Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975) and Music for Stalinist Cinema

FAIN: FT-249015-16

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

Research for a book on Soviet film music composed by 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 result in a book, titled Dmitry Shostakovich and Music for Stalinist Cinema, which traces his rise 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 will be based on archival materials, provide detailed musical and cinematic analysis, and provide a review of contemporaneous reception. The NEH summer stipend would be used to begin the phase of Russia-based research in summer 2016 for this new book project.