Dmitri Shostakovich in Russia - 1928

from Testimony- The memoirs of Shostakovich, as related to & edited by Solomon Volkov, pages 178-179:

I suppose I can spend some time talking about the ‘Mussorgsky orchestra’ [in Boris Godunov]. We must assume that his orchestral ‘intentions’ were correct, but he simply couldn’t realize them. He wanted a sensitive and flexible orchestra. As far as I can tell, he imagined something like a singing line around the vocal parts, the way subvoices surround the main melodic line in Russian folk song. But Mussorgsky lacked the technique for that. What a shame! Obviously, he had purely orchestral imagination, and purely orchestral imagery as well. The music strives for ‘new shores’ as …   more >>
cite as

Dmitri Shostakovich, and Soloman Volkov (ed.), Testimony- The memoirs of Shostakovich, as related to & edited by Solomon Volkov (London, 1979), p. 178-179. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1431348289890 accessed: 29 March, 2024

location of experience: Russia

Listeners

Dmitri Shostakovich
Composer, Pianist
1906-1975

Listening to

hide composers
Boris Godunov
written by Modest Mussorgsky

Experience Information

Date/Time 1928
Medium live
Listening Environment indoors, in public

Originally submitted by verafonte on Mon, 11 May 2015 13:44:50 +0100
Approved on Wed, 18 Nov 2015 13:21:54 +0000