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Perhaps more than that of any great composer, Dmitri <\/strong><\/a>Shostakovich<\/strong><\/a>‘s music is inseparable from the ideology of his time and country. And much can be learned about the composer and what went into the works from what he \u2013 and his contemporaries \u2013 said while he was composing them. We have compiled 11 quotes that give more than a hint as to how Shostakovich’s music wasn’t always what it seemed\u2026<\/p> \u2018A great piece of music is beautiful regardless of how it is performed. Any prelude or fugue of Bach<\/a><\/strong> can be played at any tempo, with or without rhythmic nuances, and it will still be great music. That’s how music should be written, so that no-one, no matter how philistine, can ruin it.\u2019 \u2013 in a letter to Isaac Glikman, 1955<\/em><\/p> \u2018What can be considered human emotions? Surely not only lyricism, sadness, tragedy? Doesn’t laughter also have a claim to that lofty title? I want to fight for the legitimate right of laughter in \u2018\u2018serious\u2019\u2019 music.\u2019 \u2013 Sovetskoye, 1934<\/em><\/p> \u2018I finished the Fifth Symphony<\/a><\/strong> in the major and fortissimo<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u2026 It would be interesting to know what would have been said if I finished it pianissimo<\/em> and in the minor?\u2019 \u2013 1936 (alluding to the Fourth Symphony<\/a><\/strong>, which does just that)<\/em><\/p>Eleven great Shostakovich quotes<\/h2>
1. On the beauty of music<\/strong><\/h3>
2. On laughter in music<\/strong><\/h3>
3.<\/strong> On a pleasing finish <\/strong><\/h3>