# I’m looking for composers like Shostakovich.



## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

Specifically I like the way he was able to blend the tonal and non tonal elements of his music. I also enjoy the Mahler like epicness of his symphonies.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

First, there was no one like Shostakovich. Any great composer has a unique sound that is his sonic fingerprint - and that's Shostakovich. His music is instantly recognizable because of his sound. There are some composers who remind me of him, at times: Weinberg, Galina Ustvolskaya, Alfred Schnittke. A composer much in need of 1) a first class biography and 2) a serious reassessment of his work.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Op, you may enjoy Weinberg’s symphony dedicated to Shostakovich.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Prokofiev and Stravinsky? I found David Diamond similar to Shostakovich, personally, like an American Shostakovich.


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

If you can source it try to listen to the limited output of Mikhail Nosyrev (1924-81), especially his four symphonies. He also had some story to tell (incarceration, internal exile etc.) and it was Shostakovich himself who lobbied for the previously-ignored composer to be chosen for membership of the USSR Union of Composers. The Olympia label issued five CDs of his orchestral work before they went belly-up but regrettably these are long out of print.

Here's some reading to be going on with - hope this helps:

www.nosyrev.com/biography


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Weinberg's your man. Also, he and Shosty were good friends who often helped one another with their respective works.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Manok said:


> Specifically I like the way he was able to blend the tonal and non tonal elements of his music. I also enjoy the Mahler like epicness of his symphonies.


Georgy Sviridov's songs and chamber music always makes me think of Shostakovich, as does some of Britten's music. Check the Sviridov piano trio. I've never listened seriously to his orchestral music but it could well be worth exploring if you like the Shostakovich battering ram - I just sampled a CD called Sviridov Greatest Hits, something called Time Forward!, from the USSR State TV and Radio Orchestra.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I find Prokofiev pretty similar in some ways. I listened to all the symphonies by Schostakovich and he is a mixed bag. I am not a big fan of his last 3 symphonies which are vocal. Prokofiev is the bigger genius of the two, IMHO. Listen to his stunning 2nd symphony




Jerry Goldsmith inspired himself in the second movement for his Basic Instinct soundtrack


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

Jacck said:


> Prokofiev is the bigger genius of the two, IMHO.


While I've liked Prokofiev for years, I've always struggled somewhat with Shostakovich until recently. However, I've started to re-evaluate my opinion of his work and I wouldn't necessarily say that Prokofiev was more talented. His music is often more conventionally pretty than that of Shostakovich but I doubt that he would have come up with something like Shostakovich's Symphony No 5. All a matter of personal taste I suppose.

Returning to the original point of this thread, I agree with others that Schnittke and Weinberg are similar to Shostakovich in some respects. Some Martinu reminds me of Shostakovich in places as well. However, as others have also pointed out, Shostakovich has a very idiosyncratic style and while others may have been influenced by it, I don't think any have managed to replicate it.


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## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

One thing that I heard was that Shostakovich did not want to write the way the censors in the USSR wanted him to write, so what he did was intentionally muddy the waters just enough so they'd be fooled into thinking they were getting what they wanted. From what I remember the Soviet Union wanted their composers to be more tonal, and he wanted to be less traditional, so he did what he could. I don't remember where I got that from, but I thought it was interesting. Also I find it amazing that Babi Yar was ever even published considering the subject matter. Edit: I've always been more of a fan of Shostakovich than Prokofiev. I find much of Prokofiev bland.


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## JLi (Jan 31, 2018)

How about Nikolai Myaskovsky or Rodion Shchedrin?


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Since everybody is recommending Russian composers that sound like the man (especially Weinberg), I'm going to go for Allan Petersson from Sweden. He is awesome and a bit similar to Shostakovich.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Gavriil Popov, whose earlier music (like his First Symphony and Septet) has similarities with some of Shostakovich's (his Fourth Symphony for instance).

Another composer in mind is Boris Tishchenko (try his Fifth Symphony).


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## MJongo (Aug 6, 2011)

Schnittke. Start with his Concerto for Piano and Strings, then listen to his Piano Quintet. From there take your pick from his excellent Symphonies, Concerto Grossi, String Trio, Faust Cantata... so much greatness to be heard!


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Jacck said:


> I find Prokofiev pretty similar in some ways. I listened to all the symphonies by Schostakovich and he is a mixed bag. *I am not a big fan of his last 3 symphonies which are vocal*. Prokofiev is the bigger genius of the two, IMHO. Listen to his stunning 2nd symphony
> Jerry Goldsmith inspired himself in the second movement for his Basic Instinct soundtrack


Shostakovich's last syphony (no.15) is purely orchestral but the two preceding symphonies (13 & 14) do have major vocal parts; indeed the 14th is more like a song cycle for soloists and chamber orchestra than a true symphony.
While Jerry Goldsmith may have inspired himself, James Horner spent a lot of his time copying and pasting whole Prokofiev segments for a good number of his soundtracks!

OP, you could also try some of the symphonies of Boris Tishchenko; most are on Youtube if you put his name into the search function.


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

Outside of the Soviet Union, Malcolm's Arnold's symphonies have a Shostakovichian/Mahlerian sense of irony and juxtapositions of "serious" and "popular" music. Also, Schulhoff's 5th Symphony is very Shostakovichian with its angry, snare drum-led climaxes and ominous marches.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

techniquest, I am not sure about Horner, but compare this Basic Instinct score part with the Variation 4 from Prokofiev's second symphony









and I also think that Mahler's 9th symphony has a little of a Schostakovich feel to it.


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## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

Of the composers mentioned here I will say that I already enjoy Schnittke, and Myakovsky both. I especially adore Schnittke's 2nd an 3rd symphonies. I'll try and look out for the ones mentioned that I've never heard of.


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

There's no composer like Shostakovich. Even though his influences can be found in Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and even Mahler; Shostakovich's style is very personal. If you like "epic" symphonies then there's plenty out there. While Mahler is the most obvious composer of epic symphonies, there's also Bruckner, Sibelius, Nielsen, Vaughan Williams; or you can go back to Beethoven who was the one who created the "epic" symphony in the first place. Tchaikovsky's symphonies can be quite "epic" and personal, as well.


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## Snowbrain (Oct 5, 2020)

A composer "like" Shostakovich? It depends what you mean by "like"... as others have mentioned, there's no one like Shostakovich but then isn't every composer is uniquely unlike the others? I'd say there's no composer like Shostakovich in the sense that he was so profoundly a product of his culture, politics, and times and how he responded artistically to the great sufferings of the Stalin and Soviet era. In my view he is the greatest of all tragic-satiric composers, an artist who was forced to compose music under the harshest circumstances. To get a sense of why Shostakovich was such a product of his times, read Solomon Volkov's classic _Testimony: the Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich_.

As for other composers like Shostakovich - Carl Neilsen, perhaps? Ian MacDonald suggests as much in his book _The New Shostakovich_ (193, 195). If you want to understand why Shostakovich is so unique, read MacDonald's book.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Try Penderecki - his orchestral symphonies - esp 2-5.....not #1 so much, where he's really into innovative sonorities and combinations, but 2-5 have definite ties to Shostakovich...


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

Try Aho's _Second Symphony._


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Some of these may already have been mentioned, but they are the ones I would suggest.

Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996)
Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016)
Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996)
William Schuman (1910-1992)
Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905-1963)
Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994)
Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012)


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Phil loves classical said:


> Prokofiev and Stravinsky? I found David Diamond similar to Shostakovich, personally, like an American Shostakovich.


I don't hear this at all. David Diamond and Shostakovich couldn't be more different from each other.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

SanAntone said:


> Some of these may already have been mentioned, but they are the ones I would suggest.
> 
> Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996)
> Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016)
> ...


Rautavaara? Are you kidding me? I disagree. Weinberg, Schuman and Hartmann would be closer. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned Britten yet, but he's got a similar aesthetic happening in many of his works from the _War Requiem_ to many of the song cycles.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Neo Romanza said:


> Rautavaara? Are you kidding me? I disagree. Weinberg, Schuman and Hartmann would be closer. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned Britten yet, but he's got a similar aesthetic happening in many of his works from the _War Requiem_ to many of the song cycles.


I thought of Rautavaara because his early symphonies have a similar sound, IMO. But obviously you think differently.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Although they sound very different from each other, and conceptually are worlds apart, in some ways I see Ravel and Shostakovich as similar. They both had a certain precise and highly focused approach, very good orchestrators, efficient expression.

The difference to me is that Ravel's music is more imaginative, where Shosty's focus was seemingly more on earthly, material reality.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

chill782002 said:


> I wouldn't necessarily say that Prokofiev was more talented. His music is often more conventionally pretty than that of Shostakovich


Interesting how perceptions can differ. To me Shosty sounds more often conventional where Prokofiev is more often beautiful in a kind of weird and bizarre way. Sometimes Prokofiev does go through stretches where his music sounds conventional and mediocre to me though. That is the Prokofiev I avoid.

In another thread someone said Shosty seemed more 'deep' than Prokofiev, I also disagree there. I haven't listened to anything in Shostakovich that to me seems as 'deep' as Prokofiev's 8th piano sonata.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Prokofiev was 15 years older and an accomplished composer before the revolution and I think he has more both of the picturesque "old Russian" (Rimsky etc.) strain and the daring of the different aspects of early 20th century avantgarde. He adapted himself to the Soviet demands later on but some of these aspects survive (can you imagine Shostakovich writing fairy tale ballets like Tchaikovsky?) He is not defiant, but can be a bit anarchic. 

Shostakovich came of age only after the revolution and the 1920s Soviet Avantgarde was a very particular beast, quite different from the 1910s. It was also curtailed as we all know and from then on it's basically all "colored" by Stalinism. Shostakovich can be frequently ironic and defiant but it's mostly irony and defiance in Soviet realist style, not really going beyond it.

Prokofiev comes probably closest in style in some of his 1920s-30s pieces like Le pas d'acier. The 5th piano concerto also has a detached ironic quality a bit similar to some of the "lighter" works of DSCH (like the piano+trumpet concerto or the 9th symphony).


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## Waehnen (Oct 31, 2021)

Like mentioned above, Kalevi Aho has something in common with Shostakovich. They share the post modernist narrative aesthetics and techniques, like parody, style allusions etc.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

You want music that sounds like Shostakovich that was not composed by Shostakovich? Check out the sound track to the _Death of Stalin._

Christopher Willis does a fantastic job of parodying the music of Shostakovich.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but some Malcolm Arnold works have strong Shostakovich influences. I believe they met and Arnold hung around Moscow for a while.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*I'm looking for composers like Shostakovich.*

The best place to start is at Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia. You'll find him under here:









If you prefer to remain in the States, there's the Russian Composers Meadow memorial in Glover Park, near the Guy Mason Center (3600 Calvert Street, Washington, DC 20007), next to the Alley of Russian Poets.









On the other hand, if you're looking for music like that of Shostakovich's, just ignore my post and consider many of the fine recommendations already provided.

I will suggest that quite a few of the lesser names amongst 20th century Soviet era composers have created music with resemblances to the "sound" of Shostakovich's. You might look for the names Rostislav Boiko, Leonid Polovinkin, Gavriil Popov, Vladimir Scherbachov, Vladimir Soltan, Boris Tishchenko, Boris Tchaikovsky, Vadim Salmanov, Galina Ustvolskaya, Andrei Eshpai ... the list goes on. I have quite a few works by the above-named folks in my own collection, and I'm startled at times by how Shostakovich-like many of their musical passages sound. But of course, Shosty was a major force in Soviet Russia; one would expect him to have a strong influence.


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