A Shostakovich Casebook
- Editor: Brown, Malcolm Hamrick
A Shostakovich Casebook
- Editor: Brown, Malcolm Hamrick
Purchase product
About
"A major event. . . . This Casebook is not only about Volkov's Testimony, it is about music old and new in the 20th century, about the cultural legacy of one of that century's most extravagant social experiments, and what we have to learn from them, not only what they ought to learn from us." —Caryl Emerson, Princeton University
In 1979, the alleged memoirs of legendary composer Dmitry Shostakovich (1906–1975) were published as Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitry Shostakovich As Related to and Edited by Solomon Volkov. Since its appearance, however, Testimony has been the focus of controversy in Shostakovich studies as doubts were raised concerning its authenticity and the role of its editor, Volkov, in creating the book.
A Shostakovich Casebook presents 25 essays, interviews, newspaper articles, and reviews—many newly available since the collapse of the Soviet Union—that review the "case" of Shostakovich. In addition to authoritatively reassessing Testimony's genesis and reception, the authors in this book address issues of political influence on musical creativity and the role of the artist within a totalitarian society. Internationally known contributors include Richard Taruskin, Laurel E. Fay, and Irina Antonovna Shostakovich, the composer's widow. This volume combines a balanced reconsideration of the Testimony controversy with an examination of what the controversy signifies for all music historians, performers, and thoughtful listeners.
Contents
- Introduction
- Part One
- 1. Shostakovich versus Volkov
- 2. Volkov's Testimony Reconsidered
- Part Two
- 3. A Side-by-Side Comparison of Texts from Testimony with Their Original Sources
- 4. A Pitiful Fake
- 5. The Bedbug
- 6. The Official Dossier
- 7. Notes from the Soviet Archives on Volkov's Testimony
- 8. An Episode in the Life of a Book
- 9. An Answer to Those Who Still Abuse Shostakovich
- 10. On Solomon Volkov and Testimony
- 11. The Regime and Vulgarity
- 12. Shostakovich's World is Our World
- 13. Shostakovich Remembered
- Part Three
- 14. A Link in the Chain
- 15. Aperspective on Soviet Musical Culture during the Lifetime of Shostakovich
- 16. The Latest "New Shostakovich"
- 17. Dialogues about Shostakovich
- Part Four
- 18. Ian MacDonald's The New Shostakovich
- 19. Elizabeth Wilson's Shostakovich
- 20. A Response to Papers by Allan Ho and Dmitri Feofanov
- 21. Whose Shostakovich?
- 22. The Shostakovich Variations
- 23. Shostakovich
- 24. Laurel Fay's Shostakovich
- 25. When Serious Music Mattered
- Selected Bibliography
- Contributors
- Index
