Klarinet Archive - Posting 000158.txt from 1995/12

From: "Lorne G. Buick" <mcheramy@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: Shostakovich
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 16:06:19 -0500

>To: IN: klarinet@-----.bitnet
>
>Are there any Shostakovich experts out there? I am writing a research
>paper on Shostakovich. I am trying to approach it with a thesis
>concerning the politics influence on his music.

Julianne, and anyone else interested in Shostakovitch:

If you happen to be in Canada, or close enough to pick up CBC radio,
there's a series (3 instalments) on that exact topic on Ideas.
Unfortunately I missed the first part; part two is tomorrow (Fri. Dec 8) at
9pm (9:30 in Newfoundland) and part three next Friday. Here's the blurb:

IN SEARCH OF DMITRI SHOSTAKOVITCH

His life spanned the 1917 Russian Revolution, two World Wars, Stalin's
purges and a detente. He was both decorated and damned by the Soviet
regime. Until recently few questioned the image of composer DS as a Hero of
Socialist Labour and "a faithful son of the Communist Party". But in 1979
his smuggled memoirs were published. Testimony portrays S as a man who
opposed the Communist regime all his life, and encoded that opposition in
his music. Despite questions about the book's authenticity, many westerners
now hear dissent in every note he wrote. Tamara Bernstein [producer of the
radio program] is skeptical of both extremes.