Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer whose symphonies and quartets are one of the greatest examples of 20th century classical music. His style has evolved from the sparkling humor and experimental character of the first period, of which the operas "The Nose" and "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" were prime examples, to the gloomy mood of the last stage of creativity, to which "Symphony No. 14" and "Quartet No. 15" belong.
Biography of the great composer
Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg in 1906. An exceptionally talented young man received his musical education at the Petrograd Conservatory, where he was admitted at the age of 13. He studied piano and composition, as well as conducting in parallel.
Already in 1919, Shostakovich wrote his first major orchestral work, the Fis-moll Scherzo. The time after the revolution was difficult, but Dmitry studied very diligently and almost every evening attended concerts of the Petrograd Philharmonic. In 1922, the father of the future composer died, and the family was left without a livelihood. So the young man had to earn money as a pianist in a cinema.
In 1923 Shostakovich graduated from the Conservatory in piano, and in 1925 in composition. His graduation work was the First Symphony. Its triumphant premiere took place in 1926, and at the age of 19, Shostakovich became world famous.
Creation
In his youth, Shostakovich wrote a lot for the theater, he is the author of music for three ballets and two operas: The Nose (1928) and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1932). After fierce and public criticism in 1936, the composer changed direction and began primarily writing works for the concert hall. Among the vast array of orchestral, chamber and vocal music, the most notable are two cycles of 15 symphonies and 15 string quartets. They are among the most frequently performed works of the 20th century.
At the beginning of World War II, Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich began working on the Seventh Symphony ("Leningrad"), which became a symbol of the wartime struggle. During the war years, the Eighth Symphony was also written, in which the composer paid tribute to neoclassicism. In 1943, Shostakovich moved from Kuibyshev, where he lived during the evacuation, to Moscow. In the capital, he taught at the Moscow Conservatory.
In 1948, Shostakovich was severely criticized and humiliated at the congress of Soviet composers. He was accused of "formalism" and "groveling before the West." As in 1938, he became persona non grata. He was stripped of the title of professor and accused of incompetence.
Shostakovich worked closely with some of the greatest performers of his time. Evgeny Mravinsky played at the premieres of many of his orchestral works, and the composer wrote a couple of concerts for violinist David Oistrakh and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.
In recent years, Shostakovich suffered from poor health and was treated in hospitals and sanatoriums for a long time. The composer suffered from lung cancer and muscle disease. The music of his late period, including two symphonies, his later quartets, his final vocal cycles and a sonata for viola op.147 (1975), is dark, reflecting much anguish. He died in Moscow on August 9, 1975. Buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Personal life
Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich was married three times. Nina Vasilievna - the first wife - was an astrophysicist by profession. but abandoning a scientific career, she devoted herself entirely to her family. In this marriage, a son Maxim and a daughter Galina were born.
The second marriage with Margarita Kainova fell apart very quickly. Shostakovich's third wife, Irina Supinskaya, worked as editor of the Sovetsky Kompozor publishing house.
