Sometimes You Have “to Skip” a Stubborn “Measure”. On Some Aspects of Shostakovich’s Creative Process
Abstract
At times Shostakovich composed his pieces so fast that one would feel something Mozartian in the lightness of his writing technique. However, there were times when things went the other way round. We find what Shostakovich himself says about his writing patterns, “I am trying hard to compose something new. I get down to writing and then change my mind. The symphony does no pan out.” These are just a few of a dozen of other similar statements. One of them makes the title of our paper. It is written as an understatement—a stylistic device so much favored by Shostakovich (O.G. Digonskaya). The words in quotes should not be taken literally. “To skip” does not mean omitting a measure—the measure may contain music subject to later review. The word “measure” does not always imply one measure. It may be one measure in short pieces like Prelude No. 14, Opus 34, or, in extensive scores, the number may reach a few dozens of measures (Symphony No. 4, Part 1). Sometimes “skipping” is nothing but a summary notation—when drafting music, the composer may omit certain details for the simple reason that he remembers them all. This approach is common for that phase of composing when music material is mostly ready but needs emphasis (Symphony No. 10, Part 2).
To conclude, Shostakovich deals with music rather freely because of the underlying principle he follows in his composing manner, i.e., a comprehensive vision of what his future music piece will look like.
Keywords: Shostakovich, creative process, drafts, measure, shorthand notation
For citation: Lukyanov A. V. Sometimes You Have “to Skip” a Stubborn “Measure”. On Some Aspects of Shostakovich’s Creative Process [Electronic source]. In: Sovremennye problemy muzykoznaniya / Contemporary Musicology, 2022, no. 2, pp. 142–158. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.56620/2587-9731-2022-2-142-158
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2022-2-142-158
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