Dimitri Shostakovich (shost-a-KO-vich)

Born September 25, 1906 in Lenningrad, Russia

Died August 9, 1975

Nationality: Russian

Period/Style: Modern

About the composer:

Dimitri Shostakovich was born into a musical family, although he didn't begin to study music until the age of 9.  He had a strong tendency to associate images with musical sounds such as a chord sounding like "stars" and a pretty passage sounding like "someone looking out the window".  His main instrument was the piano, which he played beautifully.  During the time he was a young adult, there were only silent movies.  Eventually it was decided that some music would help with the overall feeling of what was going on during the movie. Dimitri actually played piano for some movies to help earn money for his family.  He also loved the circus, and if you listen closely, you might be able to hear some of that quality in his music.  He won many prizes for composition and even today, orchestras all over the world play his music.

About the music: 

Waltzes:  The waltz is a form of music that has been around for a very long time and Shostakovich made this type of dance music into a very fun piece.  He also wrote music for movies where some of these waltzes can be heard.

Festive Overture:  An overture is often found at the beginning of an opera or a larger piece of music.  Sometimes overtures are just independent pieces, such as we find with this one.  There is a very beautiful fanfare opening, followed by a very fast section.  Eventually the fanfare is heard again, then there is a short burst of the fast section before the piece comes to a very exciting end.

Suggested activities:

Look up some of the names of pieces written by this composer.  (They are very interesting)

Think about what other images or colors come to mind when you listen to music.

Draw a picture to show what the music portrays.