Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich [Paperback]

Dmitri Shostakovich (Author), Solomon Volkov (Editor), Antoninaw Bovis (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1984

A serious indictment of some 55 years of Soviet musical life as witnessed by a major Russian artist--Dmitri Shostakovich.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'I do not know of a musician who will not read it with compassion and admiration' Andre Previn" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, Russian (translation)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 289 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions; 7th edition (October 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879100214
• ISBN-13: 978-0879100216
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,357,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Shostakovich

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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Problematic - but important nonetheless, July 23, 2001

By 

I. J. J. Nieuwland "Ilja Nieuwland" (Den Haag) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich (Paperback)

Instead of flaming one another on the topic of 'Testimony' based on our political preference, we might do better looking at the quality of the text itself. Because whether it is Dmitri Shostakovich' own story or a first-person novel by Volkov, this is a deeply engrossing, chillingly emotional and intensely tragic tale about the cost of fame in the Stalin years. And whether the precise details of the story are accurate or not, I have little doubt - also based on other 'testimonies' - that in that respect this one hits the nail on the head. The matter of its relation to Shostakovich' music is more problematic. Statements often quite explicitly contradict earlier opinions by Shostakovich, even if there seems no political reason for doing this. See, for instance, his description of the first symphony. I can hardly imagine any conspiracy being at work here - there are far more explicit condemnations of the Soviet Union to be found. As a document of cultural history, this is a very important text, and anyone interested in Shostakovich, his life, and his work, will be forced to form an opinion about 'Testimony'

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars True lies, January 20, 2009

By 

Paul-John Ramos (Yonkers, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich (Paperback)

Dmitri Shostakovich, now over thirty years removed from his death in 1975, represents one of the greatest virtues in art: that it can break painful silences and transcend an oppressive few for the good of many. Unlike the minor roles that classical composers hold in society nowadays, the premiere of a Shostakovich symphony, string quartet, or song cycle was a major, socially relevant happening. In extraordinary instances like his Seventh and Eighth Symphonies (written in 1941 and 1943), Shostakovich's work attracted millions of listeners throughout the world. It is a separate issue as to whether or not the composers of today have isolated themselves from the masses, but Shostakovich's music was certainly a willing and able contributor to the betterment of mankind.

By the time that Shostakovich and musicologist Solomon Volkov are said to have begun work on 'Testimony' in 1971, the 65-year-old composer was much a living record of Soviet cultural history. Shostakovich's pensive look was conditioned by the Bolshevik Revolution, its difficult aftermath, the Second World War, persecutions at the hands of Josef Stalin, and a continuous siege on Russian artists of every medium. According to Volkov, these experiences had grown cobwebs in Shostakovich's mind; no Soviet citizen discussed history under the Stalinist regime, which was equally heart-wrenching and dangerous. Letters, diaries, and other written records were destroyed to prevent 'guilt by association' and avoid one's sentence to the Gulag. Fear and paranoia were inevitable results: even during the slow 'Thaw' under Nikita Khrushchev, Shostakovich remained largely silent (except for his music) and kept memories under wraps.

Volkov claims a strong bond with Shostakovich through two pivotal events: the suppression of 'Rothschild's Violin,' an opera written by Shostakovich's late pupil Veniamin Fleishman, and the censoring of historical information provided by Shostakovich for Volkov's book on young Leningrad composers. Experiencing another generation's worth of censorship is what supposedly gave Shostakovich the longing to dust those mental cobwebs off and begin work on 'Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich As Related to and Edited by Solomon Volkov.' Arguably the most controversial book in world musical literature - save for the philosophical writings of Wagner - 'Testimony' has managed to survive fierce attack from critics and is still looked upon as a vivid portrait of the man and oppressive society he was immersed in.

Originally published by Harper & Row in 1979, 'Testimony' won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for distinguished music writing and has enjoyed several later impressions. Limelight Editions, who released its first paperback edition in 1984, has now commemorated Testimony's 25th anniversary with a 2004 printing, which contains the brief foreword of conductor-pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy. Ashkenazy, a staunch supporter of 'Testimony,' credits Volkov with elucidating Shostakovich's persona and breaking the myth of Shostakovich as a willing Soviet propagandist. He also extends Testimony's support to Rudolf Barshai, who conducted the premiere of Shostakovich's Fourteenth Symphony and claims 'Testimony' as '100 percent correct.'

Those who read 'Testimony' for the first time will perhaps judge it a fascinating tome on Soviet cultural and social history. The book opens with a preface by Volkov that explains how the working relationship developed between Shostakovich and himself. Volkov's lengthy introduction follows, placing Shostakovich's career in striking relief to the conditions under which he lived. Trailing the Ashkenazy foreword are 273 pages of Shostakovich's 'recollections and opinions,' said to have been compiled in shorthand and later edited by Volkov. The memoirs are in loose chronological order: Shostakovich first touches upon his 'uninteresting' childhood (though interesting from an outsider's point of view), his conservatory studies, and personalities he met at a young age. According to Volkov, Shostakovich found it easier to discuss his life in relation to others - a 'mirrored style.' Of the many people he knew in his earlier years, three names stand out: Alexander Glazunov, a well-known composer and head of the St. Petersburg/Petrograd Conservatory; Vsevolod Meyerhold, the famed dramatist whose company employed Shostakovich in his early twenties; and friend Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union, who was executed on treason charges drummed up by Stalin.

Middle sections deal with Shostakovich's nightmares in 1936 and 1948, when he was reproached by the Soviet Communist Party for 'formalism' and 'bourgeois decadence.' The Leningrader paints a disgusting scene of tribunals for composers, writers, and other artists who looked to pass blame onto their colleagues and avoid a death sentence. Shostakovich only goes so far in discussing these events, apparently too repulsed to describe matters for long. The remaining pages alternate between Shostakovich's thoughts on Soviet life, his compositions, and his attitudes toward the West. Particularly engaging are his reorchestration of Mussorgsky's 'Boris Godunov' and how the USSR oppressed culture in national republics such as the Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Shostakovich often delves into the process of writing music, which is both fascinating and instructive for any young musician.

'Testimony' is written in a conversational language, which gives the pseudo-memoirs an intimate feel. The book was translated by Antonina W. Bouis, highly regarded for her work on Soviet authors, including poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko and nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov. There is much idiosyncratic language, which is unavoidable, but the writing maintains flow and balance. The text also conveys plenty of wry humor that Shostakovich was known for. Stalin and his apparatchiks are never free from Shostakovich's vitriol and the composer can unearth a joke in describing his worst hours. It was Shostakovich, after all, who wrote the sarcastic Thirteenth Symphony and 'Rayok,' a cantata that spat upon the 1948 anti-formalist campaign and was not heard publicly until 1989.

Volkov was in his late twenties when compiling 'Testimony' and admits to his relative inexperience as a writer. The recollections are mostly chronological, but Volkov could have arranged them more sensibly. Shostakovich's discussions of Glazunov pop up at tangential moments when all of these recollections could have been grouped together. In fact, Glazunov is discussed far too often: Shostakovich's opinions of Tchaikovsky are hardly noted, while Rachmaninov and modern Czech composers such as Martinu and Suk are not mentioned in the text at all. There is also not enough said about musical performance; Shostakovich hardly discusses his technique for playing piano and says nothing about exceptional instrumentalists like Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, and Leonid Kogan. One wonders if Shostakovich chose not to discuss these men or if Volkov decided to omit the conversations. It's moments such as these when Volkov is disappointing as a young biographer.

The nagging question, of course, is how much of 'Testimony' contains pure Shostakovich (if any) and how much consists of Volkov and Soviet gossip. Disputes over 'Testimony' have reached a level of farce in American academia, both sides trying to preserve their scholarly reputations. If alive today, Shostakovich might very well have a laugh (and perhaps even write an operetta) over what has raged since Testimony's appearance. American musicologist Laurel Fay heads the anti-Testimony camp, citing articles written by Shostakovich years earlier that match the openings to each 'Testimony' chapter (excluding the first). Allan Ho and Dmitri Feofanov support 'Testimony' in their book 'Shostakovich Reconsidered,' using psychological evaluation (who's next, the optometrists?) to back a claim that Shostakovich read these articles for historical context and could rehash such passages from memory. The 'Testimony' debate has grown so ugly between these two camps that Shostakovich is now something of a football for academics to kick around.

Significant names besides Vladimir Ashkenazy have supported 'Testimony:' Shostakovich's two children, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and soprano Galina Vishnevskaya have all backed Testimony's general sentiment, though none would accept it as 'absolute truth.' Certainly, Volkov's book cannot be taken as gospel, but 'Testimony' was written by a young journalist with first-hand experience of the Soviet system. Volkov was, in many ways, better equipped to understand Shostakovich's dilemmas than plush academicians of the West who look to discredit him.

Shostakovich's ability to write was limited by a muscular disorder in his final years, which placed the task of his memoirs in a secondary writer's hands. Even if compiled by an older, more experienced journalist, 'Testimony' would still not have originated from Shostakovich's pen and its controversy as a second-hand (and explosive) tome may have been equally apparent. Decades of confusion over Shostakovich's place in Soviet art - the belief in his role as a compliant celebrity - may require decades of adjustment. Ignorance of Soviet reality continues to linger in the worst places.

It must be said that 'Testimony,' even in Limelight's 25th anniversary edition, is completely unchanged from the original 1979 printing. In Volkov's essays and footnotes, 'Soviet affairs,' for instance, are still discussed as current and now-deceased figures are still mentioned as living. Occasional typographic errors also remain intact. It is perhaps in the best interests of 'Testimony,' however, to leave these sections unaltered and as they were originally... Read more ›

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conversations With Shostakovich, September 15, 2006

By 

D. A Wend (Arlington Heights, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich (Paperback)

Testimony: The Memories of Dmitri Shostakovich has undergone a lot of scrutiny since it was published in 1979. It was accepted as authentic by many at the time, was treated as a fraud and by others and with skepticism by people like Maxim Shostakovich. Seventeen years later, I think that we can accept this book as memories related to Solomon Volkov by the composer; this year a new edition of the book will appear in Russia with a foreword by Shostakovich's daughter Galya and Maxim. Their acceptance of the book has helped to convince me that it is authentic.

However, this is hardly a comprehensive book of memories. The book covers Shostakovich's professional life rather than his personal life; there is little mentioned about the composer's family. His wife Nina is mentioned only once in noting that Lady Macbeth was dedicated to her. The important people in Dmitri Shostakovich's professional life, like Glazunov, Tukhachesvsky and Meyerhold are much more fully portrayed, and there are some interesting anecdotes about them and many of Shostakovich's colleagues. But perhaps what is most fascinating parts of the book deal with the frustration and horror with which Shostakovich describes life under Stalin. I found this part of the book chilling and reading it gave me a fuller understanding of what life is like not only without freedom but to live with fear.

The book reads like an interview but without the questions that are being asked of the composer. It is as if a series on anecdotes were collected together to form each chapter. But what has always convinced me that the majority of Testimony reflected the composer's thought is that these anecdotes square with encounters with the composer that were recorded by his friends and colleagues. Compare the information from Elizabeth Wilson's book on Dmitri Shostakovich to Testimony and similarities can easily be found. Mstislav Rostropovich considered this book to be a collection of anecdotes made by the composer.

I find that the text flows nicely and the informal tone makes for fast reading. Although Testimony may not be the perfect book of memories it does represent an important source of Shostakovich's thoughts on his career and many of the people he worked with.