Subject: alt.fan.shostakovich FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Date: 1 Apr 1996 00:59:50 GMT
NNTP-Posting-User: richard

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): alt.fan.shostakovich

Compiled by: Richard Muirden (email: richard@rmit.EDU.AU)

Last Updated: Feb 4, 1996

Contents:
--------

1. General Information (including what DSCH means)
2. Recommendations for Newcomers to Shostakovich 
3. Major Works and Recommended Recordings
4. "Testimony" - The Story (& Film tidbits)
5. Shostakovich's music in Films and TV
6. Books of interest to Shostakovich Fans
7. "The DSCH Journal" - A newsletter!
8. DSCH Reference on the World Wide Web (WWW)
9. The "DSCH Smiley"
10. Information on The 'Fonds Chostakovitch' in Paris
11. Contributors to this FAQ 


1. General Information (including what DSCH means)
==================================================

DMITRI DMITRIEVICH SHOSTAKOVICH

Born: 25th September, 1906 in St. Petersburg (5PM local time)
Parents: Dimitri Boleslawowitsch Shostakovich
         Sofia Wassljewna Shostakovich (formerly Kokoulin).

Died: 9th August, 1975 in Moscow (at 7PM according to newspaper reports)  

Wives: Nina Vasilievna (Varzar) (from 1934 until she died on December 5th, 1954)
       * There was a temporary divorce during the summer of 1934.
         (both parties had affairs, but couldn't keep apart from each other)
       Margarita (Kainova) (1956-1960 - he proposed to her on the spot -  
                          it was a failed marriage - he left her in November 
                          1960)
       Irina Antonova (Supinskaya) (December 1962)
.(much younger but terribly caring and devoted to caring for the
         sick composer)

All Children came during the marriage to Nina
 
Son: Maxim Shostakovich, born in 1937, currently lives in the USA and works
     as a conductor of many orchestras worldwide. Maxim's son, Dmitri jnr
     is also a recorded pianist and can be heard performing Dmitri snr's
     2 piano concertos under the baton of his father on 2 Chandos CD's
     (CHAN 8357/8443)
     
Daughter: Galya -apparently she is still living in Moscow and has two children.
.  Maxim keeps in contact. Two children: Andrei and Kolya(Nikolai). 
          Kolya is the youngest, and should be around 30-33 years old now.
          Kolya is married and has a daughter. They live in Moscow.
          Apparently Andrei might have been in the US at some stage.
.  Aparently Galya was never a pianist or had any formal training.
          Galya graduated from Moscow University - Field: Biology and she
          worked at the Sclifasofsky Hospital.

Galya is the head of the Shostakovich Foundation along with DSCH's last wife.

DSCH: DSCH is a short form that many posters use for Shostakovich's name. This
      comes from his own use of these notes (in German Notation) to mean his
      own name. The most spectacular (and first major) use of the DSCH motif
      is in the 10th Symphony. In case you want to play it, it is:

.D  Eb  C  B

      However, the 8th String Quartet shows the "DSCH progression" much more
      vividly. The first movement alone being a fine example of the
      motif.  


Prizes and honours awarded:

1940: Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
1942: Honoured Artist of the RSFSR.
1946: Order of Lenin
1948: People's Artist of the RSFSR.
1954: People's Artist of the USSR.
      International Peace Prize.
1956: Order of Lenin
1958: International Jean Sibelius Prize
1959: Silver Medal, World Peace Council 
1962-75: Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
1965: Honoury Doctorate in Music
1966: Order of Lenin
      Hero of Socialist Labour
      Gold Medal of the British Royal Philharmonic Society
1967: Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of
      Austria
1969: Mozart Memoial Medal of the Mozart Society, Vienna 
1971: Order of the October Revolution
1972: 'Great Star of trhe Friendship Among Peoples' in gold
1973: The Sonning Prize, Denmark

Stalin Prizes: 11 
.First Grade for Scores for film trilogy (Maxim's Youth, Maxim's Return
         & The Vyborg Side - Opp.41,45,50) in 1941.
        First Grade for Score of "The Great Citizen" in 1941. 
.First Grade for Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad" in 1942.
        First Grade for Score of "Zoya" in 1946.
.Second Grade for Piano Trio (Op.67) in 1946..        
        Second Grade for Score of the film "Pirogov" in 1948..
        First Grade for Score of film "The Young Guards" in 1949.
        Second Grade for Score of film "Minchurin" in 1949.
.First Grade for Score of film "Meeting at Elba" in 1950.
.First Grade for Song of the Forests (Op.81) in 1949. 
        Second Grade for Ten Choral Poems by Revolutionary Poets (Op.88) in 1952
       
 
2. Recomendations for Newcomers to Shostakovich
===============================================

Many new posters to alt.fan.shostakovich mention they have heard a piece or
two of DSCH and would like to hear more and what are some good pieces to
start with. I feel the best way to get into Shostakovich is slowly, and
to this end I have decided to list a few works and recordings that I feel
would be a good introduction to the works of Shostakovich. The recordings
chosen are in the mid-price bracket because I believe that when you are
'getting into' a composer (ie: exploring) you're more likely to want to
spend your money on a few good mid price recordings rather than unknown
full price ones - that way you lose less money if you really can't stand
what you've bought. It has been pointed out that the selection here is
very subjective. What I have tried to do is sift through the various
responses in the past on a.f.s in answer to the question of 'what can
I listen to next?' and cobble together what I hope to be a general consensus
of works.

Symphonies: Numbers 1,5,7,8,9,10,11,12 (Haitink Recordings on Decca)
String Quartets: Numbers 3,8,9,10 (Borodin Quartet on EMI)
Piano Concertos+Cello Concerto: (Previn/Rostropovich on Sony MPK 44850)

There is also the excellent (and mid-price) "Composers in Person" CD on
EMI containing Shostakovich playing both Piano Concertos, 3 Fantastic
Dances (Op. 5), and a selection of the Preludes and Fuges, Op. 87 all
on one CD. Good sound and good mixture. (EMI CDC 7 54606 2)

A CD for the more adventurous: "The Shostakovich CD" on Olympia (OCD 008) -
if you can get it (I ordered mine direct from Olympia) contains 'samples'
from just about every part of Shostakovich's output (with the notable
exception of chamber music, unless you include the 14th Symphony extract). A
bargain disk at around 5 pounds in the UK (So I am told).


3. Major Works and Recommended Recordings
========================================

This section of 'recommended recordings' of Shostakovich's major works
is only a 'guide' - This list compiles together the recommendations of
alt.fan.shostakovich readers as posted. Your view may differ - The 
like or dislike of a performance is a subjective quality - however 
these recommendations also reflect feelings of critics in general and
the readership of alt.fan.shostakovich in general. Performances
are not listed in any particular order.

Symphonies:
----------

#1 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [w/ #6] [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8411)
     LPO/Haitink [w/ #3] [DDD] (Decca 425 063-2)
     OSM/Dutoit [w/ #15] [DDD] (Decca 436 828-2)

(#2 and #3 are widely considered to be politicially motivated works and also
 very unlike the 'normal' DSCH. It is rumoured that he made his son Maxim
 promise to never conduct these works, However, recordings by both Haitink
 on Decca/London and Rozhdestvensky (Olympia) are available. Low price
 versions can be found on the Naxos label with not too bad recordings).

#4 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos 8640)
     LPO/Haitink [ADD] (Decca 425 065-2)
     Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/Slatkin [DDD] (RCA Red Seal RD 60887)
     City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Rattle [DDD] (EMI 7243 5 55476 2)

#5 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [w/ 'the bolt'] [DDD] (Chandos 8650)
     Concertgebouw/Haitink [w/ #9] [DDD] (Decca 425 066-2)
     USSR Ministry of Culture SO/Rozhdestvensky [w/ #9] [DDD] (Olympia OCD 113)
     Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [DDD] (Erato 2292-45752-2)
     NYPO/Bernstein [w/ #9] [ADD] (Sony SMK 47615)

#6 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [w/ #1] [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8411)
     Concertgebouw/Haitink [w/ #12] [DDD] (Decca 425 067-2)
     Concertgebouw/Kondrashin [ADD] (Philips 438 283-2)
     Oslo PO/Jansons [w/ #9] [DDD] (EMI 7543392)

#7 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8623)
     LPO/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 068-2)
     Czech PO/Ancerl [AAD] (Supraphon 111952-2)
     Chicago SO/Bernstein [w/ #1] [DDD/Live] (DG 426 632-2) 

#8 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8757)
     Concertgebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 071-2)
     Leningrad Phulharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [ADD] (Philips 422 442-2)
     Berlin PO/Bychkov [DDD] (Philips 432 090-2)
     
#9 : Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [w/ Festive Ov] [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8587)
     LPO/Haitink [w/ #5] [DDD] (Decca 425 066-2)
     USSR Ministry of Culture SO/Rozhdestvensky [w/ #5] [DDD] (Olympia OCB 113)
     Concertgebouw/Kondrashin [ADD] (Philips 438 284-2)
     Oslo PO/Jansons [w/ #9] [DDD] (EMI 7543392)

#10: Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8630)
     Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [ADD] (Erato 2292-45753-2)
     USSR Ministry of Culture SO/Rozhdestvensky [DDD] (Olympia OCD 131)
     Berlin PO/Karajan [DDD] (DG 413 361-2)
     Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [AAD] (Saga SCD 9017)     
      *1954 Premiere recording*
       
#11: Houston SO/Stokowski [ADD] (EMI CDM 7243 5 65206 2)
     Helsinki PO/DePreist [DDD] (Delos D/CD 3080)
     Concertgebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 072-2) 
     Berlin PO/Bychkov [DDD] (Philips 420 935-2)
     National SO/Rostropovich [DDD] (Teldec 76262-2)

#12: Gothenburg SO/Jarvi [w/ Hamlet Op.32+Age of Gold] [DDD] (DG 431 688-2)
     Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Durjan [ADD] (Philips 434 172-2)
     Concertgebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 067-2)
     Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Mravinsky [DDD] (Erato 2292-45754-2)

#13: Concertgebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 073-2)
     CBSO/Kamu [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8540)
     Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra/Kondrashin [ADD] (Russian Disc RD CD 11 191)
     
#14: Gothenburg SO/Jarvi [DDD] (DG 437 785-2)
     Concergebouw/Haitink [DDD] (Decca 425 074-2)
       [this recording uses the original texts to the poems, not in russian]
     Moscow Phil Ens/Rostropovich [ADD] (Melodiya SUCD 10-00241)
     Czecho-Slovak Radio SO/Slovak [DDD] (Naxos 8.550631)

#15: LPO/Haitink [ADD] (Decca 425 069-2)
     OSM/Dutoit [w/ #1] [DDD] (Decca 436 828-2)


Concertos:
---------

Piano Concertos 1 & 2: Shostakovich (p)/Orchestre National de la Radiodifusion
     Francoise/Cluytens [ADD] (EMI CDC 7 54606 2) or Alexeev (p)/ECO/Maksymiuk
     [DDD] (EMI CFP CD-CFP 4547) or Previn(p)/NYPO/Bernstein [ADD] 
     (Sony MPK 44850) there is also the Kissin recording with the Moscow
     Virtuosi/Spivakov [DDD] on (RCA Red Seal RD87947)

Violin Concertos 1 & 2: Mordkovitch (v)/Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD]
     (Chandos CHAN 8820) or Oistrakh (v)/Various [ADD/live] (Intaglio INCD 7241)

Cello Concerto No. 1: Rostropovich (Cl)/Philadelphia/Ormandy [ADD] [w/ The piano
     concertos) (Sony MPK 44850) or Yo-Yo Ma (Cl)/Philadelphia/Ormandy [DDD]
     [w/ Symphony #5/Bernstein] (Sony MDK 44903)

Cello Concerto No. 2: Rostropovich (Cl)/Boston SO/Ozawa [ADD] (DG 431 475-2)


String Quartets:
---------------

#1-15: Borodin Quartet on EMI [ADD] 
       Brodsky Quartet on Teldec [DDD]
       Fitzwilliam Quartet on Decca [DDD]

The Borodin Quartet are recording a new series on the Virgin Label with
approx. 3 CD's released so far.


Preludes and Fuges, Op. 87:
--------------------------

Nikolayeva on Hyperion
Keith Jarrett on ECM New Series 


Other 'chamber' works:
---------------------

Piano Quintet. Op.57: Richter, Piano w/ Borodin String Quartet [ADD] 
.(EMI CDC 7 47507 2) (comes with 7th and 8th String Quartets) or
.in a recording coupled with the

Trio No. 2, Op.67: Beaux Arts Trio [DDD] (Philips 432 079-2)


Film Music:
----------

Suite from "The Gadfly"
.- USSR Cinema SO/Emin Khachuturian [ADD] (EMI CFP CD-CFP 4463)

Suites from "Minchurin", "Fall of Berlin" & "Golden Mountains"
.- Belgian Radio SO/Serbrier [ADD] (RCA Red Seal 60226-2 RC)

Suites from "The New Babylon"(first film score) & "Five Days - Five Nights"
.- Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Judd [DDD] (Capricco 10 341/42) 

Full film score to "King Lear"
.- Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jurowski [DDD] (Capricco 10 397)

Suite from "Zoya" & "The Fall of Berlin"
.- Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jurowski [DDD] (Capricco 10 405)

Suite from "Golden Mountains", "Return of Maxim" & Prologue from "Youth of
Maxim", Overture to "The Vyborg District" Op.50.
.- Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jurowski [DDD] (Capricco 10 561)


Other Works:
-----------

Jazz Suites 1 & 2: Concertgebouw/Chailly [DDD] (Decca 433 702-2)
                   (for #1 see Olympia OCD 156 for recording by Rozhdestvensky)

Ballet Suites 1,2,3: Scottish National Orchestra/Jarvi [DDD] (Chandos CHAN 8730)

Funeral and Triumphal Prelude, Op.130 &
Novorossiisk Chimes: RPO/Ashkenazy [DDD] (Decca 436 763-2)

Suite on Verses of Michelangelo, Op.145a &
Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin,Op.146: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone 
.Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Ashkenazy [DDD] (Decca 433 319-2)

"Song of the Forests"(Op.81) and "The Sun shines over our Motherland"(Op.90)
Vladimir Ivanovsky [tenor], Ivan Petrov [bass], Moscow State Boys Choir,
Moscow PO/Yurlov+USSR State Symphony Orchestra/Ivanov [ADD]
(Russian Disc RD CD 11 048)

The Bolt - Complete Recording: Royal Stockholm Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jarvi
(Chandos CHAN 9343)

Hamlet (1932/1954 productions) * King Lear (1941): Incidental music
CBSO/Elder [DDD] (Cala CACD 1021)


CD's of interest to Shostakovich Devotees:
-----------------------------------------

I have listed this as a small section because I believe that there are some
CD's that only true devotees of Shostakovich would be interested in. I
list these CD's as having works of interest, or CD's that are hard to find
or are of a historic nature.

"Manuscripts of Different Years" - Including: Scherzo, Op.1 and Op.7, Theme
     and Variations, Op.3, Spanish Songs Op.100, Suite from "Alone" Op.26,
     "Adventures of Korzinskina" Op.59 & "La Comedie Humaine" Op.37.
     Various Orchestras [AAD-Great sound] (Olympia OCD 194)

Suite on Verses of Michelangeleo Buyonarroti, Op.145a & Four Verses of
     Captain Lebyadkin, Op.146
     Fischer-Dieskau/Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Ashkenazy 
     [DDD] (Decca 433 319-2)

Violin Sonata, Op.134 , Bashmet (v) & Richter (p)
     [DDD] (Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga MK 418014)

Viola Sonata, Op.147 (His last work). Bashmet (va) & Richter (p)
     [DDD] (Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga MK 418015)

Arrangement of String Quartets 3&4 for Strings and Woodwinds (Op. 73a) and
     Chamber Orchestra (Op.83a) Orch. Barshai - Interesting versions 
     COE/Barshai [DDD] (DG 435 386-2)

"Hypothetically Murdered" (Op.31) Suite & 4 Romances on Poems of Pushkin(Op.46)
     Fascinating CD of this music (both premiere recordings)-gives clues to
     the 5th Symphony and more...
     CBSO/Elder [DDD] (United 88001)

"The Orchestral Songs" - Vol 1: Two Fables of Krylov(Op.4), Three Romances on
     Poems by Pushkin(Op.46a), Six Romances on Verses by Raleigh, Burns and
     Shakespeare(Op.62/140) and From Jewish Folk Poetry(Op.79a). Gothenburg
     SO/Jarvi with solists [DDD] (DG 439 860-2)

"Moscow, Cheryomuski" - musical comedy. This was released, in a new
orchestration by Gerard McBurney and with new libretto in English with
the BBC Music Magazine, April 1994.



4. "Testimony" - The Story
==========================

In 1979 the book "Testimony - The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich - As
related to and edited by Solomon Volkov" was published. This book, according
to Volkov, contains the words of Shostakovich as related to him in the last
years of his life. Shostakovich insisted the book be published after his
death with good reason considering the material in it paints him in a light
that the Soviet authorities of the day wouldn't have exactly been thrilled
with. However for the last 10 years or so there has been some criticism of
this book with comments from friends of Shostakovich saying that Volkov must
have made a lot of it up. Maxim Shostakovich remained silent for years on
the subject but finaly agreed that the book has the ring of truth about it. 
Ian McDonald's excellent book "The New Shostakovich" (ISBN 0-19-284026-6) goes
into some detail claiming the book to be fiction based on truth. Citing that
the 'signed' pages that Volkov claims Shostakovich signed as proof of the
book's validity are in fact from other sources, and are only produced as the
first pages of chapters. McDonald's book also delves into fascinating analysis
of the times, both personally and politicaly and bases an analysis of the
works of DSCH into this. 

Personally, I own both books and find each of them interesting. I owned
Testimony first, and it is an excellent read if just for the stories and
ideas within. McDonald's book goes into much more detail on everything
and provides a thoughtful, yet harrowing account of the life and times
of Shostakovich. I recommend McDonald's book for anyone interested in a
good analysis of the major works as well as the times they were written
in.

Here are some opening and closing lines from the filmed version, which
are supplied by: znmeb@teleport.com

From the start of the film:

Film Four International presents
An Isolde Films Production
in association with The Mandemar Group

Directed by Tony Palmer
Screenplay by David Rudkin

From the memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich
Edited by Solomon Volkov

Music played by The London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Rudolf Barshai

Ben Kingsley: Shostakovich
Terence Rigby: Stalin


The comments at the end of the film:

By the time of his death, August 9, 1975, Dmitri
Dmitrievich Shostakovich, People's Artist of the Soviet
Union, had completed 15 Symphonies, 15 String Quartets, 4
Operas and 45 Ballets and Film Scores, in all, at least
147 works.

By the time of his death, March 5, 1953, Joseph
Vissarionovich Stalin, Marshal of the Soviet Union, had
murdered, or caused to be put ot death, in peacetime, in
all, at least 30 million people.


5. Shostakovich's music in films and TV
=======================================

Apart of course from the film of "Testimony", the Music of Shostakovich has
been heard in the following Films or TV shows:

The "Romance" From The Gadfly (Op.97/97a) is used as the theme to the
Television Series "Reilly, Ace of Spies." Chris Hillman writes:

    The TV series was based on a (dreadful) book by the same title about a 
    historical personage, one Sidney Reilly, who was apparently born in Russia
    late in the last century and who worked for the British secret service
    (and possibly others, as a double agent) in the early years of this
    century. He died under mysterious circumstances, as I recall, in the
    late twenties (in the TV series, he is show by a close associate of
    Felix Derzhinsky inside the USSR). The series and book were presented as
    historical fact but were in fact heavily fictionalized.
    Now in his excellent book the Codebreakers, David Kahn discusses the 
    Voynich manuscript, which was owned at one time by a publisher named
    Voynich. Kahn mentions that his widow, Mrs. Voynich, wrote a novel called
    "The Gadfly" which was based on the life of a historical character
    in revolutionary Italy. In one of the books I read on Reilly it was
    mentioned that Mrs. Voynich knew Reilly personally and based her novel
    in part on his experiences. Surely this is the same novel which is the
    source of Shostakovich's Gadfly? Kahn mentions that Mrs. Voynich was one
    of the very few American authors ever awarded a royalty by the Soviet 
    government--- apparently the revolutionary sentiments in the novel were
    felt to be politically correct.

Chris is, as I have found from my EMI classics for pleasure recording
of the Gadfly, correct. DSCH's "Gadfly" music (and the film) is based
on the book by E. L. Voynich.

Simon Hawkin adds:

"Gadfly" was supposed to be a popular reading of the Soviet
youth; anyway, DSCH's music was idiomatic and loved. And I think
it may be worth mentioning that a lot of DSCH music was and is
idiomatic for the Soviet and post-Soviet public; this also
includes excerpts from his Jazz suites, Tahiti Trot, music for
"Counterplan" (with its own confusion about the translation),
Maxim's trilogy and other films, "march" from Sym 7, etc.


---

Symphony No. 11 in Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" program

---

Symphony No. 5 (slow movement+finale) & Sym. 8 in "Rollerball"

---

Shostakovich's 12th Symphony (I think) was MENTIONED but not played in 
"Peggy Sue got Married"

---

The 3rd mvt. of the 8th was used in the movie "Fandango".

---

2nd mvt. of the Ninth Symphony in the Finnish film "Ariel" by
Aki Kaurismaki. 

---

1st mvt. of the Sixth Symphony in the Finnish film version of
"Crime and Punishment" (Dostoyevsky) by Mika Kaurismaki.

---

Apparently the 8th Symphony and perhaps other bits of DSCH's music
are used quite a lot in the UK TV Series "The Onedin Line"       

---

What sounds very much like a small section of the 3rd movement of the
5th symphony appears in James Horner's ripped off soundtrack for
"Clear and Present Danger" however it isn't DSCH but a copy of
the great man. (this track also has copies of Horner's own "Aliens"
music as well as a sister to some music from "Star Trek III" *sigh*)

---

Apparently in the mini-series "Traffik" (about drugs) the chamber
symphonies (Opp.110a/118a) are used. This comes from Falstaff.

---

This is from Daniel Gowans 

 
The movie "The Shining" uses the first movement of his Symphony 11 
in the opening scenes.  It isn't purely symphonic, it had been adaped
a little to different instruments, but it was unmistakaeable...

---

This is from Michael Norish 

I'm pretty sure that the theme used in the (dire) Richard Briers
sit-com "Ever-decreasing circles" is prelude #15 from Opus 34.

(This has been confirmed by Classic CD editor, Rob Aimsley, who
states:

according to Derek Hulme's book, the theme tune to the BBC TV
comedy "Ever Decreasing Circles" was indeed the Prelude Op. 34 
No. 15, played by one Ronnie Lane. )

---

Several readers have indicated that parts of the 1st and 5th
symphonies appear in a terrible film called "Brain Eaters"

---

This is from Andrew Condon:

Michael Deville's film "Toutes Peine Confondues", screened as "Sweetheart" 
in English speaking countries, is entirely scored with DSCH quartets using
the Borodin Quartet recordings.

---

Sometime in the sixties, a movie was made of Jean-Paul Sartre's play "The
Condemned Of Altona." The music credit is 'based on Shostakovich's
Symphony #11.'

I regret I can't tell you more about the movie. I saw it on television 
when I was a teenager. Although I had read the play, and listened to 
Shostakovich a lot, I had never heard the Eleventh. The most striking 
scene in the movie, which has stayed with me to this day, was the 
approach to the climactic scene, a long vertical tracking shot up a 
construction crane elevator, with the ostinato from the third movement 
pounding away in the background. Chilling.

- Dwight Gruber

---

Euan Bayliss says:

I have an addition to the use of DSCH in film. There was a dreadful film
called 'Escape To Victory' which I believe used a lot of the firt movement
of the 7th Symphony.

---

An except of Symphony No. 7 and a complete performance of Symphony No. 9
is provided in the Bernstein Young People's Concerts video series being
released by Sony. This particular tape's catalogue number is Sony Classical
SHV 48339. This performance was originally broadcast by CBS TV on January
5, 1966 (interesting, the 61st anniversary of '1905').      

---

A use of Shostakovich's music in films that I don't think you've got in the
FAQ list is the 2nd mvt of the 10th symphony (I think) over the opening
credits of Pedro Almodovar's `Ley del Deseo' (Law of Desire)

- Graham Smith
---

Aparently the 5th prelude and fugue (from Op.87) is used in "Smoke" 

---

6. Books of interest to Shostakovich Fans
=========================================

Below are listed some books that might be of interest to Shostakovich
Fans:


Testimony: The Memiors of Shostakovich - as related to and edited by S. Volkov
.(Paperback)
.Edited by: Solomon Volkov
.ISBN 0-571-11829-1
.Publisher: Faber and Faber, Ltd.

The New Shostakovich
.(Paperback)
.By: Ian McDonald.
.ISBN 0-19-284026-6
 .Publisher: Oxford University Press

Shostakovich: A Life Remembered
.First issued in Hardback
.By: Elizabeth Wilson
.ISBN 0-571-15393-3 (hardback)
             0-571-17486-8 (paperback - released soon?)
.Publisher: Faber and Faber, Ltd
.Paperback now available for 12.99 UK pounds, or 24.99 Canadian dollars

Galina-A Russian Story
.(Autobiography of Galina Vishnevskaya)
.ISBN 0-15-634320-7
.Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
.Translation into English: Guy Daniels

Shostakovich Symphonies
       By: Hugh Ottaway
       Publisher: University of Washington and BBC

Shostakovich, The Man and his Music
       Edited by: Christopher Norris

Shostakovich: A Catalog, Bibliography and Discography
       By: Derek C. Hulm
       Publisher: Oxford University Press (Second Edition)

Pages from the life of Dmitri Shostakovich
       By: Dmitri and Ludmilla Sollertinsky
       English version by Robert Hale London 1981

Simfonii D.D. Shostakovicha 
       By L. Mazel
       Published in the USSR in 1960
       (Apparently called propaganda by Maxim Shostakovich)

The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich: The Symphonies
       By Roy Blokker and Robert Dearling
       Published Tantivy Press (1979)

Dmitri Shostakovich, about Himself and his Times
       By Lev Grigoryev and Yakov Platek
       Published by Progress Moscow (1981)

Shostakovich
       By Norman Kay
       Published by Oxford University Press (1971)

Dmitry Shostakovich, composer
       By David Rabinovich
       Published by Lawrence and Wisehart (1959)

Dmitri Shostakovich; the Life and Background of a Soviet Composer
       By Victor Seroff
       Published by Alfred A. Knopf (1943)


7. The "DSCH Journal" - a newsletter!
=====================================

This comes from the monthly post by way of Howard Wilson.

Announcing the  "DSCH JOURNAL"  (a monthly posting).

THE JOURNAL IS PRINTED, BOUND, AND MAILED AND CONTAINS:

WRITINGS on and by Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich.
EVENTS concerning all aspects of the composer's life and music.
NOTICEBOARD for important concerts, books, recordings, and conferences worldwide
"ARENA" for you, the readers.
ACCESS to the DSCH Archive with index.
RECORDING SUPPLEMENT - your guide to all the new releases of DDS's music
4-EDITION subscription available worldwide.

The Journal appears every July and December;  The latest edition, #4, was
distributed in December 1995. At present, you can choose to receive issues
5-8 as a first subscription or any other combination of four consecutive
editions. If you like, in order to guarantee today's rate, you can
subscribe to 8 editions (4 years), for twice the normal rate.

To subscribe to Issues 5-8:
        Select your region.
        Select currency.
        Back issues available at a pro-rata cost -i.e. 25% of the
four-edition subscription

                Region A: Europe-U.K. & France only-GBP20/180FF-Agent 1
                Region B-Europe-other E.C. countries-GBP22/200FF-Agent 1
                Region C-Europe-non E.C. countries-GBP24/220FF-Agent 1
                Region D-U.S.A.-$29-Agent 2
                Region E-Canada-US$29-Agent 2
                Region F-other American countries-$35-Agent 2
                Region G-Africa, Asia, Australasia-GBP28/250FF-Agent 1

        Currency:
        Great Britiain Pounds (GBP) (cheques or cash) to Agent 1
        payable to "DSCH"
        French Francs (FF) (cheques or cash) to Agent 1 payable to
        "A. Mercer"
        U.S. Dollars ($) (cash, checks or money orders ) to Agent 2
        payable to "H. Wilson"

Agent 1:       E. Barnes
               22, Birnbeck Court,
               Bells Hill.
               Barnet EN5 2TD.
               Hertfordshire
               U.K.

Agent 2:       Howard Wilson
               2935 Larmona Dr.
               Pasadena, CA 91107
               U.S.A.
               E-mail:  hugh@wavenet.com
               Phone:  818-794-6522
               Fax:  818-794-0881

I will be happy to try to answer any questions via e-mail or this newsgroup.

Howard Wilson (hugh@wavenet.com)


8. DSCH Reference on the World Wide Web (WWW)
=============================================

Simon Hawkin has started a nice Shostakovich home page on the World
Wide Web (WWW). It contains things like the 1942 Time magazine cover
and article, as well as a recording of the Gadfly romance, with more
to come. To access it, simply point your WWW browser to:

.http://www.cs.umd.edu/~cema/shostakovich.html

Rob Hudson has is also in the process of creating a good looking
web page for Shostakovich. Here is the URL:

.http://cwis.uta.edu/acs/microsys/mac/.HOME/rhudson/dsch1.html

Onno van Rijen has created a superb DSCH catalogue on his page:

.http://www.xs4all.nl/~nrv/ovar.html

And of course, Ian McDonald, author of _The New Shostakovich_ has
many interesting articles on his pages mostly about Russian composers
such as Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Well worth visiting:

.http://www.webcom.com/~beatlebk/musov/musov.html

 
9. The "DSCH Smiley"
====================

Carol Clemments' husband has suggested what we feel to be the
definitive DSCH Smiley face, based on the "ascii smileys" so popular
on the 'Net, this one surely *IS* Shostakovich:

. @%<


10. Information on The 'Fonds Chostakovitch' in Paris
=====================================================

Michael Koball submitted this information for the newsgroup and I felt
it appropriate to include here:

From: michael.koball@gelsenkirchen.netsurf.de (Michael Koball)

The 'Fonds Chostakovitch' in Paris

Created in 1980, the ' Fonds Chostakovitch ' is a work about the memory of
the most upsetting composer of our century. From the simple idea of
centralize all the documents about the man and his time, our fund has
quickly fed itself, getting touch with all the countries around the old
sovietic empire ( before the Perestro=EFka ), of the quasi entirety of the
material concerning the master. Regular travels in USSR, in Russia and
other republics have completed this work.

During the ' Ann=E9e Chostakovitch ' in 1989 ( France ) contacts have been
taken with the composer' s family in Moscow ; an exciting and fruitful
collaboration was borned.

This allowed us to provide our fund with some documents more intimate.

The ' Fonds Chostakovitch ' which possess more of the 95% of all the
recordings made since 1933, and this, in all sizes, begins to start, since
18 months, a crucial phase of computarization with an Apple / 4=B0 Dimension
program which tries to elaborate a relational data bank in sound,
biography, bibliography, iconography and correspondence properties ; and
all this in 3 basic languages : russian, french and english.

Recently, an expertise mission was attributed to the ' Fonds Chostakovitch'
near the Gostelradio in Moscow, as a russian music specialist. Thus, the
'Fonds ' had be able to retrieve films of archives of a great musical and
political consequence.

The  'Fonds Chostakovitch' is rich of some:

* 1750 recordings on hard medium (78 RPM, all formats of LP,CD)

* about a hundred hours of recordings of the most great rarity on
  magnetic medium

* the quasi majority of his biographies in russian, polish, czech,
  hungarian, german, italian, english, french...

* 90% of his works in scores about fifty hours of films from
  Russia,ex-GDR, Czecoslovaquia, Germany, France...

* several kilogrammes of articles in different languages...

* 400 russian and soviet composers are represented too by records,
  scores, films and biographies. An independant computer program is dedicated
  to that field.

The 'Fonds Chostakovitch in Paris' which is at that time the main important
center of musical documentation in the world about russian music, is
attached to the Shostakovich's Museum in Moscow, and shall be the official
Archives Departement of the future 'International Foundation Shostakovich'.

Emmanuel & Fran=E7oise Utwiller
=46onds Chostakovitch =E0 Paris
BP 397 - 75233 Paris c=E9dex 05  (France)



11. Contributors to This FAQ
===========================

I would like to thank the following people for their input to this FAQ:

Tom McDonald, Sun Microsystems.
Justin Paulson <justin@sccs.swarthmore.edu>
Peter Herweijer <pieterh@sci.kun.nl>
Igor Zamberlan <igor@frege.mrg.dist.unige.it>
Robert Begley <rbegley@clpd.Kodak.Com>
Rainer Kalliany <rkallian@email.tuwien.ac.at>
Ed Oswalt <oswalt@netcom.com>
Christopher Colby  <acid+@cs.cmu.edu>
Timothy S Harris <tsh@world.std.com>
JAMES MICHAEL BLACK <blackj@ecf.toronto.edu>
Michael Good <mdgood@netcom.com> 
Holbrook Robinson <binso@lynx.dac.neu.edu>
Nico Verwer <nico@and.nl>   
V.-P. Tahvanainen <vpt@jytko.jyu.fi>
Erik Ekholm <d89-eek@nada.kth.se>
Chris Hillman <hillman@math.washington.edu>
Louis Blois <LUISI@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Falstaff <Falstaff@Tiberius.csa.com>
Daniel Gowans <daniel.gowans@m.cc.utah.edu>
Daria Wieczorek <Daria.Wieczorek@informatik.med.uni-giessen.de>
Simon Hawkin <cema@cs.UMD.EDU>
Michael Norish <Michael.Norrish@cl.cam.ac.uk>
Rob Hudson <RHUDSON@acsnovell1.uta.edu>
Rob Ainsley <rainsley@futurenet.co.uk>
Gary Goldberg <gg0012@epfl2.epflbalto.org>
Andrew Gingras <Andre_Gingras@Infopuq.UQuebec.CA>
Carol Clements <Carolmari@aol.com>
znmeb@teleport.com
Matthew B. Tepper <ducky@deltanet.com>
Andrew Condon <afcondon@dsg.cs.tcd.ie>
Onno van Rijen <nrv@xs4all.nl> 
Kirill V. Kuzmichov <kvk@metro.telecom.samsung.co.kr>
Tuomas Kareinen <tkareine@cc.helsinki.fi>
Dwight Gruber <DwightG@nesbbx.rain.com>
Euan Bayliss <euan@bayliss.dircon.co.uk>
Adrian Smith <LIB6AS@library.novell.leeds.ac.uk>
Graham Smith <grs@festival.ed.ac.uk>
Erik Gregersen <erik@astro.as.utexas.edu>
Howard Wilson <hugh@wavenet.com>

--
Richard A. Muirden, Systems & Network Administration / Webmaster / Fanatic   :)
RMIT Information Technology Services (ITS)  *UNIX*   email: richard@rmit.edu.au
I like: Boeing, United(UA), Ansett(AN), Vodka, Trek,  'phone: (+61 3) 9660 3814
Shostakovich. Shost CD's I own: 123.        Web: http://www.rmit.edu.au/richard
