# Pronouncing Shostakovitch



## huntsman (Jan 28, 2013)

I've used the search facility and can't find it. It's driving me nuts...can you help?!


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I've heard my good ol' radio dj's, for years now, use two different pronunciations: shos-TA-kovich and shos-ta-KO-vich


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

sho-stah-koh-vitch

Link.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

This one seems pretty straight forward. A little while back some one posted a great link with audio examples of the correct pronunciation of many classical composers/artists. So there is a source on the internet somewhere.


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## huntsman (Jan 28, 2013)

Thanks Art Rock. Settled then. :tiphat:

Found that link, starthrower, but...no Shosta _KOH_ vitch.

http://www.forvo.com/search/Shostakovitch/


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Shostakovich is a Polish name in origin (something like Szostakowicz) and I've been told that unlike Russia the emphasis in Poland would be on the second syllable rather than the third and that the 'o' would be solid rather than soft


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

It's easy. Learn to read Cyrillic:
Дмитрий Шостакович

I myself still don't know how to pronounce "ий"!


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

A nice little video where Tatiana Nikolayeva talks about Shostakovich & her recording of the Preludes & Fugues:





Another, Russian documentary clip about WW II with Shostakovich speaking, and pronounciations:


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## huntsman (Jan 28, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> Shostakovich is a Polish name in origin (something like Szostakowicz) and I've been told that unlike Russia the emphasis in Poland would be on the second syllable rather than the third and that the 'o' would be solid rather than soft


So the pronounciation would be...??


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

In Ireland, his name is pronounced 'show-us da-cabbage.'


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## Hassid (Sep 29, 2012)

Shostákovich (and Románov, Glazúnov, Rachmáninoff...)


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

There is also an interview on YouTube with Barshai (who has been very close with DS) where he pronounces it with the emphasis on the ko.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

According to Wiktionary, the accent is on the "ko" part, which is how I've always pronounced it. Also with the first "o" short.

In IPA that would be: ˌʃɒstəˈkoʊvɪtʃ

In Russian, the IPA would be: ʃəstəˈkɔvjɪtʃ

In both cases, accent on the "ko" part.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

huntsman said:


> So the pronounciation would be...??


Phonetically in Polish = Shos/TACK/ov/itch, but Shos/terk/OWE/vitch is the usual pronunciation.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

kv466 said:


> I've heard my good ol' radio dj's, for years now, use two different pronunciations: shos-TA-kovich and shos-ta-KO-vich


The first one is the right one.


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## huntsman (Jan 28, 2013)

Not according to Tatiana Nikolayeva in that YouTube clip above...


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

No, the second one is the right one, it's "sho-sta-KO-vich". I have always heard it pronounced like that in Russian.


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## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

huntsman said:


> I've used the search facility and can't find it. It's driving me nuts...can you help?!


Not certain of the syllabic stress or whether ko is "cho" - but I would definately pronounce him a "survivor", all things considered! As for the pronunciation of his name. Well, that's another matter I guess.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

SiegendesLicht said:


> No, the second one is the right one, it's "sho-sta-KO-vich". I have always heard it pronounced like that in Russian.


On television Maria Sharapova said that her name should really be pronounced Sha-RAP-ova.


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## Guest (Jan 30, 2013)

Okay folks, I speak Polish and Russian. Art Rock is correct. This is a Polish name and is pronounced as such.

Elgar's Ghost is almost correct, but as a result is completely wrong. In Polish the accent is basically always on the second-to-last syllable, not the second syllable.

sho-sta-KO-vich

In Russian, by the way, there are no general rules for which syllable is emphasized - as in English you have to learn each word individually.

Edit - I'm not sure this really is a Polish last name per se, but in any case it is pronounced as such.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Well, I forgot to mention I've been speaking (and hearing) Russian all my life and never heard it pronounced differently than "sho-sta-KO-Vich"


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

^You're definitely right. Here it is on the Russian Wikipedia site: Дми́трий Дми́триевич Шостако́вич

Accent on the penultimate syllable.


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## Guest (Jan 30, 2013)

Whether "Shostakovich" is a Polish surname or not is less clear. DS's paternal grandfather was Polish from the Vilejka region (of Belarus), but the name itself is not particularly Polish.

Here is a nice discussion of typical Polish last names:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Polish_surnames


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