Quotes from Shostakovich
November 23rd 2010 08:32
The following quotes are all from Testimony - the Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich. At the time I read the book, I thought Shostakovich came across as a fairly wise character; later I was surprised to find that the book may have been a bit of a fake....consider this from Wikipedia, which discusses the issue:
Testimony is a book that was published in October 1979 by the Russian musicologist Solomon Volkov. He claimed that it was the memoirs of the composer Dmitri Shostakovich. From its
publication, its portrayal of the composer and his views was controversial: the Shostakovich of the book was sometimes critical of fellow composers, and most notably was strongly anti-Soviet in his views. The book also contained comments on his own music, indicating that it was intended as veiled criticism of the Soviet authorities and support for the dissident movement. The authenticity of the book is still disputed.
from Pg 3.
These are not memoirs about myself. These are memoirs about other people. Others will write about us. And naturally they'll lie through their teeth - but that's their business.
One must speak the truth about the past or not at all. It's very hard to reminisce and it's worth doing only in the name of truth.
Pg 6.
There's one thing that displeases me greatly: why did Stravinsky say such bad things about his parents? You get the impression that he's taking revenge for his childhood.
You can't take revenge on your parents. Even if your childhood wasn't very happy. You can't write a denunciation of them for your descendants, to the effect the Father and Mother were terrible people and I, poor child, had to put up with their tyranny. There's something despicable about that. I do not wish to listen to people demonising their parents.
Pg 24.
Don't expect anything good from a rude man. It doesn't matter in what field the boar is, politics or art. It doesn't matter where, he always tried to become a dictator, a tyrant. He tries to oppress everyone. And the result, as a rule, is very bad.
What galls me is that these sadists always have fans and followers - and sincere ones at that. The typical example of this is Toscanini.
Pg 23-24
I can't abide rudeness, even in so-called great artists. Rudeness and cruelty are the qualities I hate most. [They] are always connected, I feel. One example out of many is Stalin.
….Lenin said Stalin had only one fault - rudeness. The Party leadership didn't feel the need to remove Stalin because, what kind of fault was rudeness? It was almost like valour.
Pg 165
Gnessin made a perceptive remark about the man he knew so well; he said Glazunov's basic emotion was delight in an exquisitely arranged universe. I've never experienced that delight.
Pg 168
In the long run, all things in life can be separated into the important and the unimportant. You must be principled when it comes to the important things and not when it comes to the unimportant. That way is the key to living.
Just by way of further comment on Shostakovich. One of my earliest memories of the name was when I was probably no more than 11 or 12. I went to play at a music evening (the sort of thing they used to hold for young musicians in my city in those days) and was talking to another boy who mentioned that Shostakovich had just written his latest symphony - I don't know which number it was but it wasn't his last by any means. I was amazed: all composers, in my understanding, were dead - to hear of a composer still alive and writing music astonished me. Such is the naivety of some children.
Testimony is a book that was published in October 1979 by the Russian musicologist Solomon Volkov. He claimed that it was the memoirs of the composer Dmitri Shostakovich. From its
from Pg 3.
These are not memoirs about myself. These are memoirs about other people. Others will write about us. And naturally they'll lie through their teeth - but that's their business.
One must speak the truth about the past or not at all. It's very hard to reminisce and it's worth doing only in the name of truth.
Pg 6.
There's one thing that displeases me greatly: why did Stravinsky say such bad things about his parents? You get the impression that he's taking revenge for his childhood.
You can't take revenge on your parents. Even if your childhood wasn't very happy. You can't write a denunciation of them for your descendants, to the effect the Father and Mother were terrible people and I, poor child, had to put up with their tyranny. There's something despicable about that. I do not wish to listen to people demonising their parents.
Pg 24.
Don't expect anything good from a rude man. It doesn't matter in what field the boar is, politics or art. It doesn't matter where, he always tried to become a dictator, a tyrant. He tries to oppress everyone. And the result, as a rule, is very bad.
What galls me is that these sadists always have fans and followers - and sincere ones at that. The typical example of this is Toscanini.
Pg 23-24
I can't abide rudeness, even in so-called great artists. Rudeness and cruelty are the qualities I hate most. [They] are always connected, I feel. One example out of many is Stalin.
….Lenin said Stalin had only one fault - rudeness. The Party leadership didn't feel the need to remove Stalin because, what kind of fault was rudeness? It was almost like valour.
Pg 165
Gnessin made a perceptive remark about the man he knew so well; he said Glazunov's basic emotion was delight in an exquisitely arranged universe. I've never experienced that delight.
Pg 168
In the long run, all things in life can be separated into the important and the unimportant. You must be principled when it comes to the important things and not when it comes to the unimportant. That way is the key to living.
<><><><>
Just by way of further comment on Shostakovich. One of my earliest memories of the name was when I was probably no more than 11 or 12. I went to play at a music evening (the sort of thing they used to hold for young musicians in my city in those days) and was talking to another boy who mentioned that Shostakovich had just written his latest symphony - I don't know which number it was but it wasn't his last by any means. I was amazed: all composers, in my understanding, were dead - to hear of a composer still alive and writing music astonished me. Such is the naivety of some children.
| 71 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
