Shosta and the movies
Louis Blois
has been inspired from Shostakovich' 11th Symphony. I don't know, but it
prompts the following question:
Name as many American or British movies as you can which use Shostakovich's
music; and name the music used.
I can recall one, Roller Ball, circa mid-late 1970s, in which portions of the
8th Sym. were conspicuously used. As I remember, the movie was about a
killing-fest by a gang of roller-blading hooligans.
Any more?
Louis Blois
Richard A. Muirden
>I can recall one, Roller Ball, circa mid-late 1970s, in which portions of the
>8th Sym. were conspicuously used. As I remember, the movie was about a
>killing-fest by a gang of roller-blading hooligans.
5th Symphony, 3rd and 4th movements. 3rd movement when the hero (James
Caan) visits the vast computer centre in Geneva(I think) and we find
out the basically the whole planet's knowledge has been stuffed into
a huge computer system that the various mega corporations (who now
run the place) use and abuse, and that at the time of his visit the
13th century has been lost totally. Upon his question of how the
planet is run, and who exactly makes the decisions in life the computer
has a fit. The 4th movement is used in another scene, but I forget
which (or perhaps the 4th movement is when he visits Geneva, and
the 3rd is when he is at a party for rich kids, and they go out and
use these flame gum thingos to blow up beautiful old trees like it
is some kind of game).
Rollerball is actually a bloody good movie if you realise the messages
it is giving. And funnily enough, for a 20 year old film, do you notice
how things are ever growing towards the domination of the world by
corporations(no I am not talking of a conspiracy or anything so
fanciful, but think about it - the most common things anyone on earth
can name or recognise(perhaps with the exception of classical music!)
are icons of the mega-global corporations like Coke, McDonalds and
Nike - not to even start on Microsoft. Anyway the other points it
gives that no matter how peaceful the society the need for violence
(in place of war) appears to ever be there, and the crushing of
the individual spirit(something DSCH could relate to I am sure!)
in terms of the fact that Jonathan E(Caan's character) becomes the
hero of the sport of roller ball when the object is for there to be
no heroes, and the corporations respond by first asking him to
retire, trying to force him via his ex-wife, and in the end removing
all the rules of the game in such a way that _noone_ _lives_ at
the end. Yet Jonathan E ends the movie by not killing hist last
opponent but by scoring the final goal. In otherwords, the
individual triumphs(at which point the movie ends with Bach's
toccata for some reason). I think DSCH may have approved of this
film quite nicely.
Whenever it is on TV I never tire of watching it. Not for the
violence (and realism) of the rollerball sport, but all the other
messages that are stuffed in there that are not always as overt
as you might think.
On the topic of DSCH music in films, aparently there is a new
aussie film out that has some DSCH in it, but my mother/sister(who
saw it) can't tell me what, or what the film is just that "oh, in
the credits they had Shostakovich..." now Dark City is an Australian
film(I gather) but I'm pretty sure they didn't see it. I haven't
seen it myself though.
cheers,
richard
--
Richard Muirden, SAP BASIS & UNIX Administration, Pasminco Business Systems.
"And just let me say, Ambassador, from the bottom of my heart:
Hot pink is definitely your color."
-- Garibaldi to G'Kar in Babylon 5:"The Parliament of Dreams"
John Smith
Louis Blois wrote:
> Name as many American or British movies as you can which use Shostakovich's
> music; and name the music used.
>
> I can recall one, Roller Ball, circa mid-late 1970s, in which portions of the
> 8th Sym. were conspicuously used. As I remember, the movie was about a
> killing-fest by a gang of roller-blading hooligans.
>
> Any more?
>
There is one which doesn't actually use Shostakovich music but which is a
complete Shostakovich ripoff. The music for the Harrison Ford movie "Patriot
Games" rips off either the 5th or 10th Symphony (can't remember which) almost
note for note at times. Then in the credits the talentless jerk who "wrote" the
music is mentioned, but no sign of DSCH. Prople have been sued for less blatant
copying than this...
Cheers
Allan
Dwightg
John Smith <jsm...@company.com> wrote:
>
>
>Louis Blois wrote:
>
>> Name as many American or British movies as you can which use Shostakovich's
>> music; and name the music used.
Sounds like it is about time to post the FAQ again. Richard?
--DwightG
Chris Hill
believe.
Christopher R. Hill
Kalamazoo, MI
Assistant Principal Bass, Southwest Michigan Symphony
John Smith wrote:
> Louis Blois wrote:
>
> > Name as many American or British movies as you can which use Shostakovich's
> > music; and name the music used.
> >
Opus47
>I can recall one, Roller Ball, circa mid-late 1970s, in which portions of the
>8th Sym. were conspicuously used. As I remember, the movie was about a
>killing-fest by a gang of roller-blading hooligans.
>
Rollerball used the 6th symphony 2nd movement. The movie starred James Caan
in the 1970's future sport violent thriller.
Most memorable in Rollerball was the use of Bach's famous Toccatta in d minor
for organ.
Fred
Richard A. Muirden
>There is one which doesn't actually use Shostakovich music but which is a
>complete Shostakovich ripoff. The music for the Harrison Ford movie "Patriot
>Games" rips off either the 5th or 10th Symphony (can't remember which) almost
>note for note at times. Then in the credits the talentless jerk who "wrote" the
>music is mentioned, but no sign of DSCH. Prople have been sued for less blatant
>copying than this...
oh yes, this is famous! Not only the 3rd movement of the 5th, but also
the very start of the 14th symphony IN THE SAME PIECE OF MUSIC!!!!!!!!!
Bloody James Horner ripoff man!
-richard
--
Richard Muirden, SAP BASIS & UNIX Administration, Pasminco Business Systems.
"Oh my god! Kenny killed.. Death!!" "You.. Bastard?"
- South Park
Mike
writes:
>There is one which doesn't actually use Shostakovich music but which is a
>complete Shostakovich ripoff. The music for the Harrison Ford movie "Patriot
>Games" rips off either the 5th or 10th Symphony (can't remember which) almost
>note for note at times.
It is the 5th, 3rd movement.
Mike
Richard A. Muirden
>Sounds like it is about time to post the FAQ again. Richard?
Is this when I admit that I.. ahem.. kind of lost it?
I have it on a tape, but no reader to get it off!! d'oh!
>--DwightG
Dwightg
>>Sounds like it is about time to post the FAQ again. Richard?
> Is this when I admit that I.. ahem.. kind of lost it?
> I have it on a tape, but no reader to get it off!! d'oh!
>
> --
> Richard Muirden, SAP BASIS & UNIX Administration, Pasminco Business Systems.
> "Oh my god! Kenny killed.. Death!!" "You.. Bastard?"
> - South Park
OK, here's the FAQ. Its a couple of years old, but it will serve. The
'music in the movies' section is a ways downscreen.
--DwightG
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): alt.fan.shostakovich
------------------------------------------------------
Compiled by: Richard A. Muirden (email: ric...@rmit.EDU.AU)
Last Updated: July 3, 1996
Contents:
--------
1. General Information (including what DSCH means)
2. Recommendations for Newcomers to Shostakovich
3. Major Works and Recommended Recordings
4. "Testimony" - The Story (& Film tidbits)
5. Shostakovich's music in Films and TV
6. Books of interest to Shostakovich Fans
7. "The DSCH Journal" - A newsletter!
8. DSCH Reference on the World Wide Web (WWW)
9. The "DSCH Smiley"
10. Information on The 'Fonds Chostakovitch' in Paris
11. Contributors to this FAQ
1. General Information (including what DSCH means)
==================================================
DMITRI DMITRIEVICH SHOSTAKOVICH
Born: 25th September, 1906 in St. Petersburg (5PM local time)
Parents: Dimitri Boleslawowitsch Shostakovich
Sofia Vasilievna Shostakovich (formerly Kokoulin).
Died: 9th August, 1975 in Moscow (at 7PM according to newspaper reports)
Wives: Nina Vasilievna (Varzar) (from 1934 until she died on December 5th, 1954)
* There was a temporary divorce during the summer of 1934.
(both parties had affairs, but couldn't keep apart from each other)
Margarita (Kainova) (1956-1960 - he proposed to her on the spot -
it was a failed marriage - he left her in November
1960)
Irina Antonova (Supinskaya) (December 1962)
(much younger but terribly caring and devoted to caring for the
sick composer)
All Children came during the marriage to Nina.
Son: Maxim Shostakovich, born in 1937, currently lives in the USA and works
as a conductor of many orchestras worldwide. Maxim's son, Dmitri jnr
is also a recorded pianist and can be heard performing Dmitri snr's
2 piano concertos under the baton of his father on 2 Chandos CD's
(CHAN 8357/8443)
Daughter: Galya -apparently she is still living in Moscow and has two children.
Maxim keeps in contact. Two children: Andrei and Kolya(Nikolai).
Kolya is the youngest, and should be around 30-33 years old now.
Kolya is married and has a daughter. They live in Moscow.
Apparently Andrei might have been in the US at some stage.
Aparently Galya was never a pianist or had any formal training.
Galya graduated from Moscow University - Field: Biology and she
worked at the Sclifasofsky Hospital.
Galya is the head of the Shostakovich Foundation along with DSCH's last wife.
DSCH: DSCH is a short form that many posters use for Shostakovich's name. This
comes from his own use of these notes (in German Notation) to mean his
own name. The most spectacular (and first major) use of the DSCH motif
is in the 10th Symphony. In case you want to play it, it is:
D Eb C B
However, the 8th String Quartet shows the "DSCH progression" much more
vividly. The first movement alone being a fine example of the
motif.
Prizes and honours awarded:
1940: Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
1942: Honoured Artist of the RSFSR.
1946: Order of Lenin
1948: People's Artist of the RSFSR.
1954: People's Artist of the USSR.
International Peace Prize.
1956: Order of Lenin
1958: International Jean Sibelius Prize
1959: Silver Medal, World Peace Council
1962-75: Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
1965: Honoury Doctorate in Music
1966: Order of Lenin
Hero of Socialist Labour
Gold Medal of the British Royal Philharmonic Society
1967: Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of
Austria
1969: Mozart Memoial Medal of the Mozart Society, Vienna
1971: Order of the October Revolution
1972: 'Great Star of the Friendship Among Peoples' in gold
1973: The Sonning Prize, Denmark
Stalin Prizes: 11
First Grade for Scores for film trilogy (Maxim's Youth, Maxim's Return
& The Vyborg Side - Opp.41,45,50) in 1941.
First Grade for Score of "The Great Citizen" in 1941.
First Grade for Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad" in 1942.
First Grade for Score of "Zoya" in 1946.
Second Grade for Piano Trio (Op.67) in 1946.
Second Grade for Score of the film "Pirogov" in 1948.
First Grade for Score of film "The Young Guards" in 1949.
Second Grade for Score of film "Minchurin" in 1949.
First Grade for Score of film "Meeting at Elba" in 1950.
First Grade for Song of the Forests (Op.81) in 1949.
Second Grade for Ten Choral Poems by Revolutionary Poets (Op.88) in 1952
2. Recomendations for Newcomers to Shostakovich
===============================================
Many new posters to alt.fan.shostakovich mention they have heard a piece or
two of DSCH and would like to hear more and what are some good pieces to
start with. I feel the best way to get into Shostakovich is slowly, and
to this end I have decided to list a few works and recordings that I feel
would be a good introduction to the works of Shostakovich. The recordings
chosen are in the mid-price bracket because I believe that when you are
'getting into' a composer (ie: exploring) you're more likely to want to
spend your money on a few good mid price recordings rather than unknown
full price ones - that way you lose less money if you really can't stand
what you've bought. It has been pointed out that the selection here is
very subjective. What I have tried to do is sift through the various
responses in the past on a.f.s in answer to the question of 'what can
I listen to next?' and cobble together what I hope to be a general consensus
of works.
Symphonies: Numbers 1,5,7,8,9,10,11,12 (Haitink Recordings on Decca)
String Quartets: Numbers 3,8,9,10 (Borodin Quartet on EMI)
Piano Concertos+Cello Concerto: (Previn/Rostropovich on Sony MPK 44850)
There is also the excellent (and mid-price) "Composers in Person" CD on
EMI containing Shostakovich playing both Piano Concertos, 3 Fantastic
Dances (Op. 5), and a selection of the Preludes and Fuges, Op. 87 all
on one CD. Good sound and good mixture. (EMI CDC 7 54606 2)
A CD for the more adventurous: "The Shostakovich CD" on Olympia (OCD 008) -
if you can get it (I ordered mine direct from Olympia) contains 'samples'
from just about every part of Shostakovich's output (with the notable
exception of chamber music, unless you include the 14th Symphony extract). A
bargain disk at around 5 pounds in the UK (So I am told).
3. Major Works and Recommended Recordings
========================================
This section of 'recommended recordings' of Shostakovich's major works
is only a 'guide' - This list compiles together the recommendations of
alt.fan.shostakovich readers as posted. Your view may differ - The
like or dislike of a performance is a subjective quality - however
these recommendations also reflect feelings of critics in general and
the readership of alt.fan.shostakovich in general. Performances
are not listed in any particular order.
Symphonies:
----------
#1 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [w/ #6] [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8411)
LPO/Haitink [w/ #3] [DDD] (Decca 425 063-2)
OSM/Dutoit [w/ #15] [DDD] (Decca 436 828-2)
(#2 and #3 are widely considered to be politicially motivated works and also
very unlike the 'normal' DSCH. It is rumoured that he made his son Maxim
promise to never conduct these works, However, recordings by both Haitink
on Decca/London and Rozhdestvensky (Olympia) are available. Low price
versions can be found on the Naxos label with not too bad recordings).
#4 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos 8640)
LPO/Haitink [ADD] (Decca 425 065-2)
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/Slatkin [DDD] (RCA Red Seal RD 60887)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Rattle [DDD] (EMI 7243 5 55476 2)
#5 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [w/ 'the bolt'] [DDD] (Chandos 8650)
Concertgebouw/Haitink [w/ #9] [DDD] (Decca 425 066-2)
USSR Ministry of Culture SO/Rozhdestvensky [w/ #9] [DDD] (Olympia OCD 113)
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [DDD] (Erato 2292-45752-2)
NYPO/Bernstein [w/ #9] [ADD] (Sony SMK 47615)
#6 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [w/ #1] [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8411)
Concertgebouw/Haitink [w/ #12] [DDD] (Decca 425 067-2)
Concertgebouw/Kondrashin [ADD] (Philips 438 283-2)
Oslo PO/Jansons [w/ #9] [DDD] (EMI 7543392)
#7 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8623)
LPO/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 068-2)
Czech PO/Ancerl [AAD] (Supraphon 111952-2)
Chicago SO/Bernstein [w/ #1] [DDD/Live] (DG 426 632-2)
#8 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8757)
Concertgebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 071-2)
Leningrad Phulharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [ADD] (Philips 422 442-2)
Berlin PO/Bychkov [DDD] (Philips 432 090-2)
#9 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [w/ Festive Ov] [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8587)
LPO/Haitink [w/ #5] [DDD] (Decca 425 066-2)
USSR Ministry of Culture SO/Rozhdestvensky [w/ #5] [DDD] (Olympia OCB 113)
Concertgebouw/Kondrashin [ADD] (Philips 438 284-2)
Oslo PO/Jansons [w/ #9] [DDD] (EMI 7543392)
#10: Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8630)
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [ADD] (Erato 2292-45753-2)
USSR Ministry of Culture SO/Rozhdestvensky [DDD] (Olympia OCD 131)
Berlin PO/Karajan [DDD] (DG 413 361-2)
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [AAD] (Saga SCD 9017)
*1954 Premiere recording*
#11: Houston SO/Stokowski [ADD] (EMI CDM 7243 5 65206 2)
Helsinki PO/DePreist [DDD] (Delos D/CD 3080)
Concertgebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 072-2)
Berlin PO/Bychkov [DDD] (Philips 420 935-2)
National SO/Rostropovich [DDD] (Teldec 76262-2)
#12: Gothenburg SO/Jarvi [w/ Hamlet Op.32+Age of Gold] [DDD] (DG 431 688-2)
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Durjan [ADD] (Philips 434 172-2)
Concertgebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 067-2)
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [DDD] (Erato 2292-45754-2)
#13: Concertgebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 073-2)
CBSO/Kamu [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8540)
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra/Kondrashin [ADD] (Russian Disc RD CD 11 191)
#14: Gothenburg SO/Jarvi [DDD] (DG 437 785-2)
Concergebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 074-2)
[this recording uses the original texts to the poems, not in russian]
Moscow Phil Ens/Rostropovich [ADD] (Melodiya SUCD 10-00241)
Czecho-Slovak Radio SO/Slovak [DDD] (Naxos 8.550631)
#15: LPO/Haitink [ADD] (Decca 425 069-2)
OSM/Dutoit [w/ #1] [DDD] (Decca 436 828-2)
Concertos:
---------
Piano Concertos 1 & 2: Shostakovich (p)/Orchestre National de la Radiodifusion
Francoise/Cluytens [ADD] (EMI CDC 7 54606 2) or Alexeev (p)/ECO/Maksymiuk
[DDD] (EMI CFP CD-CFP 4547) or Previn(p)/NYPO/Bernstein [ADD]
(Sony MPK 44850) there is also the Kissin recording with the Moscow
Virtuosi/Spivakov [DDD] on (RCA Red Seal RD87947)
Violin Concertos 1 & 2: Mordkovitch (v)/Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD]
(Chandos CHAN 8820) or Oistrakh (v)/Various [ADD/live] (Intaglio INCD 7241)
Cello Concerto No. 1: Rostropovich (Cl)/Philadelphia/Ormandy [ADD] [w/ The piano
concertos) (Sony MPK 44850) or Yo-Yo Ma (Cl)/Philadelphia/Ormandy [DDD]
[w/ Symphony #5/Bernstein] (Sony MDK 44903)
Cello Concerto No. 2: Rostropovich (Cl)/Boston SO/Ozawa [ADD] (DG 431 475-2)
String Quartets:
---------------
#1-15: Borodin Quartet on EMI [ADD]
Brodsky Quartet on Teldec [DDD]
Fitzwilliam Quartet on Decca [DDD]
The Borodin Quartet are recording a new series on the Virgin Label with
approx. 3 CD's released so far.
Preludes and Fuges, Op. 87:
--------------------------
Nikolayeva on Hyperion
Keith Jarrett on ECM New Series
Other 'chamber' works:
---------------------
Piano Quintet. Op.57: Richter, Piano w/ Borodin String Quartet [ADD]
(EMI CDC 7 47507 2) (comes with 7th and 8th String Quartets) or
in a recording coupled with the
Trio No. 2, Op.67: Beaux Arts Trio [DDD] (Philips 432 079-2)
Film Music:
----------
Suite from "The Gadfly"
- USSR Cinema SO/Emin Khachuturian [ADD] (EMI CFP CD-CFP 4463)
Suites from "Minchurin", "Fall of Berlin" & "Golden Mountains"
- Belgian Radio SO/Serbrier [ADD] (RCA Red Seal 60226-2 RC)
Suites from "The New Babylon"(first film score) & "Five Days - Five Nights"
- Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Judd [DDD] (Capricco 10 341/42)
Full film score to "King Lear"
- Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jurowski [DDD] (Capricco 10 397)
Suite from "Zoya" & "The Fall of Berlin"
- Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jurowski [DDD] (Capricco 10 405)
Suite from "Golden Mountains", "Return of Maxim" & Prologue from "Youth of
Maxim", Overture to "The Vyborg District" Op.50.
- Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jurowski [DDD] (Capricco 10 561)
Other Works:
-----------
Jazz Suites 1 & 2: Concertgebouw/Chailly [DDD] (Decca 433 702-2)
(for #1 see Olympia OCD 156 for recording by Rozhdestvensky)
Ballet Suites 1,2,3: Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8730)
Funeral and Triumphal Prelude, Op.130 &
Novorossiisk Chimes: RPO/Ashkenazy [DDD] (Decca 436 763-2)
Suite on Verses of Michelangelo, Op.145a &
Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin,Op.146: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Ashkenazy [DDD] (Decca 433 319-2)
"Song of the Forests"(Op.81) and "The Sun shines over our Motherland"(Op.90)
Vladimir Ivanovsky [tenor], Ivan Petrov [bass], Moscow State Boys Choir,
Moscow PO/Yurlov+USSR State Symphony Orchestra/Ivanov [ADD]
(Russian Disc RD CD 11 048)
The Bolt - Complete Recording: Royal Stockholm Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jarvi
(Chandos CHAN 9343)
Limid Stream (arr. Rozhdestvensky): Royal Stockholm Symphony Orchestra/
Rozhdestvensky (Chandos CHAN 9421)
Hamlet (1932/1954 productions) * King Lear (1941): Incidental music
CBSO/Elder [DDD] (Cala CACD 1021)
CD's of interest to Shostakovich Devotees:
-----------------------------------------
I have listed this as a small section because I believe that there are some
CD's that only true devotees of Shostakovich would be interested in. I
list these CD's as having works of interest, or CD's that are hard to find
or are of a historic nature.
"Manuscripts of Different Years" - Including: Scherzo, Op.1 and Op.7, Theme
and Variations, Op.3, Spanish Songs Op.100, Suite from "Alone" Op.26,
"Adventures of Korzinskina" Op.59 & "La Comedie Humaine" Op.37.
Various Orchestras [AAD-Great sound] (Olympia OCD 194)
Suite on Verses of Michelangeleo Buyonarroti, Op.145a & Four Verses of
Captain Lebyadkin, Op.146
Fischer-Dieskau/Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Ashkenazy
[DDD] (Decca 433 319-2)
Violin Sonata, Op.134 , Bashmet (v) & Richter (p)
[DDD] (Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga MK 418014)
Viola Sonata, Op.147 (His last work). Bashmet (va) & Richter (p)
[DDD] (Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga MK 418015)
Arrangement of String Quartets 3&4 for Strings and Woodwinds (Op. 73a) and
Chamber Orchestra (Op.83a) Orch. Barshai - Interesting versions
COE/Barshai [DDD] (DG 435 386-2)
"Hypothetically Murdered" (Op.31) Suite & 4 Romances on Poems of Pushkin(Op.46)
Fascinating CD of this music (both premiere recordings)-gives clues to
the 5th Symphony and more...
CBSO/Elder [DDD] (United 88001)
"The Orchestral Songs" - Vol 1: Two Fables of Krylov(Op.4), Three Romances on
Poems by Pushkin(Op.46a), Six Romances on Verses by Raleigh, Burns and
Shakespeare(Op.62/140) and From Jewish Folk Poetry(Op.79a). Gothenburg
SO/Jarvi with solists [DDD] (DG 439 860-2)
"The Orchestral Songs" - Vol 2: Six Romances on Texts by Japanese Poets, Op.21
Six Poems of Marina Tsvetayeva Op.143a and Suite on Verses of Michelangelo
Buonarorroti Op.145a, Gothenburg SO/Jarvi with solists [DDD] (DG 447 085-2)
"Moscow, Cheryomuski" - musical comedy. This was released, in a new
orchestration by Gerard McBurney and with new libretto in English with
the BBC Music Magazine, April 1994.
4. "Testimony" - The Story
==========================
In 1979 the book "Testimony - The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich - As
related to and edited by Solomon Volkov" was published. This book, according
to Volkov, contains the words of Shostakovich as related to him in the last
years of his life. Shostakovich insisted the book be published after his
death with good reason considering the material in it paints him in a light
that the Soviet authorities of the day wouldn't have exactly been thrilled
with. However for the last 10 years or so there has been some criticism of
this book with comments from friends of Shostakovich saying that Volkov must
have made a lot of it up. Maxim Shostakovich remained silent for years on
the subject but finaly agreed that the book has the ring of truth about it.
Ian McDonald's excellent book "The New Shostakovich" (ISBN 0-19-284026-6) goes
into some detail claiming the book to be fiction based on truth. Citing that
the 'signed' pages that Volkov claims Shostakovich signed as proof of the
book's validity are in fact from other sources, and are only produced as the
first pages of chapters. McDonald's book also delves into fascinating analysis
of the times, both personally and politicaly and bases an analysis of the
works of DSCH into this.
Personally, I own both books and find each of them interesting. I owned
Testimony first, and it is an excellent read if just for the stories and
ideas within. McDonald's book goes into much more detail on everything
and provides a thoughtful, yet harrowing account of the life and times
of Shostakovich. I recommend McDonald's book for anyone interested in a
good analysis of the major works as well as the times they were written
in.
Readers might also wish to read Elizabeth Wilson's splendid _Shostakovich:
A Life Remembered_ with contains material of memories of many people who
knew and interacted with Shostakovich during his life. This is a fascinating
document, and well worth reading in conjunction with Testimony.
Here are some opening and closing lines from the filmed version, which
are supplied by: zn...@teleport.com
From the start of the film:
Film Four International presents
An Isolde Films Production
in association with The Mandemar Group
Directed by Tony Palmer
Screenplay by David Rudkin
From the memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich
Edited by Solomon Volkov
Music played by The London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Rudolf Barshai
Ben Kingsley: Shostakovich
Terence Rigby: Stalin
The comments at the end of the film:
By the time of his death, August 9, 1975, Dmitri
Dmitrievich Shostakovich, People's Artist of the Soviet
Union, had completed 15 Symphonies, 15 String Quartets, 4
Operas and 45 Ballets and Film Scores, in all, at least
147 works.
By the time of his death, March 5, 1953, Joseph
Vissarionovich Stalin, Marshal of the Soviet Union, had
murdered, or caused to be put ot death, in peacetime, in
all, at least 30 million people.
5. Shostakovich's music in films and TV
=======================================
Apart of course from the film of "Testimony", the Music of Shostakovich has
been heard in the following Films or TV shows:
The "Romance" From The Gadfly (Op.97/97a) is used as the theme to the
Television Series "Reilly, Ace of Spies." Chris Hillman writes:
The TV series was based on a (dreadful) book by the same title about a
historical personage, one Sidney Reilly, who was apparently born in Russia
late in the last century and who worked for the British secret service
(and possibly others, as a double agent) in the early years of this
century. He died under mysterious circumstances, as I recall, in the
late twenties (in the TV series, he is show by a close associate of
Felix Derzhinsky inside the USSR). The series and book were presented as
historical fact but were in fact heavily fictionalized.
Now in his excellent book the Codebreakers, David Kahn discusses the
Voynich manuscript, which was owned at one time by a publisher named
Voynich. Kahn mentions that his widow, Mrs. Voynich, wrote a novel called
"The Gadfly" which was based on the life of a historical character
in revolutionary Italy. In one of the books I read on Reilly it was
mentioned that Mrs. Voynich knew Reilly personally and based her novel
in part on his experiences. Surely this is the same novel which is the
source of Shostakovich's Gadfly? Kahn mentions that Mrs. Voynich was one
of the very few American authors ever awarded a royalty by the Soviet
government--- apparently the revolutionary sentiments in the novel were
felt to be politically correct.
Chris is, as I have found from my EMI classics for pleasure recording
of the Gadfly, correct. DSCH's "Gadfly" music (and the film) is based
on the book by E. L. Voynich.
Simon Hawkin adds:
"Gadfly" was supposed to be a popular reading of the Soviet
youth; anyway, DSCH's music was idiomatic and loved. And I think
it may be worth mentioning that a lot of DSCH music was and is
idiomatic for the Soviet and post-Soviet public; this also
includes excerpts from his Jazz suites, Tahiti Trot, music for
"Counterplan" (with its own confusion about the translation),
Maxim's trilogy and other films, "march" from Sym 7, etc.
---
Symphony No. 11 in Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" program
---
Symphony No. 5 (slow movement+finale) & Sym. 8 in "Rollerball"
---
Shostakovich's 12th Symphony (I think) was MENTIONED but not played in
"Peggy Sue got Married"
---
The 3rd mvt. of the 8th was used in the movie "Fandango".
---
2nd mvt. of the Ninth Symphony in the Finnish film "Ariel" by
Aki Kaurismaki.
---
1st mvt. of the Sixth Symphony in the Finnish film version of
"Crime and Punishment" (Dostoyevsky) by Mika Kaurismaki.
Veli-Pekka Tahvanainen adds:
I just recalled yet another (ab)use of Shostakovich by the Kaurismaki
brothers: in their first feature length movie, Arvottomat (The Worthless),
they use the infamous "invasion" part of 7th symphony. The scene is most
surrealistic (well it could happen in the USA, I suppose...): a group of
people are being evicted from their property, but they refuse to accept
the eviction notice, using firearms to keep the authorities at bay. In
the scene, said authorities approach the hut of these people using a
big tractor shovel as a shield. Invasion, indeed... I had to try very hard
to keep myself from laughing out loud!
---
Apparently the 8th Symphony and perhaps other bits of DSCH's music
are used quite a lot in the UK TV Series "The Onedin Line"
Laurence Skelding comments:
BBC TV's series "The Onedin Line " plagued the United Kingdom back
in the seventies.
It was a nautical tale - rather like Moby Dick - but without the Whale !!
It was made worse by having a soundtrack culled from the ballet
"Spartacus" composed by Aram Khachaturian. DSCH to my recollection
had no posthumous contribution!!!
---
What sounds very much like a small section of the 3rd movement of the
5th symphony appears in James Horner's ripped off soundtrack for
"Clear and Present Danger" however it isn't DSCH but a copy of
the great man. (this track also has copies of Horner's own "Aliens"
music as well as a sister to some music from "Star Trek III" *sigh*)
Laurence Skelding notes that the opening to the 14th symphony
is used by Horner for the opening to Aliens.
---
Apparently in the mini-series "Traffik" (about drugs) the chamber
symphonies (Opp.110a/118a) are used. This comes from Falstaff.
---
This is from Daniel Gowans
The movie "The Shining" uses the first movement of his Symphony 11
in the opening scenes. It isn't purely symphonic, it had been adaped
a little to different instruments, but it was unmistakaeable...
Laurence Skelding, however, disagrees:
Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" featured music by Krszystof
Penderecki and Bela Bartok -
(the weird bits in the maze are set to Bartok's Music for
percussion, celesta and strings)
---
This is from Michael Norish
I'm pretty sure that the theme used in the (dire) Richard Briers
sit-com "Ever-decreasing circles" is prelude #15 from Opus 34.
(This has been confirmed by Classic CD editor, Rob Aimsley, who
states:
according to Derek Hulme's book, the theme tune to the BBC TV
comedy "Ever Decreasing Circles" was indeed the Prelude Op. 34
No. 15, played by one Ronnie Lane. )
---
Several readers have indicated that parts of the 1st and 5th
symphonies appear in a terrible film called "Brain Eaters"
---
This is from Andrew Condon:
Michael Deville's film "Toutes Peine Confondues", screened as "Sweetheart"
in English speaking countries, is entirely scored with DSCH quartets using
the Borodin Quartet recordings.
---
Sometime in the sixties, a movie was made of Jean-Paul Sartre's play "The
Condemned Of Altona." The music credit is 'based on Shostakovich's
Symphony #11.'
I regret I can't tell you more about the movie. I saw it on television
when I was a teenager. Although I had read the play, and listened to
Shostakovich a lot, I had never heard the Eleventh. The most striking
scene in the movie, which has stayed with me to this day, was the
approach to the climactic scene, a long vertical tracking shot up a
construction crane elevator, with the ostinato from the third movement
pounding away in the background. Chilling.
- Dwight Gruber
---
Euan Bayliss says:
I have an addition to the use of DSCH in film. There was a dreadful film
called 'Escape To Victory' which I believe used a lot of the firt movement
of the 7th Symphony.
---
An except of Symphony No. 7 and a complete performance of Symphony No. 9
is provided in the Bernstein Young People's Concerts video series being
released by Sony. This particular tape's catalogue number is Sony Classical
SHV 48339. This performance was originally broadcast by CBS TV on January
5, 1966 (interesting, the 61st anniversary of '1905').
---
A use of Shostakovich's music in films that I don't think you've got in the
FAQ list is the 2nd mvt of the 10th symphony (I think) over the opening
credits of Pedro Almodovar's `Ley del Deseo' (Law of Desire)
- Graham Smith
---
Aparently the 5th prelude and fugue (from Op.87) is used in "Smoke"
---
This is from Nicolas Jasson:
A theme of the 5th Symphony (3rd movement, 7'37" from start in the
Kondrashin/Melodya recording) was the title music of the long-running
French TV weekly program "Les Dossiers de l'Ecran" in the 70's and 80's.
The same theme can be heard in the French film "Papi fait de la resistance"
(directed by Jean-Marie Poire - 1990 ?), which includes a parody of the
above TV program as its closing scenes.
---
From: brow...@aol.com (Brownswan)
Another movie ripoff of DSCH: in POW soccer film "Victory" a variation of
the 7ths
"invasion theme" is used throughout, and the film conludes with the coda
of the 5th
Symphony's 4th movement.
6. Books of interest to Shostakovich Fans
=========================================
Below are listed some books that might be of interest to Shostakovich
Fans:
Testimony: The Memiors of Shostakovich - as related to and edited by S. Volkov
(Paperback)
Edited by: Solomon Volkov
ISBN 0-571-11829-1
Publisher: Faber and Faber, Ltd.
The New Shostakovich
(Paperback)
By: Ian McDonald
ISBN 0-19-284026-6
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Shostakovich: A Life Remembered
First issued in Hardback
By: Elizabeth Wilson
ISBN 0-571-15393-3 (hardback)
0-571-17486-8 (paperback - released soon?)
Publisher: Faber and Faber, Ltd
Paperback now available for 12.99 UK pounds, or 24.99 Canadian dollars
Galina-A Russian Story
(Autobiography of Galina Vishnevskaya)
ISBN 0-15-634320-7
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Translation into English: Guy Daniels
Shostakovich Symphonies
By: Hugh Ottaway
Publisher: University of Washington and BBC
Shostakovich, The Man and his Music
Edited by: Christopher Norris
Shostakovich: A Catalog, Bibliography and Discography
By: Derek C. Hulm
Publisher: Oxford University Press (Second Edition)
Pages from the life of Dmitri Shostakovich
By: Dmitri and Ludmilla Sollertinsky
English version by Robert Hale London 1981
Simfonii D.D. Shostakovicha
By L. Mazel
Published in the USSR in 1960
(Apparently called propaganda by Maxim Shostakovich)
The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich: The Symphonies
By Roy Blokker and Robert Dearling
Published Tantivy Press (1979)
Dmitri Shostakovich, about Himself and his Times
By Lev Grigoryev and Yakov Platek
Published by Progress Moscow (1981)
Shostakovich
By Norman Kay
Published by Oxford University Press (1971)
Dmitry Shostakovich, composer
By David Rabinovich
Published by Lawrence and Wisehart (1959)
Dmitri Shostakovich; the Life and Background of a Soviet Composer
By Victor Seroff
Published by Alfred A. Knopf (1943)
7. The "DSCH Journal" - a newsletter!
=====================================
This comes from the monthly post by way of Howard Wilson.
Announcing the "DSCH JOURNAL" (a monthly posting).
THE JOURNAL IS PRINTED, BOUND, AND MAILED AND CONTAINS:
WRITINGS on and by Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich.
EVENTS concerning all aspects of the composer's life and music.
NOTICEBOARD for important concerts, books, recordings, and conferences worldwide
"ARENA" for you, the readers.
ACCESS to the DSCH Archive with index.
RECORDING SUPPLEMENT - your guide to all the new releases of DDS's music
4-EDITION subscription available worldwide.
The Journal appears every July and December; The latest edition, #4, was
distributed in December 1995. At present, you can choose to receive issues
5-8 as a first subscription or any other combination of four consecutive
editions. If you like, in order to guarantee today's rate, you can
subscribe to 8 editions (4 years), for twice the normal rate.
To subscribe to Issues 5-8:
Select your region.
Select currency.
Back issues available at a pro-rata cost -i.e. 25% of the
four-edition subscription
Region A: Europe-U.K. & France only-GBP20/180FF-Agent 1
Region B-Europe-other E.C. countries-GBP22/200FF-Agent 1
Region C-Europe-non E.C. countries-GBP24/220FF-Agent 1
Region D-U.S.A.-$29-Agent 2
Region E-Canada-US$29-Agent 2
Region F-other American countries-$35-Agent 2
Region G-Africa, Asia, Australasia-GBP28/250FF-Agent 1
Currency:
Great Britiain Pounds (GBP) (cheques or cash) to Agent 1
payable to "DSCH"
French Francs (FF) (cheques or cash) to Agent 1 payable to
"A. Mercer"
U.S. Dollars ($) (cash, checks or money orders ) to Agent 2
payable to "H. Wilson"
Agent 1: E. Barnes
22, Birnbeck Court,
Bells Hill.
Barnet EN5 2TD.
Hertfordshire
U.K.
Agent 2: Howard Wilson
2935 Larmona Dr.
Pasadena, CA 91107
U.S.A.
E-mail: hu...@wavenet.com
Phone: 818-794-6522
Fax: 818-794-0881
I will be happy to try to answer any questions via e-mail or this newsgroup.
Howard Wilson (hu...@wavenet.com)
8. DSCH Reference on the World Wide Web (WWW)
=============================================
Simon Hawkin has started a nice Shostakovich home page on the World
Wide Web (WWW). It contains things like the 1942 Time magazine cover
and article, as well as a recording of the Gadfly romance, with more
to come. To access it, simply point your WWW browser to:
http://www.cs.umd.edu/~cema/shostakovich.html
Rob Hudson has is also in the process of creating a good looking
web page for Shostakovich. Here is the URL:
http://cwis.uta.edu/acs/microsys/mac/.HOME/rhudson/dsch1.html
Onno van Rijen has created a superb DSCH catalogue on his page:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~nrv/ovar.html
And of course, Ian McDonald, author of _The New Shostakovich_ has
many interesting articles on his pages mostly about Russian composers
such as Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Well worth visiting:
http://www.futurenet.co.uk/music/classiccd/soviet/musov.html
9. The "DSCH Smiley"
====================
Carol Clemments' husband has suggested what we feel to be the
definitive DSCH Smiley face, based on the "ascii smileys" so popular
on the 'Net, this one surely *IS* Shostakovich:
@%<
10. Information on The 'Fonds Chostakovitch' in Paris
=====================================================
Michael Koball submitted this information for the newsgroup and I felt
it appropriate to include here:
From: michael...@gelsenkirchen.netsurf.de (Michael Koball)
The 'Fonds Chostakovitch' in Paris
Created in 1980, the ' Fonds Chostakovitch ' is a work about the memory of
the most upsetting composer of our century. From the simple idea of
centralize all the documents about the man and his time, our fund has
quickly fed itself, getting touch with all the countries around the old
sovietic empire ( before the Perestro=EFka ), of the quasi entirety of the
material concerning the master. Regular travels in USSR, in Russia and
other republics have completed this work.
During the ' Ann=E9e Chostakovitch ' in 1989 ( France ) contacts have been
taken with the composer' s family in Moscow ; an exciting and fruitful
collaboration was borned.
This allowed us to provide our fund with some documents more intimate.
The ' Fonds Chostakovitch ' which possess more of the 95% of all the
recordings made since 1933, and this, in all sizes, begins to start, since
18 months, a crucial phase of computarization with an Apple / 4=B0 Dimension
program which tries to elaborate a relational data bank in sound,
biography, bibliography, iconography and correspondence properties ; and
all this in 3 basic languages : russian, french and english.
Recently, an expertise mission was attributed to the ' Fonds Chostakovitch'
near the Gostelradio in Moscow, as a russian music specialist. Thus, the
'Fonds ' had be able to retrieve films of archives of a great musical and
political consequence.
The 'Fonds Chostakovitch' is rich of some:
* 1750 recordings on hard medium (78 RPM, all formats of LP,CD)
* about a hundred hours of recordings of the most great rarity on
magnetic medium
* the quasi majority of his biographies in russian, polish, czech,
hungarian, german, italian, english, french...
* 90% of his works in scores about fifty hours of films from
Russia,ex-GDR, Czecoslovaquia, Germany, France...
* several kilogrammes of articles in different languages...
* 400 russian and soviet composers are represented too by records,
scores, films and biographies. An independant computer program is dedicated
to that field.
The 'Fonds Chostakovitch in Paris' which is at that time the main important
center of musical documentation in the world about russian music, is
attached to the Shostakovich's Museum in Moscow, and shall be the official
Archives Departement of the future 'International Foundation Shostakovich'.
Emmanuel & Fran=E7oise Utwiller
=46onds Chostakovitch =E0 Paris
BP 397 - 75233 Paris c=E9dex 05 (France)
11. Contributors to This FAQ
============================
I would like to thank the following people for their input to this FAQ:
Tom McDonald, Sun Microsystems.
Justin Paulson <jus...@sccs.swarthmore.edu>
Peter Herweijer <pie...@sci.kun.nl>
Igor Zamberlan <ig...@frege.mrg.dist.unige.it>
Robert Begley <rbe...@clpd.Kodak.Com>
Rainer Kalliany <rkal...@email.tuwien.ac.at>
Ed Oswalt <osw...@netcom.com>
Christopher Colby <ac...@cs.cmu.edu>
Timothy S Harris <t...@world.std.com>
JAMES MICHAEL BLACK <bla...@ecf.toronto.edu>
Michael Good <mdg...@netcom.com>
Holbrook Robinson <bi...@lynx.dac.neu.edu>
Nico Verwer <ni...@and.nl>
Veli-Pekka Tahvanainen <v...@cc.jyu.fi>
Erik Ekholm <d89...@nada.kth.se>
Chris Hillman <hil...@math.washington.edu>
Louis Blois <LU...@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Falstaff <Fals...@Tiberius.csa.com>
Daniel Gowans <daniel...@m.cc.utah.edu>
Daria Wieczorek <Daria.W...@informatik.med.uni-giessen.de>
Simon Hawkin <ce...@cs.UMD.EDU>
Michael Norish <Michael...@cl.cam.ac.uk>
Rob Hudson <RHU...@acsnovell1.uta.edu>
Rob Ainsley <rain...@futurenet.co.uk>
Gary Goldberg <gg0...@epfl2.epflbalto.org>
Andrew Gingras <Andre_...@Infopuq.UQuebec.CA>
Carol Clements <Caro...@aol.com>
M. Edward Borasky <zn...@teleport.com>
Matthew B. Tepper <du...@deltanet.com>
Andrew Condon <afco...@dsg.cs.tcd.ie>
Onno van Rijen <n...@xs4all.nl>
Kirill V. Kuzmichov <k...@metro.telecom.samsung.co.kr>
Tuomas Kareinen <tkar...@cc.helsinki.fi>
Dwight Gruber <Dwi...@nesbbx.rain.com>
Euan Bayliss <eu...@bayliss.dircon.co.uk>
Adrian Smith <LIB...@library.novell.leeds.ac.uk>
Graham Smith <g...@festival.ed.ac.uk>
Erik Gregersen <er...@astro.as.utexas.edu>
Howard Wilson <hu...@wavenet.com>
Nicolas JASSON <nja...@pratique.fr>
Laurence Skelding <laur...@works.co.uk>
Brownswan <brow...@aol.com>
--
Richard A. Muirden, CNA, RMIT ITS Core Unix Systems Admin: Web+News+Post -Master
mailto: ric...@rmit.EDU.AU phone: 9660 3814, Fax: 9662 5652
129 Shostakovich CD's. I also like 'planes, sci-fi, cuddling and.... :-)
http://www.rmit.edu.au/richard
Daria Wieczorek
: OK, here's the FAQ. Its a couple of years old, but it will serve. The
: 'music in the movies' section is a ways downscreen.
: --DwightG
: FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): alt.fan.shostakovich
: ------------------------------------------------------
: Compiled by: Richard A. Muirden (email: ric...@rmit.EDU.AU)
: Last Updated: July 3, 1996
Ahem. The last one archived on the Net dates from August 18, 1997 -
you may find it via DejaNews.
Daria
red...@my-dejanews.com
A grossly misleading and one-sided
>FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): alt.fan.shostakovich
see "Shostakovich Myths Debunked" (including the frauds Muirden
lauds) at:
http://www.az.com/~redrick/Shostakovich.html
--
red...@az.com http://www.az.com/~redrick/
It is hugely ironic that, of all things, Soviet music
should attain a cult popularity among certain right-wingers
of today based on the wholly imaginary anti-Sovietism of Soviet
composers. What is doubly ironic is that, thanks to the school
of Socialist Realism, Soviet music is the only 20th century
music they (think they) can understand.
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