Shostakovich survived Stalin's opression. His music illuminated the nightmare. The War Symphonies: Shostakovich against Stalin (1997) from Canadian director, Larry Weinstein.

Music is a way to say something without really saying it. In times of political oppression, it has been the only way to say anything at all without the risk of being tried for treason. And even then, you had to be careful.

This week's episode of Mid-week Musicology features one of Larry Weinstein's composer-focused documentaries. If you don't know Larry Weinstein and you're a fan of Canadian film, give this article from the International Documentary Association Magazine's Summer 2008 issue a read.

As people around him began disappearing, the powers that be only narrowly spared Shostakovich from the Gulag. After his first public denunciation in 1936 at the start of the Great Purge, Shostakovich did what he had to do to survive. What would you do if the Soviet government approached you to write a work celebrating the invasion of a country based on folk themes of this country they were intending to invade?

This actually happened. The country was Finland. The Soviets never got there. Shostakovich tried to forget it ever happened; he never put his name on the work. It was finally premiered in 2001.

The War Symphonies: Shostakovich against Stalin (1997). Fascinating.

 

 

Stay tuned to Classic107.com for another new episode of Mid-week Musicology every Wednesday!