The Composer and the Conductor
By
Sam Cutbirth
Trinity University
San Antonio, Texas
6 September 2014
During the 1930s through the 1950s Stalin reigned over the Soviet Union, each move was made and seen by him. He was conducting the entire country. His tyranny took away the voice of the Soviet People. Nothing could be said about the new regime, or death would come to those who spoke out. But the atrocities had to be brought to light. A composer named Shostakovich took up the task. Through Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony he voiced the thoughts of the Soviet People. In this situation, Shostakovich is a composer in the heads of the musicians, while Stalin is a conductor telling the musicians what to do. Many thought at the time that the two men were working together, but Shostakovich was trying to voice his distaste for the regime through his music.
The 1930s-50s in the Soviet Union was a bleak moment in history. Millions of people died due to the war and the new dictatorship. People’s family members were getting taken away to never be seen again on a regular basis. Food was becoming more and more scarce. Life for these people was seemed impossible and no one knew about these events outside the Soviet Union. Dmitri Shostakovich lived in fear alongside the rest of the country of being arrested or dragged away by the government. Many of Shostakovich’s friends and relatives were removed from society. This put a lot of worry into Shostakovich especially, when his play about Lady Macbeth received such bad reviews after Stalin went to a performance. Shostakovich was pushed and pushed something needed to be done. No one could rally a resistance the government was too powerful. Then the Germans invaded Leningrad with Shostakovich and thousands of people in it. They surrounded the city and cut off everything going into the city. They were going to starve the people out. This is where Shostakovich composed his masterpiece, the Leningrad Symphony. The symphony has four movements that reflect what was happening to Shostakovich and the Soviet People. Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony really exemplified the life of the Soviet People. Victor Hugo has stated, that “music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.” For the entirety of the nation this symphony voiced what was happening at the moment. Its movements expressed the same feelings that the people had felt on their day to day lives with the loss of their friends and family and the thoughts they had after they were gone. Shostakovich had composed his life and the life of millions of others into this symphony.
Stalin who conducted the mass murders and abductions of millions of people, used Shostakovich’s symphony to boost morale for the war. It is unclear if Stalin knew about the meaning the Leningrad Symphony had for many people or not. He still made Shostakovich a prison anyway. Shostakovich had to say pre-written speeches about his symphony stating it was about the German invasion and the continuance of the war, and not about the corruption of the government. I believed that Stalin didn’t know about the other meaning and was blind to it. I think that because it was such a success, and because it voiced the people so well, Stalin couldn’t do anything to stop besides make it into something that supported him. Everyone was under Stalin they had no power. This symphony loosened the strings that Stalin had over the Soviet People, and by playing it over and over again he was losing some control. Although the symphony shed some light, it didn’t restore peace. It just reflected on the tough times. When Stalin used Shostakovich’s music people began to associate him with Stalin, especially overseas. People couldn’t have been more wrong, but they had no clue because of the charade that was the Soviet Union.