Shostakovich

[mahler09]

To veer away from the recordings for a second....
Tomorrow is the 45th anniversary of Shostakovich's death; as a composer his work evolved from elements Mahler's style orchestrally, along with Berg, Webern, etc.  I was curious to hear what others here thought of their works and Mahler's influence?

[Zoltan]

While I still struggle to find examples of Mahler's influence (which started around the time of the composition of his 4th Symphony, when Ivan Sollertinsky introduced him to Mahler's music), like the funeral march at the begin of the finale of the 4th symphony (but aren't funeral marches simply funeral marches?), I find Shostakovich's voice as a very distinct one. Maybe it's his use the of the symphonic form, like for his 14th, where he fuses the songs together since they share material both in music and in topic of death. I often read that the influence is in using folk songs and quotations and it's juxtaposition of vulgar music with serious one.

Some time ago, I learnt of a Mahler quote in Shostakovich's 10th Symphony. The first theme of the first movement uses the notes from "Urlicht" (specifically, "Der Mensch liegt in größter Not") in a different rhythm. Here's the first occurrence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiHB1W_gnn0#t=02m20s 2:20 into the first movement. It's played poignantly on the clarinet.

[John Kim]

Philosophically and ideally, these two composer may have explored similar territories. But technically, I find them very different. I mean, I don't find too much in common as far as the orchestration, polyphony and even harmony are concerned. If I may, I think Mahler was the better orchestrator of the two and his use of polyphony is second to none. Because of this Mahler's music oftentimes sounds more modern and sophisticated than Shosy's (think of M9th or M10th). Having said that, I do think Shosy was better at expressing darker sides of human nature; he delved deeper into the meaning of despair, depression, violence, horror, solitude than Mahler did. Furthermore, Shosy was more direct and as a result audiences may find his music more reachable and powerful.

Bottom line: although there may be traces of similarities between the two composer, I think they are different in their nature.

John,

[chalkpie]

Does anybody own the Barshai WDR complete box on Brilliant? I am thinking about pulling the trigger, but I'd like a few more opinions. This seems to be the "Bertini Box"of Shostakovich.

[Don]

While I may prefer some individual recordings by other conductors over Barshai's, this cycle is uniformly excellent. Usually reasonably priced too.

[mister bob]

The Barshai box set?  It's a no-brainer, buy it.  He is completely inside the music, and there is plenty of urgency and passion.

A propos of Shostakovich, though I enjoy the symphonies I don't think they have the overall range of colours and, dare I say it, sophistication of Mahler's.  His chamber works on the other hand I find gripping; the string quartets, the stunning piano quintet and trios, not to mention the solo piano works.  And then there's the concertos...