Bernard Chasan writes:

>I don't understand this Vainberg business.  If I did know any better
>(and I am not sure that I do) I might think that Vainberg is a nom de
>Plume for Shostakovich.  Are there any other situations in classical
>music where two composers sounded so alike in their mature years?  Or
>do I just need my ears cleaned.

It sounds like Bernard needs to buy a super-sized box of cotton swabs
and then engage in a regimen of three swabbings per day (just like three
meals a day), but don't swab your ears while eating.

Only kidding.  The first thing that would strike anyone who is familiar
with Shostakovich is the similarlity of Vainberg's music.  Both wrote
essentially tonal music but dressed it up with some modernist traits
including a fair degree of dissonance.  Also, they were fast friends and
even shared and consulted one another on their musical drafts.  Vainberg
was always quick to say that he was a Shostakovich student and felt a
close kinship to the man.

However, that's not the end of the story.  Vainberg was not some
Shostakovich clone.  If you delve more deeply into Vainberg's music,
you will notice differences.  Vainberg was very much the optimist, even
though his personal and family life encountered more traumatic situations
than Shostakovich had to deal with.  Vainberg could be quite cutting and
ironic in his music, but not to the extreme degree exhibited by Shostakovich.
There is less bombast from Vainberg and more of a relaxed lyricisim.

I don't want to take these differences too far.  The fact is that we can
come up with hundreds of examples of composers whose music has strong
similarities to one another.  Often, one composer is the more famous,
so we tend to say that this other composer sounds like the famous one.

Is there any point in listening to a Vainberg when we already have an
ample supply of Shostakovich?  Certainly.  In addition to those differences
I mentioned, simply having "more Shostakovich" (if that's how it ends
up sounding) is cause for rejoicing.  I'd love to listen to a composer
who sounds very much like Bach, even if the level of inspiration isn't
quite up to Bach's level.  More Bach, more Shostakovich - bring it on!
Then there's Vissarion Shebalin, but he's another story.

As an aside, I'd like to emphasize that Myaskovsky is from an earlier
generation than Shostakovich or Vainberg, his music being much in the
romantic mold.  Vainberg was also good friends with the much older
Myaskovsky, but their music has little in common.

Don Satz
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