Dmitry Shostakovich - biography, information, personal life. Dmitry Shostakovich: biography, interesting facts, creativity Origin and early years

D.D. Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg. This event in the family of Dmitry Boleslavovich Shostakovich and Sofia Vasilievna Shostakovich occurred on September 25, 1906. The family was very musical. The future composer’s mother was a talented pianist and gave lessons piano playing for beginners. Despite his serious profession as an engineer, Dmitry’s father simply adored music and sang a little himself.

Home concerts were often held in the house in the evenings. It played huge role in the formation and development of Shostakovich as a person and a real musician. He presented his debut work, a piano piece, at the age of nine. By the age of eleven he already had several of them. And at the age of thirteen he entered the Petrograd Conservatory to study composition and piano.

Youth

Young Dmitry devoted all his time and energy to music studies. They spoke of him as an exceptional talent. He didn’t just compose music, but made listeners immerse themselves in it, experience its sounds. He was especially admired by the director of the conservatory, A.K. Glazunov, who subsequently, after sudden death father obtained a personal scholarship for Shostakovich.

However financial situation family left much to be desired. And the fifteen-year-old composer began working as a musical illustrator. The main thing in this amazing profession was improvisation. And he improvised beautifully, composing real musical pictures on the go. From 1922 to 1925, he changed three cinemas, and this invaluable experience remained with him forever.

Creation

For children, the first acquaintance with musical heritage And short biography Dmitry Shostakovich takes place back in school. They know from music lessons that a symphony is one of the most complex genres of instrumental music.

Dmitri Shostakovich composed his first symphony at the age of 18, and in 1926 it was performed at big stage in Leningrad. And a few years later it was performed in concert halls America and Germany. It was an incredible success.

However, after the conservatory, Shostakovich was still faced with the question of his future fate. He couldn't decide future profession: author or performer. For some time he tried to combine one with the other. Until the 1930s he performed solo. His repertoire often included Bach, Liszt, Chopin, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky. And in 1927 he received an honorary diploma for International competition named after Chopin in Warsaw.

But over the years, despite the growing fame of a talented pianist, Shostakovich abandoned this type of activity. He rightly believed that she was a real obstacle to the composition. In the early 30s, he was looking for his own unique style and experimented a lot. He tried his hand at everything: opera (“The Nose”), songs (“Song of the Counter”), music for cinema and theater, piano pieces, ballets (“Bolt”), symphonies (“May Day”).

Other biography options

• Every time Dmitry Shostakovich was going to get married, his mother certainly intervened. So, she did not allow him to connect his life with Tanya Glivenko, the daughter of a famous linguist. She also didn’t like the composer’s second choice, Nina Vazar. Because of her influence and his doubts, he did not appear on own wedding. But, fortunately, after a couple of years they reconciled and went to the registry office again. This marriage produced a daughter, Galya, and a son, Maxim.
• Dmitry Shostakovich was a gambling card player. He himself said that he once won in his youth a large sum money, with which he later purchased a cooperative apartment.
• Before death great composer been sick for many years. Doctors could not make an accurate diagnosis. Later it turned out that it was a tumor. But it was too late to treat. Dmitri Shostakovich died on August 9, 1975.

Shostakovich Dmitry Dmitrievich - Soviet pianist, public figure, teacher, doctor of art history, National artist USSR, one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century.

Dmitry Shostakovich was born in September 1906. The boy had two sisters. Eldest daughter Dmitry Boleslavovich and Sofya Vasilievna Shostakovich were named Maria, she was born in October 1903. Younger sister Dmitry received the name Zoya at birth. Shostakovich inherited his love of music from his parents. He and his sisters were very musical. Children with parents with youth took part in improvised home concerts.

Dmitry Shostakovich studied at a commercial gymnasium since 1915, at the same time he began attending classes at the famous private music school of Ignatius Albertovich Glasser. Learning from famous musician, Shostakovich acquired good skills pianist, but the mentor did not teach composition, and the young man had to do it on his own.

Dmitry recalled that Glyasser was a boring, narcissistic and uninteresting person. Three years later, the young man decided to leave the course of study, although his mother did her best to prevent this. Shostakovich, even at a young age, did not change his decisions and left music school.

In his memoirs, the composer mentioned one event in 1917, which was strongly etched in his memory. At the age of 11, Shostakovich saw how a Cossack, dispersing a crowd of people, cut a boy with a saber. At a young age, Dmitry, remembering this child, wrote a play called “Funeral March in Memory of the Victims of the Revolution.”

Education

In 1919, Shostakovich became a student at the Petrograd Conservatory. The knowledge he acquired in his first year educational institution, helped the young composer complete his first major orchestral work - the Scherzo fis-moll.

In 1920, Dmitry Dmitrievich wrote “Two Fables of Krylov” and “Three Fantastic Dances” for piano. This period of the young composer’s life is associated with the appearance of Boris Vladimirovich Asafiev and Vladimir Vladimirovich Shcherbachev in his circle. The musicians were part of the Anna Vogt Circle.

Shostakovich studied diligently, although he experienced difficulties. The time was hungry and difficult. Food rations for conservatory students were very small, the young composer was starving, but did not give up his music studies. He attended the Philharmonic and classes, despite hunger and cold. There was no heating in the conservatory in winter, many students fell ill, and there were cases of death.

In his memoirs, Shostakovich wrote that at that time physical weakness forced him to walk to classes. To get to the conservatory by tram, it was necessary to squeeze through a crowd of people, since transport was rare. Dmitry was too weak for this, he left the house in advance and walked for a long time.

The Shostakovichs really needed money. The situation was aggravated by the death of the family breadwinner Dmitry Boleslavovich. To earn some money, his son got a job as a pianist at the Svetlaya Lenta cinema. Shostakovich recalled this time with disgust. The work was low-paid and exhausting, but Dmitry endured it because the family was in great need.

After a month of this musical hard labor, Shostakovich went to the owner of the cinema, Akim Lvovich Volynsky, to receive his salary. The situation turned out to be very unpleasant. The owner of "Light Ribbon" shamed Dmitry for his desire to receive the pennies he earned, convincing him that people of art should not care about the material side of life.

Seventeen-year-old Shostakovich bargained for part of the amount, the rest could only be obtained in court. After some time, when Dmitry already had some fame in musical circles, he was invited to an evening in memory of Akim Lvovich. The composer came and shared his memories of his experience working with Volynsky. The organizers of the evening were indignant.

In 1923, Dmitry Dmitrievich graduated from the Petrograd Conservatory in piano, and two years later – in composition. Thesis work The musician became Symphony No. 1. The work was first performed in 1926 in Leningrad. The symphony's foreign premiere took place a year later in Berlin.

Creation

In the thirties of the last century, Shostakovich presented fans of his work with the opera Lady Macbeth Mtsensk district" During this period he also completed five of his symphonies. In 1938, the musician composed the Jazz Suite. The most famous fragment of this work was “Waltz No. 2”.

The appearance of criticism of Shostakovich's music in the Soviet press forced him to reconsider his view of some of his works. For this reason, the Fourth Symphony was not presented to the public. Shostakovich stopped rehearsals shortly before the premiere. The public heard the Fourth Symphony only in the sixties of the twentieth century.

Afterwards, Dmitry Dmitrievich considered the score of the work lost and began to rework the sketches he had preserved for the piano ensemble. In 1946, copies of the parts of the Fourth Symphony for all instruments were found in the document archives. After 15 years, the work was presented to the public.

Great Patriotic War I found Shostakovich in Leningrad. At this time, the composer began work on the Seventh Symphony. Leaving besieged Leningrad, Dmitry Dmitrievich took with him sketches of the future masterpiece. The Seventh Symphony made Shostakovich famous. It is most widely known as “Leningradskaya”. The symphony was first performed in Kuibyshev in March 1942.

Shostakovich marked the end of the war by composing the Ninth Symphony. Its premiere took place in Leningrad on November 3, 1945. Three years later, the composer was among the musicians who fell into disgrace. His music was considered "foreign" to the Soviet people" Shostakovich was stripped of his professorship, which he had received in 1939.

Taking into account the trends of the time, Dmitry Dmitrievich presented the cantata “Song of the Forests” to the public in 1949. The main purpose of the work was to praise Soviet Union and its triumphant restoration in the post-war years. The cantata brought the composer the Stalin Prize and goodwill from critics and authorities.

In 1950, the musician, inspired by the work of Bach and the landscapes of Leipzig, began composing 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano. The tenth symphony was written by Dmitry Dmitrievich in 1953, after an eight-year break in working on symphonic works.

A year later, the composer created the Eleventh Symphony, called “1905.” In the second half of the fifties, the composer delved into the instrumental concert genre. His music became more varied in form and mood.

IN last years During his lifetime, Shostakovich wrote four more symphonies. He also became the author of several vocal works And string quartets. Last job Shostakovich's Sonata for viola and piano.

Personal life

People close to the composer recalled that his personal life started unsuccessfully. In 1923, Dmitry met a girl named Tatyana Glivenko. The young people had mutual feelings, but Shostakovich, burdened with need, did not dare to propose to his beloved. The girl, who was 18 years old, looked for another match. Three years later, when Shostakovich’s affairs improved a little, he invited Tatyana to leave her husband for him, but her beloved refused.

After some time, Shostakovich got married. His chosen one was Nina Vazar. His wife gave Dmitry Dmitrievich twenty years of her life and gave birth to two children. In 1938, Shostakovich became a father for the first time. His son Maxim was born. Youngest child the family had a daughter, Galina. Shostakovich's first wife died in 1954.

The composer was married three times. His second marriage turned out to be fleeting; Margarita Kaynova and Dmitry Shostakovich did not get along and quickly filed for divorce.

The composer married for the third time in 1962. The musician’s wife was Irina Supinskaya. The third wife devotedly looked after Shostakovich during his years of illness.

Disease

In the second half of the sixties, Dmitry Dmitrievich fell ill. His illness could not be diagnosed, and Soviet doctors just shrugged their shoulders. The composer’s wife recalled that her husband was prescribed courses of vitamins to slow down the development of the disease, but the disease progressed.

Shostakovich suffered from Charcot's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Attempts to cure the composer were made by American specialists and Soviet doctors. On the advice of Rostropovich, Shostakovich went to Kurgan to see Dr. Ilizarov. The treatment suggested by the doctor helped for a while. The disease continued to progress. Shostakovich struggled with his illness, did special exercises, and took medications by the hour. Regular attendance at concerts was his consolation. In photographs from those years, the composer is most often depicted with his wife.

In 1975, Dmitry Dmitrievich and his wife went to Leningrad. There was supposed to be a concert at which Shostakovich's romance was performed. The performer forgot the beginning, which greatly worried the author. Upon returning home, the wife called for her husband “ ambulance" Shostakovich was diagnosed with a heart attack and the composer was taken to the hospital.

Dmitry Dmitrievich's life was cut short on August 9, 1975. That day he was going to watch football with his wife in the hospital room. Dmitry sent Irina for mail, and when she returned, her husband was already dead.

The composer was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Victor SUSLIN.<О Шостаковиче>
<Письмо Виктора Суслина Галине Уствольской
dated August 4, 1994>

Dear Galya, for my part I would like to tell you what I think about Shostakovich.
When Jesus said to the disciples: “Let your yes be yes, and let your no be no, and whatever is more than that come from the evil one,” the word “evil one” meant a very specific character well known to Christ, and not some kind of poetic metaphor. “Moreover” here means: both “yes” and “no” at the same time, or neither “yes” nor “no”, or “yes” turning into “no”, or “no” turning into “yes”. In a word, from the evil one came what was designated much later by the word “dialectics” (what was designated by this word among the Greeks has nothing to do with our story; Hegel abused this term, thus acting in the role of “the evil one”).
So, D.D., it seems to me, has found a certain philosopher’s stone that allows him to compose a huge amount of very mediocre music and at the same time seem like a genius not only to others, but also to himself. Dialectics provided him with this opportunity. She also gave him another, no less brilliant opportunity: to sign dozens of party directive articles in the central press, sign political denunciations (Sakharov in 1973), sit on the presidium next to the bandits and vote for any bandit proposal with the agility of a Shchedrin dummy, and at the same time, be known as a symbol of internal resistance to the regime not only in Soviet-liberal circles, but also in one’s own soul. I’m not even talking about foreign countries; they understand little about our Russian-Soviet affairs.
When I first heard the name Shostakovich in 1948, I was 6 years old. I was very surprised then that the adults around me, who were infinitely far from music, endlessly argued and debated about Shostakovich, Prokofiev, formalism, as if there were no more important problems in a war-torn, starving country. It seems to me that even then Shostakovich was only slightly less popular than Comrade Stalin, and undoubtedly more popular than Churchill, Truman, etc.
Then, already at the age of twenty, I saw that Shostakovich was surrounded by almost religious veneration among the so-called “real musicians” (i.e. those for whom, in addition to Budashkin and Mokrousov, there were also Hindemith, Berg, etc.) . My professor N. Peiko constantly set him as an example for us as not only a musical, but also a human ideal. He called Shostakovich the musical conscience of our time.
Now I am inclined to think that Nikolai Ivanovich Peiko was right in a sense: Shostakovich really was the musical conscience of his time, devoid of any conscience. As the time is, so is the conscience.
It seems to me that the Lord God judges human actions and deeds, and not intentions and motives. Things are like this:
1. The mask of a crucified sufferer worn by Shostakovich did not in the least prevent him from doing a brilliant business according to all the rules of Soviet society. He was undoubtedly the trump card of the party ideology. Cynical and “everything understanding” Moscow and Leningrad intellectuals willingly forgave him for signing ideologically-directive articles (“he didn’t write it, he just signed”, “he was forced”, etc.).
But there is another side to the coin: what were young people in Kemerovo, Semipalatinsk, Chelyabinsk supposed to think when reading this rubbish? After all, it was signed not by some unknown party watchdog, but by a generally recognized genius, and even a “musical conscience” to boot. So this is all true. Woe to him who seduces even one of these little ones!
2. Words such as “musical drama”, “musical prose”, etc. are often spoken about Shostakovich’s works. But no one utters the words “journalism”, “entertaining reading”, although in many cases they would be quite appropriate.
Often D. D.’s works cannot be denied being entertaining: for example, even in the 12th symphony, like a fig in a pocket, the well-known and even somewhat offensive motif “Dies irae” sticks out everywhere. Dialectics!
As for his actions, filled with “civic courage,” I have never heard anyone say that the cycle “From Jewish Folk Poetry” or the 13th Symphony represent outstanding events in musically. Even the most fanatical fans of Shostakovich are silent about this and prefer to rant about the public resonance, about the courage of the author who violated social taboos. But in this tone we can talk about a “brave article” in the Literaturnaya Gazeta, and not about musical masterpiece. In addition, D.D.’s “civic-courageous” opuses are such that only one conclusion can be drawn from them: in Stalin’s Russia, apart from the “Jewish question,” there were no serious problems, which seems to me to be a bit of an exaggeration.

How the idols left. The last days and hours of people's favorites Razzakov Fedor

SHOSTAKOVICH DMITRY

SHOSTAKOVICH DMITRY

SHOSTAKOVICH DMITRY(composer, operas: “The Nose” (1928), “Katerina Izmailova” (1935), etc., operetta “Moscow - Cheryomushki” (1959), 15 symphonies, etc.; music for films: “New Babylon” ( 1929), “Vyborg Side” (1939), “Young Guard” (1948), “Gadfly” (1955), “Hamlet” (1964), “King Lear” (1971), etc.; 69th year of life).

In the last years of his life, Shostakovich spent a lot of time in hospitals. He suffered from liver pain, a severe cough, shortness of breath, and had trouble moving left hand. But all the doctors’ attempts to cure the composer led nowhere. Apparently, that’s why in March 1975 he turned to the services of alternative medicine - he invited a healer to visit him. But she was also powerless. In July, Shostakovich went to the hospital again. On July 29, his old friend I. Glikman called him from Leningrad. The latter recalls:

“Irina Antonovna (the composer’s wife) answered the phone. F.R.). Out of excitement, she spoke to me somehow detachedly, in a blurred sound, without intonation. She said: “Now Dmitry Dmitrievich will answer the phone.”

After greeting me, Shostakovich said:

"I am feeling better. I cough less, I choke less. Write to me at my city address. There’s a whole city here in the hospital.”

After a long pause he continued:

I suddenly felt scared. But I reassured myself with his words, in which there was not a single complaint, in which there was a belief that he would soon return home and then go to his beloved Repino.

Perhaps, with all his physical weakness, Dmitry Dmitrievich did not want to give up, but with weak hands, in Beethoven’s style, “grab fate by the throat.”

Unfortunately, Glickman's forebodings did not deceive him - it was his last time talk with a great composer.

In early August, a medical council issued a verdict: medicine is powerless. And Shostakovich was sent home to his dacha in Repino. However, on August 3 he became so ill that doctors again insisted on hospitalization. But not to treat, but only to alleviate suffering. In the hospital, Shostakovich continued to work: he corrected the sheets of the Viola Sonata.

On Friday, August 8, wife Irina once again visited her husband in the hospital. Despite the fact that the composer did not look well, he was in a cheerful mood. Saying goodbye to his wife a few hours later, he asked her to visit him early tomorrow so that he could then see Soccer game on TV (the composer was an ardent fan from a young age). But when Irina arrived at the clinic on August 9, the head doctor met her at the door. From his face she realized that something irreparable had happened. Shostakovich died without waiting for either her or his beloved football.

The funeral took place in Moscow on August 14. It was cold that day - only 11-12 degrees Celsius, the sky was overcast. The funeral service took place in Great hall Conservatory on Mayakovsky Square. The coffin with the body of the deceased was placed on a black pedestal covered with velvet. According to eyewitnesses, Shostakovich lay with a brightened face and a smile frozen on his lips. It was as if he was happy to finally be done with this world. A table was installed next to the coffin, on which were placed pillows with awards of the deceased. Someone played the works of the deceased on the piano, some singer and a trio performed his cycles. Few came to say goodbye to the outstanding composer - it is vacation time in the capital, many are outside the city. At one o'clock in the afternoon the civil funeral service began. Members of the Composers' Union take their places to the left of the coffin in front of the microphone. The first to speak is the head of the Union of Composers Tikhon Khrennikov. He will give a good, heartfelt speech, which the next day will be published in the newspapers in an edited and shortened form. Further speakers included Deputy Minister of Culture Kukharsky, German musician Ernst Mayer, composer Rodion Shchedrin and others.

G. Soboleva recalls: “After the funeral service, the coffin was carried out along the central aisle. Black and white, it was carried on the shoulders of the composers. D.D. leaves the Great Hall so dear to him for the last time.

On the street, a military orchestra is playing Schumann's "Dreams". To this melody, the coffin is carried into a special car.

We drove along “Green Street” to the Novodevichy Cemetery. The wreaths brought earlier have already been placed here along the entire length of the main alley. On the square, an orchestra of military musicians plays Chopin's funeral march. Last minutes goodbyes.

Otar Taktikashvili and Andrei Petrov are performing, relatives are saying goodbye to D.D... the wind rose, rain started pouring, and the terrible sounds of nails being hammered into the coffin were heard. The lid closed the great man forever.

So, on the shoulders of the composers, they carried him to the old cemetery, deeper, to the right. There, under the spreading rowan and lilac trees, dashing gravediggers in blue blouses... very deftly picked up the coffin and instantly lowered it down on the steps.

Irina Shostakovich only managed to wave her hand and grab her chin.

Maxim (son of the composer. – F.R.) stood in the middle, hugging his little wife and son. His wife, a pointed-nosed blonde, looked in fear at the work of the gravediggers.

The Shostakovich family, all alike - husbands, brothers, sisters, children, grandchildren, stood orphaned, not knowing what to do next...

And the stalwart gravediggers laid wreaths on the grave. They laid them in a mountain in a small space, and this flower eminence rose higher than the trees. There were about a hundred wreaths, all huge and heavy. The last to receive a wreath from the USSR government. Double, taller than a man...

The audience began to disperse. We left the cemetery and saw how the police had removed the security of the streets. Immediately a huge crowd of people rushed to the cemetery. But the gates of Novodevichy were closed. A notice hung in a prominent place: “August 14 Novodevichy Cemetery closed to the public."

The great composer passed away a month and a half before his 69th birthday.