Shostakovich - Polystylist: DSCH, Quotation and Integration

Lecture Series Report by Marie, L6 - Shostakovich - Polystylist: DSCH, Quotation and Integration - Rossini and Wagner, Stalin, Leningrad, Fire Service, Football, Film, Denunciation and Obsession”.

On Friday 1st December, Lower 6th was treated to a fascinating lecture, titled "Shostakovich - Polystylist: DSCH, Quotation and Integration - Rossini and Wagner, Stalin, Leningrad, Fire Service, Football, Film, Denunciation and Obsession”. This lecture was a truly interdisciplinary, multi-faceted introduction to one of the most significant musical figures of the 20th century, and involved the return of special guest speaker Miss Robertson!

The lecture began with a short recall of the Nazi invasion of the Society Union, which the Lower 6 history students also known as Operation Barbarossa. During the tough times after the invasion, Shostakovich was invited to speak on the radio, and his promise of a new symphony boosted morale. Although he wrote fifteen symphonies in total, his seventh one, the Leningrad symphony, was especially significant. Shostakovich stated that, "I couldn't not write it. War was all around... I wanted to create the image of our embattled country, to engrave it in music". Its premier in Leningrad in August 1942 proved to be iconic. It required a huge orchestra of around 100 musicians. The story goes that Shostakovich did this on purpose, as performers would get 4 times the standard rations, which they certainly needed. The first rehearsal broke up after just 15 minutes as the musicians had so little energy. As so many members of the original orchestra died in the Siege of Leningrad, a call was put out to the front lines for any musicians to return to Leningrad. Before the premier, they had managed to practise the symphony through only once. On the day of performance, loudspeakers were set up across the city and towards the enemy lines, and everyone enjoyed the music. Incidentally, a number of music critics across the world were not overly positive about the quality of the symphony, but with this piece of music, that wasn’t the point, it was what it represented. A mammoth achievement reflecting incredible resilience, determination and hope in the face of an experience beyond the human imagination.

Shostakovich was not only one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, he also happened to be a passionate and obsessive football fanatic, as well as a lifelong supporter of his local team FC Zenit. FC Zenit, now called FC Zenit St Petersburg, decided to pay tribute to their most illustrious fan by putting on a spectacular celebration timed to coincide with the 110th anniversary of his birth. The event featured a huge portrait of the composer draped along the stands, and was accompanied by a live performance of musical quotations from his Leningrad Symphony. It may well have inspired Zenit to produce their best football as they won the match 4:2. He didn't play football himself, but was a qualified referee and seized the challenge of combining music and sport in at least two scores. His first was The Golden Age, which concerns the exploits of a Soviet football team that is invited to visit a decadent fascist Western European city and depicts the difficulties they experience on their travels, from hostile officials, seductive divas and corrupt police officers. Some suggest that Shostakovich was initially attracted to football because he was intrinsically a gambling man. He cites that in his youth the composer spent a lot of time at the poker table, on one occasion even gambling away his favourite grand piano. 

We ended the spectacular lecture by watching a brief video of one of Shostakovich’s most famous compositions, and were all blow away with his truly interdisciplinary talents. His bravery and resilience needed to produce the music that he did even though it put him at great risk after the war of denunciation and punishment by Stalin during his reign of terror, alongside his remarkable talent inspired us all.