Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40 & Viola Sonata, Op. 147

Featuring

Veit Hertenstein
Minze Kim
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Composition History

Shostakovich composed his last work, the Sonata for Viola and Piano op. 147, one month before his death, and he did not live to see its premiere.

Composer Biography

Dmitri Shostakovich, a Soviet composer, lived through significant political upheaval in Russia, including the February Revolution, the founding of the Soviet Union, the Stalin era, and World War II.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Shostakovich aimed to use stylistic resources from Western European music to promote the ideals of the Russian revolution, but this conflicted with the 'Socialist Realism' demanded by Stalin's cultural officials.

Compositional Technique

In the last movement of his Viola Sonata op. 147, Shostakovich pays tribute to Beethoven by writing a fantasia inspired by the first movement of Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata'.

Critical Reception

Shostakovich's 'modern' operas, such as 'The Nose' and 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk', were met with bewilderment and led to accusations of 'left-deviant' and 'petit-bourgeois decadent' attitudes in Pravda articles.

Performer Biography

Violist Veit Hertenstein, who arranged the viola part for the Op. 40 sonata on this recording, is a Professor for Viola at the Musikhochschule Detmold and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Composition History

Shostakovich's Sonata for Violoncello and Piano in D minor op. 40, written in 1934, was his first major chamber work and premiered in Moscow the same year.