# Shostakovich and Mahler.



## Steber (Jul 11, 2014)

I have just been listening to Shostakovich Symphony No 5. I feel that it has quite a few passages that sound very Mahlerian in style. Would Shostakovich have been familiar with the works of Mahler?


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Yes, Mahler is often thought to be one of Shostakovich's most important influences. He also really liked Berg.


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## Steber (Jul 11, 2014)

Thank you, violadude. I feel that despite the nationalistic side of Shostakovich, there is a definite connection with the later German romantics.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Steber said:


> Thank you, violadude. I feel that despite the nationalistic side of Shostakovich, there is a definite connection with the later German romantics.


Have you heard Symphony #4 or Lady Macbeth? If you haven't I suggest you do. It will give you a good idea of what his style might have been like had he not felt the need to censor himself.


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## Steber (Jul 11, 2014)

As you suggested, I have listened to Symphony No 4. The style is distinctive with an emphasis on counterpoint and complex melodic lines. I feel that this does reflect an individual style which Shostakovich may have developed should he not have felt constrained by imposed nationalism, as you said. It is interesting to speculate whether he may have had a strong inclination to the 2nd Viennese school if he had felt free enough to do so.

Thank you.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Steber said:


> As you suggested, I have listened to Symphony No 4. The style is distinctive with an emphasis on counterpoint and complex melodic lines. I feel that this does reflect an individual style which Shostakovich may have developed should he not have felt constrained by imposed nationalism, as you said. It is interesting to speculate whether he may have had a strong inclination to the 2nd Viennese school if he had felt free enough to do so.
> 
> Thank you.


He actually did experiment a little bit with his own kind of serialist passages near the end of his life. Check out String Quartets 12 and 13.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Mahler was one of Shostakovich's favorite composers, so I would certainly expect this to be audible. The Fourth Symphony, a relatively early work, is the most obvious example. More interesting to me is a crucial passage in the Tenth Symphony where he quotes Mahler's _Das Lied von der Erde_ with what I am sure is some symbolic intent - just haven't worked out what it is yet. But the text ("The Drinking Song of the Sorrowful Earth") includes the image of an ape dancing on human graves - and Stalin had just died ;-)

(Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot, the passage is the striking horn call in the third movement.)

Mussorgsky was another among his favorites and this influence, to my ears, is even more obvious.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Steber said:


> It is interesting to speculate whether he may have had a strong inclination to the 2nd Viennese school if he had felt free enough to do so.


I doubt he would have composed full-blown 12-tone music, but he certainly did have an interest. We have a quote from him before the first denunciation where he lists his favorite composers as "Berg, Schoenberg, Krenek*, Hindemith, and especially Stravinsky".

*Krenek, very briefly the husband of Alma Mahler, was related to the Schoenberg school, though at this time he was best known for his Zeitoper "Johnny Spielt Auf", which combines expressionism and jazz, and he was yet to write any 12-tone music.

Stravinsky being a foremost influence is important, though, because Shostakovich's music always draws more from Stravinsky's acerbic nature than Mahler's rich romanticism.


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## Steber (Jul 11, 2014)

Thanks to all for your informative replies.

Steber


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