 1957, it is necessary to recall the Ten Poems for mixed choir (1951) to the words of revolutionary poets of the 19th- the beginning of the XX century. The poems of revolutionary poets: L. Radin, A. Gmyrev, A. Kots, V. Tan-Bogoraz inspired Shostakovich to create music, each measure of which was composed by him, and at the same time is related to the songs of the revolutionary underground, student gatherings that sounded in the casemates Butyrok, and in Shushenskoye, and in Lyunjumo, on Capri, songs that were also a family tradition in the house of the composer's parents. His grandfather - Boleslav Boleslavovich Shostakovich - was exiled for participating in the Polish uprising of 1863. His son, Dmitry Boleslavovich, the composer's father, in his student years and after graduating from St. Petersburg University, was closely associated with the Lukashevich family, one of whose members, together with Alexander Ilyich Ulyanov, was preparing an assassination attempt on Alexander III. Lukashevich spent 18 years in the Shlisselburg fortress.

One of the most powerful impressions of Shostakovich's entire life is dated April 3, 1917, the day V. I. Lenin arrived in Petrograd. Here's how the composer talks about it. “I witnessed the events of the October Revolution, I was among those who listened to Vladimir Ilyich on the square in front of the Finland Station on the day of his arrival in Petrograd. And, although I was very young then, it was forever imprinted in my memory.

The theme of the revolution entered the flesh and blood of the composer in his childhood and matured in him along with the growth of consciousness, becoming one of his foundations. This theme crystallized in the Eleventh Symphony (1957), which bears the name "1905". Each part has its own name. According to them, one can clearly imagine the idea and dramaturgy of the work: "Palace Square", "January 9", "Eternal Memory", "Nabat". The symphony is permeated with intonations of the songs of the revolutionary underground: “Listen”, “Prisoner”, “You fell a victim”, “Rage, tyrants”, “Varshavyanka”. They give a rich musical narrative a special excitement and authenticity of a historical document.

Dedicated to the memory of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the Twelfth Symphony (1961) - a work of epic power - continues the instrumental tale of the revolution. As in the Eleventh, the program names of the parts give a completely clear idea of ​​its content: "Revolutionary Petrograd", "Spill", "Aurora", "Dawn of Humanity".

Shostakovich's Thirteenth Symphony (1962) is similar in genre to the oratorio. It was written for an unusual composition: a symphony orchestra, a bass choir and a bass soloist. The textual basis of the five parts of the symphony is the poems of Evg. Yevtushenko: "Babi Yar", "Humor", "In the store", "Fears" and "Career". The idea of ​​the symphony, its pathos is the denunciation of evil in the name of the struggle for truth, for man. And in this symphony, the active, offensive humanism inherent in Shostakovich is reflected.

After a seven-year break, in 1969, the Fourteenth Symphony was created, written for a chamber orchestra: strings, a small number of percussion and two voices - soprano and bass. The symphony contains poems by Garcia Lorca, Guillaume Apollinaire, M. Rilke and Wilhelm Kuchelbecker. The symphony dedicated to Benjamin Britten was written, according to its author, under the influence of Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death. In the excellent article “From the Depths of the Depths” dedicated to the Fourteenth Symphony, Marietta Shaginyan wrote: “...Shostakovich's Fourteenth Symphony, the culmination of his work. The Fourteenth Symphony - I would like to call it the first "Human Passions" of the new era - convincingly says how much our time needs both an in-depth interpretation of moral contradictions, and a tragic comprehension of spiritual trials (“passions”) through which humanity passes through the art.

D. Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony was composed in the summer of 1971. After a break of many years, the composer returns to the purely instrumental score of the symphony. The light color of the "toy scherzo" of the first part is associated with images of childhood. The theme from Rossini's overture "William Tell" organically "fits" into the music. The mournful music of the beginning of the second part in the gloomy sound of the brass group gives rise to thoughts of loss, of the first terrible grief. The music of the second part is filled with ominous fantasy, with some features reminiscent of fairy world"The Nutcracker". At the beginning of Part IV, Shostakovich again resorts to a quotation. This time it is the theme of fate from Valkyrie, which predetermines the tragic culmination of further development.

Fifteen symphonies by Shostakovich - fifteen chapters of the epic chronicle of our time. Shostakovich joined the ranks of those who actively and directly transform the world. His weapon is music that has become philosophy, philosophy has become music.

Shostakovich's creative aspirations cover all existing genres of music - from the mass song from "Counter" to the monumental oratorio "Song of the Forests", operas, symphonies, instrumental concerts. A significant section of his work is devoted to chamber music, one of the opuses of which - "24 Preludes and Fugues" for piano - occupies a special place. After Johann Sebastian Bach, few people dared to touch a polyphonic cycle of this kind and scale. And it's not about the presence or absence of appropriate technology, a special kind of skill. "24 Preludes and Fugues" by Shostakovich is not only a set of polyphonic wisdom of the 20th century, they are the clearest indicator of the strength and tension of thinking, penetrating into the depths of the most complex phenomena. This type of thinking is akin to the intellectual power of Kurchatov, Landau, Fermi, and therefore the preludes and fugues of Shostakovich amaze not only with the high academicism of revealing the secrets of Bach's polyphony, but above all with the philosophical thinking that really penetrates into the "depths of the depths" of his contemporary, the driving forces, contradictions and pathos era of great change.

Next to the symphonies, a large place in the creative biography of Shostakovich is occupied by his fifteen quartets. In this ensemble, modest in terms of the number of performers, the composer turns to a thematic circle close to that which he tells about in symphonies. It is no coincidence that some quartets appear almost simultaneously with symphonies, being their original "companions".

In the symphonies, the composer addresses millions, continuing in this sense the line of Beethoven's symphonism, while the quartets are addressed to a narrower, chamber circle. With him, he shares what excites, pleases, oppresses, what he dreams about.

None of the quartets has a special name to help understand its content. Nothing but a serial number. Nevertheless, their meaning is clear to anyone who loves and knows how to listen. chamber music. The First Quartet is the same age as the Fifth Symphony. In its cheerful structure, close to neoclassicism, with the thoughtful sarabande of the first part, the Haydnian sparkling finale, the fluttering waltz and the soulful Russian viola chant, drawn out and clear, one feels healing from the heavy thoughts that overcame the hero of the Fifth Symphony.

We remember how important the lyrics were in poems, songs, letters during the war years, how the lyrical warmth of a few heartfelt phrases multiplied spiritual strength. The waltz and romance of the Second Quartet, written in 1944, are imbued with it.

How different are the images of the Third Quartet. It contains the carelessness of youth, and painful visions of the "forces of evil", and the field tension of repulse, and lyrics that are adjacent to philosophical meditation. Fifth Quartet (1952), which precedes the Tenth Symphony, and in more The Eighth Quartet (I960) is filled with tragic visions - memories of the war years. In the music of these quartets, as in the Seventh and Tenth Symphonies, the forces of light and the forces of darkness are sharply opposed. On the title page of the Eighth Quartet is: "In memory of the victims of fascism and war." This quartet was written over the course of three days in Dresden, where Shostakovich went to work on the music for the film Five Days, Five Nights.

Along with the quartets, which reflect the "big world" with its conflicts, events, life conflicts, Shostakovich has quartets that sound like the pages of a diary. In the First they are cheerful; in the Fourth they speak of self-deepening, contemplation, peace; in the Sixth - pictures of unity with nature, deep peace are revealed; in the seventh and eleventh - dedicated to memory loved ones, music reaches almost speech expressiveness especially in tragic climaxes.

In the Fourteenth Quartet are especially noticeable character traits Russian melos. In the first part, musical images capture the romantic manner of expressing a wide range of feelings: from heartfelt admiration for the beauties of nature to outbursts of spiritual confusion, returning to the peace and tranquility of the landscape. The Adagio of the Fourteenth Quartet brings to mind the Russian spirit of the viola chant in the First Quartet. In III - the final part - the music is outlined by dance rhythms, sounding either more or less distinctly. Evaluating Shostakovich's Fourteenth Quartet, D. B. Kabalevsky speaks of the "Beethovenian beginning" of its high perfection.

The fifteenth quartet was first performed in the fall of 1974. Its structure is unusual, it consists of six parts, following one after another without interruption. All movements are in slow tempo: Elegy, Serenade, Intermezzo, Nocturne, Funeral March and Epilogue. The fifteenth quartet strikes with the depth of philosophical thought, so characteristic of Shostakovich in many works of this genre.

The quartet work of Shostakovich is one of the pinnacles of the development of the genre in the post-Beethoven period. Just like in symphonies, the world of lofty ideas, reflections, and philosophical generalizations reigns here. But, unlike symphonies, quartets have that intonation of confidence that instantly awakens an emotional response from the audience. This property of Shostakovich's quartets makes them related to Tchaikovsky's quartets.

Next to the quartets, rightfully one of the highest places in the chamber genre is occupied by the Piano Quintet, written in 1940, a work that combines deep intellectualism, which is especially evident in the Prelude and Fugue, and subtle emotionality, which somehow makes one recall Levitan's landscapes.

The composer turned to chamber vocal music more and more often in the post-war years. There are Six romances to the words of W. Raleigh, R. Burns, W. Shakespeare; vocal cycle "From the Jewish folk poetry»; Two romances on the verses of M. Lermontov, Four monologues on the verses of A. Pushkin, songs and romances on the verses of M. Svetlov, E. Dolmatovsky, the cycle "Spanish Songs", Five satires on the words of Sasha Cherny, Five humoresques on the words from the magazine "Crocodile ”, Suite on poems by M. Tsvetaeva.

Such an abundance of vocal music based on the texts of classics of poetry and Soviet poets testifies to a wide range of literary interests of the composer. In Shostakovich's vocal music, it is striking not only the subtlety of the sense of style, the poet's handwriting, but also the ability to recreate national characteristics music. This is especially striking in the Spanish Songs, in the cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry, and in romances based on verses by English poets. The traditions of Russian romance lyrics, coming from Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, are heard in Five Romances, “Five Days” to the verses of E. Dolmatovsky: “Day of Meeting”, “Day of Confessions”, “Day of Offenses”, “Day of Joy”, “Day of Memories” .

A special place is occupied by "Satires" to the words of Sasha Cherny and "Humoresques" from "Crocodile". They reflect Shostakovich's love for Mussorgsky. It arose in his youth and manifested itself first in his cycle of Krylov's Fables, then in the opera The Nose, then in Katerina Izmailova (especially in the fourth act of the opera). Three times Shostakovich addresses Mussorgsky directly, re-orchestrating and re-editing Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, and orchestrating Songs and Dances of Death for the first time. And again, admiration for Mussorgsky is reflected in the poem for soloist, choir and orchestra - "The Execution of Stepan Razin" to the verses of Evg. Yevtushenko.

How strong and deep must be the attachment to Mussorgsky, if, having such a bright personality, which can be unmistakably recognized by two or three phrases, Shostakovich so humbly, with such love - does not imitate, no, but adopts and interprets the manner of writing in his own way great realist musician.

Once, admiring the genius of Chopin, who had just appeared on the European musical horizon, Robert Schumann wrote: "If Mozart were alive, he would write a Chopin concerto." To paraphrase Schumann, we can say: if Mussorgsky had lived, he would have written Shostakovich's The Execution of Stepan Razin. Dmitri Shostakovich is an outstanding master of theatrical music. Different genres are close to him: opera, ballet, musical comedy, variety performances (Music Hall), drama theater. They also include music for films. We will name only a few works in these genres from more than thirty films: Golden Mountains, The Counter, The Maxim Trilogy, The Young Guard, Meeting on the Elbe, The Fall of Berlin, The Gadfly, Five days - five nights", "Hamlet", "King Lear". From music to dramatic performances: "Bedbug" by V. Mayakovsky, "Shot" by A. Bezymensky, "Hamlet" and "King Lear" by W. Shakespeare, "Salute, Spain" by A. Afinogenov, "The Human Comedy" by O. Balzac.

No matter how different in genre and scale Shostakovich's works in cinema and theater are, they are united by one common feature - music creates its own, as it were, "symphonic series" of embodiment of ideas and characters, which influences the atmosphere of a film or performance.

The fate of the ballets was unfortunate. Here the blame falls entirely on the inferior scriptwriting. But music, endowed with vivid imagery, humor, brilliantly sounding in the orchestra, has been preserved in the form of suites and occupies a prominent place in the repertoire of symphony concerts. With great success on many stages of the Soviet musical theaters there is a ballet "The Young Lady and the Hooligan" to the music of D. Shostakovich based on the libretto by A. Belinsky, who took the screenplay of V. Mayakovsky as the basis.

Dmitri Shostakovich made a great contribution to the instrumental concerto genre. The first piano concerto in C minor with solo trumpet was written (1933). With its youthfulness, mischief, and youthful, charming angularity, the concerto is reminiscent of the First Symphony. Fourteen years later, a deep in thought, magnificent in scope, in virtuoso brilliance, violin concerto appears; followed, in 1957, by the Second Piano Concerto, dedicated to his son, Maxim, designed for children's performance. The list of concert literature written by Shostakovich is completed by the Cello Concertos (1959, 1967) and the Second Violin Concerto (1967). These concerts are least of all designed for "rapture with technical brilliance." In terms of depth of thought and intense dramaturgy, they occupy a place next to the symphonies.

The list of works given in this essay includes only the most typical works in the main genres. Dozens of names in different sections of creativity remained outside the list.

His path to world fame is the path of one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century, boldly setting new milestones in the world musical culture. His path to world fame, the path of one of those people for whom to live means to be in the thick of the events of each for his time, to delve deeply into the meaning of what is happening, to take a fair position in disputes, clashes of opinions, in the struggle and respond with all the strength of his gigantic gifts for everything that is expressed by one great word - Life.