tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post8804621669680807927..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1Bryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-24253004478094469662012-11-12T12:03:54.554-06:002012-11-12T12:03:54.554-06:00Great points, Nathan. I have had passing encounter...Great points, Nathan. I have had passing encounters with Prokofiev, including one lengthy one with the piano concertos, but never felt I knew his music very well. Thanks so much for making the Prokofiev-Shostakovich connection.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-59726150330011000222012-11-08T09:17:48.583-06:002012-11-08T09:17:48.583-06:00Shostakovich was heavily influenced by Prokofiev, ...Shostakovich was heavily influenced by Prokofiev, and you can hear that especially in these early works. Yes there are certainly Stravinsky influences in there, and Stravinsky no doubt played a role in Prokofiev's music. But in this symphony Prokofiev comes through loud and clear, though you can still hear that Shostakovich quality that would later become much more distinct (some of the piano parts really hint at it).<br /><br />While Shostakovich was still at the conservatory Prokofiev stopped by one day, wasn't too impressed by most of the composition students work, but really got excited about Shostakovich's music. His friend, the composer Myaskovsky who was there too said, "You only like him because he's imitating your style!"Nathan Shirleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14123467208814463388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-22445398455484752082012-11-08T07:33:52.942-06:002012-11-08T07:33:52.942-06:00Oh yes, the great failure of musicology now is tha...Oh yes, the great failure of musicology now is that it is too much written for specialists. A typical musicological article is laden with jargon and technicalities, written only for other musicologists. Taruskin, while he deals with technicalities, often tries to write for the general public.<br /><br />Thank you very much for the comment. My purpose is to write for the general reader, but one who is not afraid to pick up a nodding acquaintance with a few technicalities!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-68814399881039227732012-11-07T21:24:24.271-06:002012-11-07T21:24:24.271-06:00I am glad I asked!
Your comments on Hurwitz' ...I am glad I asked!<br /><br />Your comments on Hurwitz' book are sensible. I actually read his book on Mahler, which is very similar, and while I found it somewhat helpful in getting a grasp on the structure of those large compositions, it does have all of the weaknesses you mentioned in your review. <br /><br />As to that book on the string quartets, I can again see why it might not be ideal. It <i>is</i> hard to write in a generalized, non-technical way about music without falling into generalizations and cliches. <br /><br />The trouble is that those of us who are not musicologists, and whose understanding of music theory is limited, can sometimes find it difficult to follow material written for those who can. I enjoy reading Taruskin; even though he sometimes loses me in the technicalities, I can usually still follow the thread.<br /><br />But I do understand your points. I am a physicist, and I find non-technical explanations of physics for "dummies" to be extremely annoying, often misleading, and a waste of time. I'm not at all surprised that you feel the same way about similarly dumbed-down writing on music.Craighttp://cburrell.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-38470631686830080532012-11-07T13:47:42.096-06:002012-11-07T13:47:42.096-06:00Thanks to you both for supporting my proposed seri...Thanks to you both for supporting my proposed series of posts. I am looking forward to it myself as it will be a good way to re-familiarize myself with the symphonies.<br /><br />Craig, if you look at the reviews of the Hurwitz book you will see that mine, under the name B. R. Townsend, is the third and not entirely favorable. I think Wendy Lesser's book has some similar problems that I talked about in this post: <br /><br />http://themusicsalon.blogspot.mx/2011/10/approaching-shostakovich.html<br /><br />As for books on Shostakovich, two that I find useful are Laurel Fay's Shostakovich: A Life and Shostakovich Studies, ed. by David Fanning. The latter contains an absolutely brilliant essay by Richard Taruskin on the Fifth Symphony.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-79933783320749688132012-11-07T09:52:48.094-06:002012-11-07T09:52:48.094-06:00Just like Craig, I'm so happy and very excited...Just like Craig, I'm so happy and very excited by these series of posts you are going to make. I love Shostakovich symphonies, but I'm just a listener. And to have the oportunity of getting this insights by a musician-musicologist is great (and for free haha).Joel Lohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09899053147050874817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-27504367084568947582012-11-07T08:22:59.405-06:002012-11-07T08:22:59.405-06:00I am looking forward to reading this series of pos...I am looking forward to reading this series of posts. I have been planning, in a hazy sort of way, to embark on a "listening project" in which I will work my way through all Shostakovich's symphonies and string quartets. I have been looking at <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Shostakovich-Symphonies-Concertos-Unlocking-Masters/dp/1574671316/" rel="nofollow">David Hurwitz's book</a> on the symphonies and <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Music-Silenced-Voices-Shostakovich-Quartets/dp/0300181590/" rel="nofollow">Wendy Lesser's book</a> on the quartets as possible companions for this journey. These posts will be a good resource too. Are there any particularly good books on Shostakovich that you would recommend?Craighttp://cburrell.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com