Shostakovich: Some Later Works

By modern standards, Shostakovich is an unusually prolific composer. Still in his early fifties, he has behind him over a hundred published works, many of them large-scale. He composes quickly, even impulsively—he says so himself—and his creative enthusiasm can sometimes outstrip his critical awareness. His Seventh Symphony, the Leningrad (1941), is doubtless an extreme example of this hit-or-miss ‘immediacy’, but the creative approach which it represents is characteristic and permeates his music. At his best, Shostakovich has one of the finest imaginations at work to-day. His gifts are very impressive; his potential remains immense. Those who contended some years ago that he was a spent force, ruined by politics, have had to think again: the Tenth and Eleventh Symphonies and the Violin Concerto, to mention only the more obvious works, have necessitated many an ‘agonizing reappraisal’.