Great Masters: Shostakovich - His Life and Music

By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Robert Greenberg

Dmitri Shostakovich is without a doubt one of the central composers of the 20th century. His symphonies and string quartets are mainstays of the repertoire. But Shostakovich is also a figure whose story raises challenging and exciting issues that go far beyond music: they touch on questions of conscience, the moral role of the artist, the plight of humanity in the face of total war and mass oppression, and the inner life of history's bloodiest century. And though he was not without flaws, he was a faithful witness to the survival of the human spirit under totalitarianism.

And now you can discover the extraordinary life, times, and music of Shostakovich in a probing series of eight lectures from an acclaimed conductor, teacher, and music historian. Drawing on both the flood of declassified documents from the Soviet Union that began in 1991 and Shostakovich's own extraordinarily frank posthumous reminiscences, Professor Greenberg shows how Shostakovich, who, in the words of a friend, "did not want to rot in a prison or a graveyard" was still unwilling to become a docile instrument of the Soviet regime.

You'll learn how what he would not say publicly in words, he instead said through his music - messages from a buried life of his experiences during the terror of Stalin, the Nazi destruction of his country, postwar reconstruction, and the arms race.

In work after work, often composed under crushing difficulty and anxiety, you'll hear how he used a brilliant arsenal of ironic conceits, musical quotes from un-Soviet sources such as American jazz or Jewish klezmer tunes, and other techniques to assert the integrity of his art in the face of totalitarian oppression, and to pay, as he said, "homage to the dead."

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2002 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2002 The Great Courses

awesome!

What made the experience of listening to Great Masters: Shostakovich - His Life and Music the most enjoyable?

The history that is learned along side of Shostakovich's music.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Great Masters: Shostakovich - His Life and Music?

His survival in the Soviet Union.

Any additional comments?

This is about the 12th Greenberg lecture I've listened to, and I have enjoyed them all. He is an excellent educator. Starting another today, Bach and the High Baroque.

Prof Greenberg gets a 40 out of 10

Best professor I've ever had and I have a lot of degrees. He brings light, even enlightenment, into the dark corners. A genius with communication skills that break through my denseness and propel me up, up to the deep blue sky of appreciation and understanding. I am so grateful.

Learning is Cool!

well done on all levels, pace, depth and the use of music samples, really well done. it's inspired me to check a lot more of his music!

Greenberg knows his stuff

Another great audiobook by Robert Greenberg--he knows his subject matter well, keeps the listener's attention, and mixes in just the right amount of music. An easy, fun way to learn more about classical composers....

I believe his best

I have listened to most of Greenberg's lectures and this is the most fascinating. Delivery remains over dramatic, but this is not as snarky as some.