this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2025
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Shostakovich wrote his 10th Symphony in celebration of Stalin's death
Ok it's a bit off topic, but I think the story of his 9th Symphony is even better. The Shostakovich's time, there was a sort of mysticism around 9th symphonies. Starting with Beethoven, 9th symphonies had a tendency to be among a composer's greatest and most epic works, and/or being one of their last works. After Beethoven, other examples include Schubert, Bruckner, Dvorak, Mahler, and Vaughan Williams. So Shosty came to his 9th and the expectation was that he'd follow in that mold. But Shostakovich really did not get on well with Stalin, who had many times censured him, and didn't want to do what Stalin wanted of him. So the 9th symphony is basically a parody of those types of grand symphonies.
Relevant video.
Weird because there's literally no source that states he was celebrating Stalin's death. He wrote the piece about Stalin when he died, but it certainly isn't celebratory in tone or spirit. Shostakovich also never said he was celebrating Stalin's death. I'm assuming that's just how you interpret the piece.