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Associate Professor of Music Steven Swayne
has organized a series of events in honor of the centenary of the birth of Dmitri
Shostakovich, the Russian composer who was the subject of Solomon Volkov's
international best seller Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri
Shostakovich. Beginning on November 7 at 4 p.m. in Carpenter Hall with a
lecture by Volkov, "Shostakovich and Stalin," the series will
continue with a film screening and concerts. Published in 1979,
Testimony ignited a debate that continues to this day about whether
Shostakovich privately opposed or sympathized with Joseph Stalin and the
Communist regime. Referred to as the "Shostakovich Wars," the debate
has centered on the authenticity of Volkov's interviews with the Russian
composer. It was this debate, in part, that led Swayne to assign
Testimony as the summer reading for the Class of 2010. "While I
wanted to celebrate Shostakovich's birthday and bring attention to his powerful
music, I also wanted to address the issue of credibility, and how Volkov
answers the charges that have been leveled against his book," says Swayne.
Gail Zimmerman, dean of
first-year students, says the Volkov visit and related events offers
first-years an opportunity to deepen and extend their understanding of the
summer reading.
Swayne also assigned the book to illuminate the life of a creative musician
working under an oppressive regime. He points to the time that Shostakovich
premiered Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, an opera with risqué themes. After
the performance, Stalin allegedly threatened the composer in a newspaper
article by saying that if he refused to change his ways, "things could end
badly." After this, Swayne explains, Shostakovich went on to compose some
of his most memorable music, including his Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47, a
work that received a 30-minute standing ovation after its 1937 Leningrad
premiere.
Following Volkov's lecture, Testimony, a 1988 film directed by Tony
Palmer, will be screened at 7:30 p.m. in the main lounge of Fahey and McLane,
the new residence halls on Tuck Mall. Swayne and friends will perform selected
Shostakovich works in recital on November 12 at 4 p.m. in Faulkner Auditorium
and, on November 18, the Dartmouth Symphony
Orchestra will perform the Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 in Spaulding
Auditorium at 8 p.m.
STEVEN J. SMITH
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