Dmitry Shostakovich: biography of the great composer

Dmitry Shostakovich, whose biography interests many classical music lovers - is a famous Soviet composer, famous far beyond his native country.

Childhood of Shostakovich

He was born on September 25, 1906 in St. Petersburg in the family of a pianist and chemist. Music, which in his family was an important component (father - a passionate lover of music, mother - teacher of piano), got carried away from a small age: a retentive skinny boy, sitting at the piano, turned into a daring musician. His first work "Soldier" wrote at the age of 8, under the influence of constant conversations of adults about the First World War that began. D. Shostakovich, whose biography was associated with music all his life, became a student of the music school of IA Glasseur, a well-known teacher. Although with the basics of musical notation Dmitry introduced his mother.

Shostakovich: biography of the Soviet composer

In the life of Dmitry, along with music, there was always love. For the first time the magical feeling was visited by a young man at the age of 13: the object of love was the 10-year-old Natalya Kube, to whom the musician dedicated a small foreplay. But the feeling gradually faded away, and the desire to devote their creations to the beloved women remained with the virtuoso pianist forever.

After studying at a private school, in 1919 Dmitry Shostakovich, whose biography took a professional musical start, entered the Petrograd Conservatoire, successfully graduating in 1923 at once in two classes: compositions and piano. At the same time on his way met a new sympathy - the beautiful Tatyana Glivenko. The girl was the same age as the composer, cute, well-educated, cheerful and cheerful, who inspired Shostakovich to create the First Symphony, which at the end of the school was commissioned as a thesis. The depth of feelings expressed in this work was caused not only by love, but also by illness, which resulted from the many sleepless nights of the composer, his experiences and depression developing against the backdrop of all this.

A worthy start to a musical career

The premiere of the First Symphony, which swept the whole world after many years, was held in 1926 in St. Petersburg. Musical critics considered in a talented composer a worthy substitute for the emigrated from the country Sergei Rakhmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky. This same symphony also brought the young composer and virtuoso pianist world fame. When speaking at the First International Chopin Pianists Competition in Warsaw in 1927, one of the members of the jury, Bruno Walter, an Austro-American composer and conductor, drew attention to Shostakovich's unusual talent. He invited Dmitry to play something else, and when the First Symphony began to sound, Walter asked the young composer to send him a score to Berlin. On November 22, 1927, the conductor performed this musical composition, than glorified Shostakovich throughout the world.

In 1927, the talented Shostakovich, whose biography includes many falls and ups, inspired by the success of the First Symphony, began to create the opera "The Nose" by Gogol. Next, the First Piano Concerto was created, after which two more symphonies were written in the late 1920s.

Cases of the heart

And what about Tatyana? She, like most unmarried girls, waited long enough for a proposal of the hand and heart that shy Shostakovich, who experienced exceptionally pure and light feelings for her inspirer, either did not guess, or did not dare to do it. The more agile gentleman, who met on the path of Tatiana, led her to a wreath; He gave birth to a son. After three years, Shostakovich, pursuing all this time now someone else's beloved, invited Tatiana to become his wife. But the girl chose to completely interrupt all relations with a talented fan who turned out to be too timid in life.

Finally making sure that he did not return his beloved, Shostakovich, whose biography closely intertwined with music and love feelings, in the same year married Nina Varzar, a young student with whom she lived for more than 20 years. A woman who gave birth to two children, persistently experienced all these years of hobbies of the husband by other women, his frequent betrayal and died before his beloved husband.

After the death of Nina Shostakovich, whose brief biography includes several masterpiece and world-famous works, he created the family twice: with Margarita Kayonova and Irina Supinskaya. Against the backdrop of affairs of the heart, Dmitry did not cease to create, but in dealing with music he behaved much more decisively.

On the waves of mood of the authorities

In 1934, the opera The Lady of the Mtsensk District was staged in Leningrad, immediately accepted by the audience for "Hurray." However, after a year and a half of its existence was in jeopardy: the music was sharply criticized by the Soviet authorities and was removed from the repertoire. The premiere of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony, which was characterized by a more monumental scale unlike previous ones, was to be held in 1936. Due to the unstable situation in the country and the prejudiced attitude of representatives of state power to people of creativity, the first performance of the musical work occurred only in 1961. The 5th symphony was released in 1937. During the Great Patriotic War Shostakovich set to work on the 7th symphony - Leningradskaya, first performed on March 5, 1942.

From 1943 to 1948 Shostakovich was engaged in teaching activities at the Moscow Conservatory of Moscow, where he was subsequently expelled by the Stalinist authorities, who undertook to "clean up" the Union of Composers, due to their incompetence. Dmitry's timely "correct" work saved his situation. Further, the composer expected entry into the party (forced), as well as many other circumstances, of which there were more ups than falls.

Last years Shostakovich, whose biography is studied with interest by many fans of music, was very sick, suffering from lung cancer. He did not become a composer in 1975. His ashes were buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Today, Shostakovich's works, embodying a pronounced inner human drama, conveying the record of terrible spiritual suffering - are the most executed all over the world. The most popular are the Fifth and Eighth Symphonies of the fifteen written. Of the string quartets, which are also fifteen, the most executed are the Eighth and Fifteenth.