Shostakovich and Death: A Lifelong Musical Thanatology
Abstract
The article raises the question of the significance of the theme of death for Shostakovich’s creative work. It is argued that the composer’s thanatology originates in his childhood compositions, as indicated by a number of titles of completed or conceived opuses; it continues in a number of episodes in the works of his youth and mature creative periods, from Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District to the Eleventh Symphony; and finally, acquires a special treatment in the late period, from the Fourteenth Symphony to the Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti, where it is signaled by the poetic texts themselves. It is proven that the presence of the image of death is not limited to the list of works with an explicitly stated program of this kind. Using the example of two opuses from the early and late periods — the Suite for Piano, Op. 6, and String Quartet No. 12, Op. 133 — the article examines how quotations and stylistic allusions create a corresponding subtext and lead to the formation of an internal narrative focused on the problem of death. The question is raised regarding the degree of the composer’s conscious use of “another’s words” in such cases where authorial commentary is absent. It is emphasized that quotation allowed Shostakovich to create music as an art of communication, not limited to formal exploration or the setting of new technical tasks. The conclusion is drawn that the existential comprehension and experience of the phenomenon of death forms a kind of dotted line of meaning throughout Shostakovich’s artistic biography — perhaps its central theme, with his attitude towards it changing during different periods of his life.
Keywords: musical thanatology, Dmitry Shostakovich, Suite for two pianos op. 6, Quartet No. 12 op. 133, Hector Berlioz, Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff
For citation: Raku, M. G. (2025). Shostakovich and Death: A Lifelong Musical Thanatology. Contemporary Musicology, 9(4), 132–169. https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2025-4-132-169References
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2025-4-132-169
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