I think it is clear to everyone what happens in the Fifth. The rejoicing is forced, created under threat, as in Boris Godunov. It's as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, 'Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing,' and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering, 'Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Shostakovich describes the forced celebration in his Fifth Symphony as a response to political pressure and threats.
- In plain terms
- The happy ending was forced on me by the government under threat.
- What can you take from it?
- Artistic expressions of joy can be coerced by political pressure.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much of art reflects coercion?
- Can you detect forced emotion in art?
Another view
Audiences may not perceive the coercion without knowing the background.
More from Dmitri Shostakovich
Jewish folk music has made a most powerful impression on me. I never tire of delighting in it, it's multifaceted, it can appear to be happy while it is tragic.…
Permalink to quote #17 'I always try to make myself as widely understood as possible; and if I don't succeed, I consider it my own fault.'
Permalink to quote #19 The majority of my symphonies are tombstones.
Permalink to quote #16
Related quotes
I have nightmares about Metallica.
Tom ArayaTom Araya quote #4 [at Alpine Valley, 2007] 'A couple of months back when we played this show at Coachella, Valley, that was our first show back, I said a few things from the sta…
Zack de la RochaZack de la Rocha quote #5 You ask if I would have been different without 'Party guidance'? Yes, almost certainly. No doubt the line I was pursuing when I wrote the Fourth Symphony would…
Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri Shostakovich quote #11