Music From Other Minds

Program 545: Not Socialist Realism

KALW Broadcast Date: February 1, 2019 | Host: Randall Wong

On this Music from Other Minds, Randall Wong explores the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, in anticipation of our program  of his arrangements for two pianos, presented by Maki Namekawa and Dennis Russell Davies.

In the 1930s, the official Soviet party’s approved musical style was Socialist Realism, a genre of idealized, realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was imposed as the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988. Socialist Realism is characterized by the glorified depiction of communist values, such as the emancipation of the proletariat, by means of realistic imagery. Socialist Realism was the exclusive form of approved art in the Soviet Union from its development in the 1920s to its eventual decline from official status beginning in the late 60s. Shostakovich had a hard time painting inside these lines and found himself in trouble more than a few times.

Program Audio

30-Second Spot