shostakovich(急)

I’m sorry I can’t find anything on the background of prelude op 34 but I have some information about the composer.

Biography:
Born at 2 Poldolskaya Ulitsa in St. Petersburg, Russia, Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich was the second of three children born to Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich and Sofiya Kokaoulina Shostakovich. He was a child prodigy as both a pianist and composer, his talent becoming apparent after he began piano lessons at the age of nine. In 1918, he wrote a funeral march in memory of two leaders of the Kadet party, murdered by Bolshevik sailors. In 1919, he was allowed to enter the Petrograd Conservatory, then headed by Alexander Glazunov. However, he suffered for his perceived lack of political zeal, and initially failed his exam in Marxist methodology in 1926. His first major musical achievement was the First Symphony (premiered 1926), written as his graduation piece.

After graduation, he initially embarked on a dual career as a concert pianist and composer, but his dry style of playing was often unappreciated. He nevertheless won an “honorable mention” at the 1927 Warsaw International Piano Competition. After the competition Shostakovich met the conductor Bruno Walter, who was so impressed by the composer's First Symphony that he conducted the Berlin premiere later that year. Thereafter Shostakovich concentrated on composition and soon limited performances primarily to those of his own works. In 1927 he wrote his Second Symphony (subtitled To October). While writing the symphony, he also began his satirical opera The Nose, based on the story by Gogol.

1927 also marked the beginning of the composer’s relationship with Ivan Sollertinsky, who remained his closest friend until the latter’s death in 1944. Sollertinsky introduced Shostakovich to the music of Gustav Mahler, which had a strong influence on his music from the Fourth Symphony onwards. 1932 saw his open marriage to his first wife, Nina Varzar. Initial difficulties led to divorce proceedings in 1935, but the couple soon reunited.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s he worked at TRAM, a proletarian youth theatre. Although he did little work in this post, it shielded him from ideological attack. Much of this period was spent writing his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District; it was first performed in 1934 and was immediately successful, both on a popular and official level.

Works:
After an initial avant-garde period, Shostakovich wrote primarily in the romantic idiom, drawing heavily on the influence of Mahler. However, he combined this with atonality and occasional tone rows. His music frequently includes sharp contrasts and elements of the grotesque. His greatest works are generally considered to be his symphonies and string quartets, fifteen of each; other works include operas, six concertos and a substantial quantity of film music.

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

Hope this helps!! X ]

Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich listen (help·info) (Russian: Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович, Dmitrij Dmitrijevič Šostakovič) (September 25, 1906 [O.S. September 12]–August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. He had a complex relationship with the Soviet government, suffering two official denunciations of his music in 1936 and 1948 and the periodic banning of his work. At the same time, he remained the most popular Soviet composer of his generation and received a number of accolades and state awards, and served in the Supreme Soviet.



Dmitri Shostakovich




圖片參考：http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Shostakovichportraitphoto.jpg/180px-Shostakovichportraitphoto.jpg

Dmitri Shostakovich
Born September 25, 1906
St. Petersburg, Russia


Died August 9, 1975
Moscow, Russia (Age 68)
After an initial avant-garde period, Shostakovich wrote primarily in the romantic idiom, drawing heavily on the influence of Mahler. However, he combined this with atonality and occasional tone rows. His music frequently includes sharp contrasts and elements of the grotesque. His greatest works are generally considered to be his symphonies and string quartets, fifteen of each; other works include operas, six concertos and a substantial quantity of film music.
Born at 2 Poldolskaya Ulitsa in St. Petersburg, Russia, Shostakovich was the second of three children born to Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich and Sofiya Kokaoulina Shostakovich. His family was politically liberal and tolerant (one of his uncles was a Bolshevik, but the family also sheltered far-right extremists). He was a child prodigy as both a pianist and composer, his talent becoming apparent after he began piano lessons at the age of nine.
Shostakovich's works are broadly tonal and in the Romantic tradition, but with elements of atonality and chromaticism. In some of his later works (e.g. the Twelfth Quartet), he made use of tone rows. His output is dominated by his cycles of symphonies and string quartets, fifteen of each. The symphonies are distributed fairly evenly throughout his career, while the quartets are concentrated towards the latter part. Among the most popular are the Fifth and Tenth Symphonies and the Eighth and Fifteenth Quartets. Other works include the operas Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, The Nose and the unfinished The Gamblers; six concertos (two each for piano, violin and cello); and a large quantity of film music.
Shostakovich's music shows the influence of many of the composers he most admired: Bach in his fugues and passacaglias; Beethoven in the late quartets; Mahler in the symphonies and Berg in his use of musical codes and quotations. Among Russian composers, he particularly admired Modest Mussorgsky, whose operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina he re-orchestrated; Mussorgsky's influence is most prominent in the wintry scenes of Lady Macbeth and the Eleventh Symphony, as well as in his satirical works such as (Rayok). Prokofiev's influence is most apparent in the earlier piano works, such as the first sonata and first concerto.The influence of Russian church and folk music is very evident in his works for unaccompanied choir of the 1950s.

Ardov, Michael (2004). Memories of Shostakovich. Short Books.
Fay, Laurel (1999). Shostakovich: A Life.