Dmitry Shostakovich and Music for Stalinist Cinema, 1936-1953

FAIN: FA-252536-17

Joan Marie Titus
University of North Carolina, Greensboro (Greensboro, NC 27412-5068)

Preparation of a book on the film music of Soviet composer Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975) from 1936 to 1953.

Despite Dmitry Shostakovich’s celebrated reputation as a concert and stage composer, his film music only recently has garnered attention from audiences and scholars. A history of his scoring for Soviet cinema, and generally of Russian film music, has yet to be substantively written. My proposed research project fills this gap. This project will be used to write a book, titled Dmitry Shostakovich and Music for Stalinist Cinema, which traces his development as one of the Soviet Union’s preeminent film composers from 1936 until Josef Stalin’s death in 1953. This book provides an examination of his scoring practices, his unique relationship with directors and with the film industry, and his engagement with cultural politics and audiences. It is based on archival materials, provides detailed musical and cinematic analysis, and provides a review of contemporaneous reception. The NEH Fellowship would be used to complete this manuscript, and to create a video companion website.

Associated Products

Dmitry Shostakovich and music for Stalinist cinema (1936-1953) (Book)
Title: Dmitry Shostakovich and music for Stalinist cinema (1936-1953)
Author: Joan Titus
Abstract: In her first volume, Joan Titus explored the early years of Dmitry Shostakovich's career as the first Russian musician to emerge as a composer for the Soviet cinema. In this second volume, Dmitry Shostakovich and Music for Stalinist Cinema (1936-1953), Titus explores Shostakovich's continued development as a preeminent Soviet film composer and his navigation of the Soviet film industry amidst the cultural politics of late Stalinism. Based on archival materials and contemporaneous press, Titus combines musical analysis of eighteen scores with discussion of socio-cultural context and reception of his work. She frames the discussion using the concepts of the mainstream and middlebrow to highlight the complex role of Shostakovich's film music within Soviet arts culture. The composer's experience with diverse filmmakers, genres, and styles allowed him the opportunity to experiment with film scoring and musical meaning, which revealed his heterogenous and thorough knowledge of musical styles and his integration of classical and popular musical trends. This unusual and varied experience makes him an excellent case study for examining the development of the film composer within Soviet film industry during late Stalinism, and situates his scoring within an emerging global film music history.
Year: 2025
Primary URL: https://search.worldcat.org/title/1443931821
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780197611326
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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