Donald Macleod explores the music of Dmitry Shostakovich through
the lens of his family life.
In this week’s episode, Donald introduces us to Shostakovich -
the family man. Turning his attention to the middle of the
Russian composer's life, we hear the story of his relationships
with his two children (Galina, born in 1936, and Maxim, born in
1938) and his first wife Nina, who he was married to from 1935
until her death in 1954. Starting with the complicated early days
of building a family, Donald tells us how Shostakovich celebrated
the birth of his first daughter, plus the answer to an important
question: was Shostakovich a cat or a dog person? Next, we meet
the family as wartime evacuees and hear about the symphony that
was almost lost in a toilet on a train. We join the
Shostakoviches in a country retreat set up by the USSR Union of
Composers, where they spent memorable summers, and hear about the
terrifying moment Shostakovich received a phone call from Stalin.
Lastly, Donald reveals how Shostakovich coped following Nina’s
death, and the music which his grief inspired.
Music featured: Suite for Variety Orchestra Six Romances on Texts
by Japanese Poets, Op 21 The Tale of the Silly Little Mouse
Symphony No 4 in C major Op 43 6 Romances on Verses by English
Poets, Op 62 - 1. Sir Walter Raleigh to His Sonne Sonata No 2 in
B minor, Op 61 Symphony No 7 in C major ‘Leningrad’, Op 60
Children's Notebook Op 69 (1-7) String Quartet 2 in A major, Op
68 Piano Trio No 2 Op 67 Symphony No 8 in C minor Op 65 Pirogov
(Finale) Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor Op 77 The Song of the
Forests Op 81 String Quartet No 4, Op 83 Festive Overture, Op 96
Symphony No 10 in E minor, Op 93 Piano Concerto No 2 in F major,
Op 102 String Quartet No 7 in F sharp minor, Op 108 Youth
(Romance) from The Gadfly
Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Amy Wheel for BBC Wales
For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details,
and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after
broadcast) head to the series page for Dmitry Shostakovich
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005736
And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve
featured on Composer of the Week here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z
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