Contemporary history

MUSORGSKY’S INFLUENCE ON SHOSTAKOVICH

EMILY HICKS

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY

MUSC 405.001

PROFESSOR LESHNOFF

MAY 5, 2009
Emily Hicks

April 5, 2009

MUSC 405.001
Musorgsky’s Influence on Shostakovich
The twentieth-century composer Dmitriy Shostakovich was well-known throughout his extensive career for his unique style and for using his life’s experiences to enhance his music. Shostakovich drew inspiration from composers such as Mikhail Glinka, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and Gustav Mahler and established his own musical style while acknowledging the styles and characteristics of his predecessors.¹ The composer who made the greatest impact on him, however, was Modest Musorgsky. Shostakovich paid homage to the late composer by orchestrating several of his works and incorporating elements of his music into his own compositions.

Musorgsky’s works became popular among the masses not only for his compositional techniques, but also for his integration of political statements into his compositions. One of his most well-known and acclaimed works was his opera Boris Godunov. The opera was based on the tragic play of the same name by Alexander Pushkin and describes the reign of Boris Godunov, the tsar of Russia from 1598-1605. Musorgsky’s opera differs from Pushkin’s play, however, in that Musorgsky gives the Russian people a voice. He used his music to express the feelings of Russian peasants and their views of the government by making them, and not the tsar, the main character.² One character, the Holy Fool, represents the unspoken thoughts of the people and, some believe, the view of Musorgsky himself.³ His position in favor of “the people” was not appreciated by all. The opera was, in fact, initially rejected when it was presented to the Imperial Theaters Directorate in 1871. Musorgsky modified and refined the work by removing s

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everal scenes, including one in which the Holy Fool challenges Godunov. While the edited version of the opera still criticized the tsar, it was less apparent than it was in the original version.⁴ Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union from 1922-1953, later expressed that Musorgsky did not accurately or respectfully represent the political personage, Boris Godunov.⁵ Despite, or perhaps because of the noticeable statements against the government, Boris Godunov became very popular among the people because it empowered them, representing their unspoken opinions regarding the government. Some referred to Boris Godunov as a “revolutionary opera.”⁶

Shostakovich, unlike Stalin, strongly agreed with Musorgsky’s political stance and expression of the peoples’ voice. Shostakovich, who greatly admired Musorgsky, was particularly partial to the opera that was the cause for so much contention. Shostakovich was given the opportunity to honor his favorite composer in 1939 when a concert was given in Leningrad in honor of the one-hundred-year anniversary of Musorgsky’s birth. Shostakovich was enthusiastic about the tribute and was involved in the process of putting on the performance. He not only sat on panels to select musicians who would perform in the concert, but also gave an opening speech on the day of the performance. This year also presented Shostakovich with the opportunity to re-orchestrate Musorgsky’s disputed opera, Boris Godunov.⁷ This project enabled Shostakovich to get a glimpse into the other composer’s mind and compositional style. Because of his deep respect for his forerunner, Shostakovich did not alter the original notes and melodies, b

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ut merely changed the instrumentation within the opera so the music would be able to make more of an impact on listeners.⁸

Following Musorgsky’s example with Boris Godunov, Shostakovich portrayed elements of society into his compositions as well. In 1962 he wrote Symphony No. Thirteen, Babi Yar, which contained text from five poems by a poet named Yevgeniy Yevtushenko. After Stalin’s death in 1953 the government continued to uphold Stalin’s ideals; however, individuals were beginning to express their views against the former ruler. Every action was scrutinized to determine who supported or criticized Stalin.⁹ Shostakovich’s subject matter fell into the latter category, with its hint at the presence of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union during World War II through both the music and the text. When the symphony premiered it was highly criticized by members of the press, as well as important figures in the government. Shostakovich, like Musorgsky before him, was asked to revise his work and eliminate any controversial and offensive topics. He rewrote several lines of one of the poems, Babi Yar, and presented the altered version in 1963. He received more positive reviews with this second edition.¹⁰ Although Shostakovich changed portions of the poem, he still endeavored to make his original intent apparent.

The anti-Stalin characteristics that appear in Symphony No. Thirteen are also present in several other compositions by Shostakovich. A symphonic poem titled The Execution of Stepan Razin and his next symphony, Symphony No. Fourteen, opus 135, contained political criticism that was more inconspicuous than in his earlier work. The government and critics were drawn instead to the more noticeable and unsettling topic of death that was presented in this new s
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ymphony.¹¹ Throughout his life, Shostakovich suffered from several medical crises, which resulted in his hospitalization numerous times. One such incident in the beginning of 1969 led to the composition of one of his final works, Symphony No. Fourteen. Several years earlier, in 1962, he had orchestrated Musorgsky’s song cycle, Songs and Dances of Death. Musorgsky’s choice of text as well as his compositional skills allowed him to capture feelings of suffering and despair within his music. His own personal struggles, such as alcoholism, helped portray the pessimism and hopelessness of the theme of death.¹² Several years later another composer, Gustav Mahler, incorporated this theme into his song cycle called Kindertotenlieder, or Songs on the Death of Children.¹³ After hearing the works of these two composers, Shostakovich decided that he too wanted to address the themes that the preceding composers had begun to explore. Shostakovich’s own frequent medical emergencies and hospital stays also gave him reason to consider the significance of life, love, and death. He referred to these ideas, which he had never incorporated into any of his music, as “eternal themes” and “eternal problems.”¹⁴

The work was originally intended to be an oratorio and was scored for a soprano singer, bass singer, and small string orchestra. Not comfortable with the label of an oratorio, Shostakovich decided it would be more appropriate to identify it as a symphony. The symphony contained an astounding eleven movements, all of which made references to death. The text of each movement was based on poems by Federico García Lorca, Guillaume Apollinaire, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Wilhelm Kuchelbecker.¹⁵ Each movement contained a reaction either to an individual person’s death or to the idea of death in general. Many of the specific deaths occurred after people were imprisoned for allegedly not supporting Stalin. Shostakovich’s heartrending and powerful compositions were the result of his ability to emphasize with the suffering of these individuals. He was particularly affected by one woman who he had been very close to many years earlier, Galina Serebryakova. He based the seventh movement of his Symphony No. Fourteen on her story, using a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire, titled “In the Santé Prison.”¹⁶ The eleventh and final movement of the symphony illustrated a broader portrayal of death, with the people avenging those who died as a result of the tyrannical government. The movement contained songs that represented the violent actions of the people, with text such as “Death to you, tyrants.”¹⁷ There is no doubt in the listener’s mind that Shostakovich wrote the symphony to express his strong reactions to the deaths that occurred.

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Despite the length of the Fourteenth Symphony, Shostakovich finished writing it relatively quickly because he feared that his health would deteriorate, preventing him from completing the work. Shostakovich was exceedingly proud of this composition and believed it represented his talents and achievements as a composer. Although he was pleased with the outcome of the work, he had to defend his piece to his listeners and critics. In response to the vast opinion that death was a disturbing theme to write about, Shostakovich explained that his goal in writing the symphony was to show that although death is inevitable, it is not daunting and does not have to be feared. He believed that peace will come with death if everyone strives to make the most out of their lives by living honestly and acting compassionately towards others.¹⁸

By listening to his compositions, it is easy for listeners to recognize Shostakovich’s ideals and viewpoints on numerous issues. Much like Musorgsky, Shostakovich was insightful in the topics he chose to write about and did not allow negative criticism to prevent him from conveying his views through his music. By modeling his compositional style after that of Musorgsky’s, Shostakovich became one of the most prolific and successful composers of the twentieth-century.

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Bibliography

Ewen, David, ed. Composers Since 1900: A Biographical and Critical Guide. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1969.

Fay, Laurel E. Shostakovich: A Life. Oxford: University Press, 2000.

Taruskin, Richard. “Musorgsky vs. Musorgsky: The Versions of ‘Boris Godunov.’” 19^th Century Music, vol.8, no.2 (1984): 93-94, http://www.jstor.org/stable/746756 (April 27, 2009).

Volkov, Solomon. Shostakovich and Stalin. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.

Walker, James Walker. “Mussorgsky’s ‘Sunless’ Cycle in Russian Criticism: Focus of Controversy.” The Musical Quarterly, vol.67, no.3 (1981): 387-388, http://www.jstor.org/stable/742103 (May 4, 2009).

1 Solomon Volkov, Shostakovich and Stalin (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), 242.

2 Volkov, 27.

3 Volkov, 31.

4 Richard Taruskin, “Musorgsky vs. Musorgsky: The Versions of ‘Boris Godunov,’” 19^th Century Music, vol.8, no.2 (1984): 93-94, http://www.jstor.org/stable/746756 (April 27, 2009).

5 Volkov, 25.

6 Volkov, 27.

7 Laurel E. Fay, Shostakovich: A Life (Oxford: University Press, 2000),119.

8 Fay, 120.

9 Volkov, 272.

10 David Ewen, ed., Composers Since 1900: A Biographical and Critical Guide (New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1969), 529.

11 Volkov, 275.

12 James Walker, “Mussorgsky’s ‘Sunless’ Cycle in Russian Criticism: Focus of Controversy,” The Musical Quarterly, vol.67, no.3 (1981): 387-388, http://www.jstor.org/stable/742103 (May 4, 2009).

13 Volkov, 276.

14 Fay, 259.

15 Fay, 259

16 Volkov, 40-41.

17 Volkov, 42.

18 Fay, 260-261.