# Music Meets History



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I dedicate this thread to amazing stories of how history and music as we know it collide.

Here's a fascinating story that I already knew of some years ago, but just this evening, I listened to a recording of part of Shostakovich's Suite on Finnish Themes for the first time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suite_on_Finnish_Themes

Basically, it was a work commissioned to be played as the USSR army would march into Helsinki in late 1939. Only, the invasion of Helsinki never happened because the Finns held them at bay, and it was a shameful incident in the USSR's history. Thus, Shostakovich scrapped the Suite and never included it in his oeuvre (although he didn't destroy it), and it was never performed until about a decade ago.

But discovering this work was astounding to me. For one thing, I would not be alive today if the USSR took over Finland, and the thought that Shostakovich _wanted_ Finland taken over so his commission could be fulfilled and he would get his pay... that's an crazy thought. "Oh blast those Finns! Now what is this suite good for? Nothing!" *throws in drawer*

So, there was the choice of my life (and countless others), or this piece of music coming into public existence... 

*Thank goodness the commission was never fulfilled!*

Name other stories you know, where a piece of music was uniquely tied to a historic event.


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## hocket (Feb 21, 2010)

Suscipe Quaeso Dominus by Thomas Tallis:






It always stirs my imagination as marking a false dawn; a peculiar 'what if' in English history. It was written for, and performed, on the occasion of Cardinal Pole's ceremony restoring England to the Roman Catholic church in 1554 and entreats God to forgive the nation's sins for having left the church. At the time the country was still overwhelmingly Catholic in belief, and it must have seemed a wonderful moment to most. Yet this would turn to disappointment for many as it ushered in the worst period of religious persecution in our history and a few years later the end of the regime would be treated with virtual celebration by most. England of course became Protestant and whilst I'm not at all religious I, and I think many, associate much of England's subsequent political and economic development over the next couple of centuries closely with that and regard it as very significant to the 'national character'. As a result the music occupies a peculiar space where things might have been very different, in which our perspective on things was as yet unshaped by subsequent events and allows a glimpse of a strange world that might have been.

Also the music is unusually marked by grand gestures for this sort of thing and is evidently geared towards creating theatre for the ceremony and must have been very striking and memorable for those who witnessed it. When listening to it I often wonder what it must have been like to be there that day. It's an unusual mixture of penance and celebration, and one of my favourite bits of music by Tallis.

http://www.cantiones.co.uk/catalogue/0073_tallis_suscipe_quaeso/index_tallis_suscipe_quaeso.shtml


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

> But discovering this work was astounding to me. For one thing, I would not be alive today if the USSR took over Finland, and the thought that Shostakovich wanted Finland taken over so his commission could be fulfilled and he would get his pay... that's an crazy thought. "Oh blast those Finns! Now what is this suite good for? Nothing!" *throws in drawer*


I didn't realise Shostakovich was steeped into such pecuniary interests - thanks for sharing.

The Soviet expansion plans under Stalin were not just confined to the western frontier; in the east, stretching down to the Yalu River, Stalin had already sought to take control of the mineral and ore rich Manchuria, and also reined a hierarchy of informers in China - a loose network which 9 years later, would show its power. First thwarted by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria - the Soviet forces held back until the chinese Nationalists held the Japanese back until breaking point. The stab in the back for chinese Nationalism was finally completed in 1948.

Here's the music for it:

[ ]

(Obliterated during the Cultural Revolution :~ )


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Head_case said:


> I didn't realise Shostakovich was steeped into such pecuniary interests - thanks for sharing.


Well, I only assume that Shostakovich cared to make music that he would get a profit from. But in addition, I think he probably wanted Finland invaded and "liberated" just as any patriotic communist would want (it was the USSR's intention to make Finland either a Satellite, or to really become a part of the USSR). He probably was disappointed that Finland was not "liberated" and that he lost a chance to celebrate/commemorate it in song.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I composed a symphony celebrating the annexation of Vermont by the sovereign state of Quebec.


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Well, I only assume that Shostakovich cared to make music that he would get a profit from. But in addition, I think he probably wanted Finland invaded and "liberated" just as any patriotic communist would want (it was the USSR's intention to make Finland either a Satellite, or to really become a part of the USSR). He probably was disappointed that Finland was not "liberated" and that he lost a chance to celebrate/commemorate it in song.


**** yea! I thank that generation and i have endless amounts of respect for them! Thank god that stubbornness is one of our national characteristics! Without that generation, i wouldn't probably exists our financial situation would be a lot worse! etc!

If i would have more money i would donate as much money as i could to the charities which help our vets!


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

I like those Marches that Johann Strauss II made for Egypt, Persia, Russia etc.

Historical Events/


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

History worked out fine! Finland never got invaded by the Soviets, and thankfully Shostakovich returned to writing his bah miserable humbug desolate music which we all love! Out with happy clappy commemorative C major State music!!


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## Head_case (Feb 5, 2010)

Hilltroll72 said:


> I composed a symphony celebrating the annexation of Vermont by the sovereign state of Quebec.


We'll wait for your string quartet dedicated to the Parti Quebecois...


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I've decided to wait for the accomplished fact to write a poem celebrating the agreement pooling our maple syrup/cheese resources. TC can then sponsor a contest for the best setting of the poem to music. The Glazunovness of the music will _not_ be a criterion.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Hilltroll72 said:


> I've decided to wait for the accomplished fact to write a poem celebrating the agreement pooling our maple syrup/cheese resources. TC can then sponsor a contest for the best setting of the poem to music. The Glazunovness of the music will _not_ be a criterion.


The music teacher of an acquaintance once commented on my acquaintance's taste for Tchaikovsky, 
"How can you like that music? It's so _runny_!"

I would imagine a piece 'about' Maple Syrup, Cheese, might be a bit of both a _runny & sticky_ fondue.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> I composed a symphony celebrating the annexation of Vermont by the sovereign state of Quebec.


I have warned you often---watch those Frenchmen !


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Head_case said:


> History worked out fine! Finland never got invaded by the Soviets, and thankfully Shostakovich returned to writing his bah miserable humbug desolate music which we all love! Out with happy clappy commemorative C major State music!!


Finland did get invaded by the Soviets in the so-called "Winter War." As for happy State music, what about that glorious chorus "In the Fields Stand the Collective Farms"? I could name others...


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## MichaelSolo (Mar 12, 2013)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> ... and the thought that Shostakovich _wanted_ Finland taken over so his commission could be fulfilled and he would get his pay... that's an crazy thought. "Oh blast those Finns! Now what is this suite good for? Nothing!" *throws in drawer*
> .....


I can almost with certainty assure you that was very likely NOT his attitude to the event and the ouverture.

More likely than not, he was simply afraid to include it into the premiere - what would KGB think of a composer who included a piece based on Finnush folk tunes into a performance soon after Finns defeated Russians?! Obnoxious support for Finns and condemnation of the regime?? How long after that would he have lived outside the Gulag?

He was not stupid. He probably regretted that nobody would hear his work for a while; but to blame for that *Finns* ??? I dearly doubt that.


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