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Date: | Wed, 24 Feb 1999 09:18:30 -0800 |
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A week or so ago I went to the press conference on 'Shostakovich Revisited'
by Allan Ho and Dmitry Feofanov which Martin Anderson at Toccata Press had
let us all know about some weeks ago. During a conversation with Feofanov
after the conference, he told me the book contained evidence that the
Leningrad was actually started way before the "Great Patriotic War" --
I think he said they traced the themes of the first movement to 1939
sketches. This would a) tend to disprove much of the blather about it
being a patriotically-inspired piece of propaganda and b) support those
who contend that the march theme is anti-Stalinist rather than anti-war.
It is also apparently very much in tune with the way DSCH composed --
sketches, themes and concepts developed over a long period of time, with
the actual transfer to a complete score occurring in a relatively short
but intense period.
Problem is -- I haven't got that far in my copy of the nearly 800 page book
yet! For those of you with an itch to revisit some of the myths around
Shostakovich's life -- especially the 'Testimony' controversy -- this is
required reading.
Tim Mahon
Alexandria, VA
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