Surviving the Soviet Era: An analysis of works by Shostakovich, Schnittke, Denisov, and Ustvolskaya

Shostakovich, Schnittke, Denisov, and Ustvolskaya demonstrate, though their music, four strategies for personal and artistic survival under the oppressions of Soviet rule. In the First Piano Concerto, Op. 35, Dmitri Shostakovich used juxtapositions of musical styles to communicate irony within the musical language of Soviet Socialist Realism. Alfred Schnittke relied upon historically recognized forms, genres, and techniques in his Quintet for Piano and Strings to reconcile elements of the past with the present; Schnittke's polystylistics were a means of coping with personal tragedy and artistic oppression. Shostakovich encouraged Edison Denisov to express himself through musical composition, but Denisov found his manner of expression in a style consistent with European modernists, adopting techniques of composers banned or considered "decadent" in the Soviet Union in Drei Stucke for piano four-hands. Galina Ustvolskaya has reclusively withdrawn into herself, refusing associations with any musical school of thought, unconcerned with acceptance from official cultural authorities in the former Soviet Union, and steadfastly uncompromising in her pursuit of music which she considers authentic and strong. Ustvolskaya's Sonata No. 5 in Ten Movements demonstrates the raw, violent spirituality of her music.