Shostakovich Influence

Shostakovich’s music and his musical style were directly affected by the political climate in Russia. He grew up and lived in a time of great turmoil, with wartime shortages and the 1917 revolution the first few years of his life had not been uncomplicated. Some of these events that transpired during his early life are observed in his 2nd, 11th, and 12th Symphonies. Shostakovich took influence from the likes of Prokofiev and Stravinsky during the earlier part of his career. His 2nd Symphony- a patriotic work with a pro-soviet finale- and his 3rd Symphony-based on a propagandist text- were not met with critical acclaim as his writing was experimental in nature. This was no clearer than in 1934 with the premiere of his opera ‘Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District’. The opera was at first met with huge success both critically and with the wider public. It was described at first as “the result of the general success of Socialist constructions, of the correct policy of the party” and as a work that “could have been written only by a Soviet composer brought up in the best tradition of Soviet culture”. After almost 200 performances the opera was an international success, but this triumph would soon be quelled.
At a performance of Lady Macbeth at the Bolshoi Theatre in early 1936, Shostakovich noticed that Stalin was in the audience. Accounts testified that Stalin shuddered every time the brass and percussion played too loudly, that he and his consort laughed at the love-making scene between two characters and that when Shostakovich came on stage to take a bow he was “white as a sheet”. Two days later, an …show more content…
Symphony No.5 was his solution, a piece of music that displayed all of the ideals of Socialist Realism . The work had to contain: a heroic tone, popular appeal, a high degree of lyricism and conservative musical