Dmitri Shostakovich is a pianist, composer, teacher and public figure. This is one of the most popular composers of the last century. He managed to compose many brilliant pieces of music.
The creative and life path of Shostakovich was filled with tragic events. But it was thanks to trials that Dmitry Dmitrievich created, forcing other people to live and not give up.
Dmitri Shostakovich: Childhood and Youth
Maestro was born in September 1906. In addition to little Dima, the parents raised two more daughters. The Shostakovich family was very fond of music. At home, parents and children arranged impromptu concerts.
The family lived well, and even prosperously. Dmitry attended a private gymnasium, as well as a popular music school named after I. A. Glyasser. The musician taught Shostakovich musical notation. But he did not teach composition, so Dima studied all the nuances of composing a melody on his own.
Shostakovich in his memoirs recalled Glasser as an evil, boring and narcissistic person. Despite his teaching experience, he did not know how to conduct music lessons at all and had no approach to children. A few years later, Dmitry left the music school, and even the persuasion of his mother did not force him to change his mind.
In childhood, the maestro had another event that he remembered for a long time. He witnessed a terrible event in 1917. Dima saw how a Cossack, dispersing a crowd of people, cut a little boy in half. Oddly enough, the tragic event inspired the maestro to write the composition "Funeral March in Memory of the Victims of the Revolution."
Getting an education
After graduating from a private school, Dmitry Dmitrievich entered the Petrograd Conservatory. Parents did not object to their son, but, on the contrary, supported him. After completing the 1st course, the young composer composed the Scherzo fis-moll.
Around the same period of time, his musical piggy bank was replenished with the works "Two Krylov's Fables" and "Three Fantastic Dances". Soon fate brought the maestro together with Boris Vladimirovich Asafiev and Vladimir Vladimirovich Shcherbachev. They were part of the Anna Vogt Circle.
Dmitry was an exemplary student. He attended the conservatory despite many obstacles. The country was going through hard times. There was hunger and poverty. At that time, many students died due to exhaustion. Despite all the difficulties, Shostakovich visited the walls of the conservatory and continued to actively engage in music.
According to Shostakovich's memoirs:
“My housing was far from the conservatory. It would be more logical to just take the tram and get there. But my condition at that time was so worthless that I simply did not have the strength to stand and wait for transport. Trams ran rarely then. I had to get up a few hours earlier and just walk to the school. The desire to get an education was much higher than laziness and poor health…”.
The situation was aggravated by another tragedy - the head of the family died. Dmitry had no choice but to work as a pianist at the Light Tape cinema. This is one of the most difficult periods in the maestro's life. The work was foreign to him. In addition, he received a small salary, and he had to give almost all his time and energy. However, Shostakovich had no choice, since he took the position of the head of the family.
The work of the musician Dmitry Shostakovich
After working in the theater for a month, the young man went to the director for an honestly earned salary. But there was another unfortunate situation. The director began to shame Dmitry for wanting to get money. According to the director, Shostakovich, as a creative person, should not think about money, his task is to create and not pursue base goals. Nevertheless, the maestro managed to get half of the salary, he sued the rest through the court.
During this period of time, Dmitry Dmitrievich was already recognizable in close circles. He was invited to play at the evening in memory of Akim Lvovich. Since then, his authority has been strengthened.
In 1923 he graduated with honors from the Petrograd Conservatory in piano. And in 1925 - in the class of composition. As a graduation work, he presented Symphony No. 1. It was this composition that opened Shostakovich to fans of classical music. He gained his first popularity.
Dmitri Shostakovich: Creative way
In the 1930s, another brilliant composition by the maestro was presented. We are talking about "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk district." Around this time, he had about five symphonies in his repertoire. In the late 1930s, he presented the Jazz Suite to the public.
Not everyone took the work of the young composer admiringly. Some Soviet critics began to doubt the talent of Dmitry Dmitrievich. It was criticism that forced Shostakovich to reconsider his views on his work. Symphony No. 4 was not presented to the public at the stage of its completion. The maestro postponed the presentation of a brilliant piece of music to the 1960s of the last century.
After the siege of Leningrad, the musician considered that most of his works were lost. He took up the restoration of the written compositions. Soon, copies of the parts of the Symphony No. 4 for all instruments were found in the archives of documents.
The war found the maestro in Leningrad. It was during this period of time that he was actively working on another of his divine works. We are talking about Symphony No. 7. He was forced to leave Leningrad, and he took with him only one thing - the achievements of the symphony. Thanks to this work, Shostakovich took the top of the musical Olympus. He became a celebrated composer and musician. Most fans of classical music know Symphony No. 7 as "Leningradskaya".
Creativity after the war
After the end of the war, Dmitry Dmitrievich released Symphony No. 9. The presentation of the work took place on November 3, 1945. A few years after this event, the maestro was among the musicians who fell into the so-called "black list". The composer's compositions, according to the authorities, were alien to the Soviet people. Dmitry Dmitrievich was deprived of the title of professor, which he received in the late 1930s of the last century.
In the late 1940s, the maestro presented the cantata Song of the Forests. The work met all the criteria of the Soviet government. In the composition, Dmitry Dmitrievich sang about the beautiful USSR and the authorities, thanks to which it was possible to restore the consequences of the war. Thanks to the composition, the maestro received the Stalin Prize. In addition, the authorities and critics looked at Shostakovich with different eyes. He was removed from the blacklist.
In 1950, the composer was impressed by the works of Bach and the works of the painter Leipzig. And he set about composing 24 preludes and fugues for piano. Many include compositions in the list of the most famous works of Shostakovich.
Shortly before his death, Shostakovich created four more symphonies. In addition, he wrote several vocal works and string quartets.
Details of privacy
According to the recollections of close people, Shostakovich's personal life could not improve for a long time. The maestro's first love was Tatyana Glivenko. He met a girl in 1923.
It was love at first sight. The girl reciprocated Dmitry and expected a marriage proposal. Shostakovich was young. And he did not dare to propose to Tanya. He dared to take a decisive step only three years later, but it was too late. Glivenko married another young man.
Dmitry Dmitrievich was very worried about Tatyana's refusal. But after a while he got married. Nina Vazar became his official wife. They lived together for 20 years. The woman bore the man two children. Vasar died in 1954.
In the status of a widower, Shostakovich did not live long. Soon he married Margarita Kainova. This was a combination of strong passion and fire. Despite the strong sexual attraction, the couple could not be in everyday life. They soon decided to file for divorce.
In the early 1960s of the last century, he married Irina Supinskaya. She was devoted to the famous composer and was with him until his death.
Interesting facts about the composer Dmitry Shostakovich
- Throughout his life, the composer had a difficult relationship with the Soviet authorities. He had an alarming suitcase packed in case they suddenly came to arrest him.
- He suffered from bad habits. Until the end of his days Dmitry Dmitrievich smoked. In addition, he loved gambling and always played for money.
- Stalin instructed Shostakovich to write the anthem of the USSR. But in the end, he did not like the material, and he chose the anthem of another author.
- Dmitry Dmitrievich was grateful to his parents for his talent. Mother worked as a pianist, and father was a singer. Shostakovich wrote his first composition at the age of 9.
- Dmitry Dmitrievich entered the list of 40 most performed opera composers around the world. Interestingly, every year there are performances with more than 300 performances of his operas.
Dmitri Shostakovich: The Last Years of His Life
In the mid-1960s, the famous maestro fell ill. Soviet doctors only shrugged. They could not make a diagnosis and insisted that the disease could not be diagnosed. Shostakovich's wife, Irina, said that her husband was prescribed courses of vitamins, but the disease continued to progress.
Later, doctors managed to decipher the composer's illness. It turned out that Dmitry Dmitrievich had Charcot's disease. The maestro was treated not only by Soviet, but also by American doctors. Once he even visited the office of the famous doctor Ilizarov. For a while, the illness went away. But soon the symptoms appeared, and Charcot's disease began to progress even more dynamically.
Dmitry Dmitrievich tried to deal with all the symptoms of the disease. He took pills, went in for sports, ate right, but the disease was stronger. The only consolation for the composer was music. He regularly attended concerts where classical music was played. At every event, he was accompanied by a loving wife.
In 1975 Shostakovich visited Leningrad. A concert was to be held in the capital, at which one of his romances was played. The musician who performed the romance forgot the beginning of the composition. This made Dmitry Dmitrievich nervous. When the couple returned home, Shostakovich suddenly became ill. The wife called the doctors, and they diagnosed her with a heart attack.
He died on August 9, 1975. The wife recalls that on this day they were going to watch football on TV. There were only a few hours left before the start of the match. Dmitry asked Irina to go get the mail. When his wife returned, Shostakovich was already dead. The body of the maestro is buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
