Cover Osteuropa 8/2006

In Osteuropa 8/2006

Reluctant Revolutionary?
Dmitrii Shostakovich on the Occasion of His 100th Birthday

David Fanning

Deutsche Fassung


Interest in Dmitrii Shostakovich has exploded in the year marking his hundredth birthday. At the same time, it is still difficult to answer several key questions concerning his life and his work. What is it about his music that makes it so popular with concertgoers today? “Empty bombast” or “ironic genius”: Why does his music provoke such different responses? To what extent was his musical style shaped by the Soviet communist regime? Are the “memoirs” genuine? The answers should take into consideration the range of Shostakovich's artistic gifts and the role of performance in conveying musical meaning and by all means avoid reading narrowly political attitudes into his work.

(Osteuropa 8/2006, pp. 25–34)