Dmitri Shostakovich's The Nose: A False-Start on Russian Avant-garde Modernism

William Thornton

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC Ballroom A

Start Date

21-5-2015

End Date

21-5-2015

Keywords

Russian, Opera, Shostakovich

Abstract

Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the performing arts were greatly impacted on nearly all fronts except for opera. Left to the wayside, expanding the operatic canon into a more modern format and finding a truly Soviet voice was not even considered by composers for a multitude of reasons. These omissions from Soviet cultural life seemed to change with the publishing of Dimitri Schostakovich's avant-garde masterpiece The Nose. Within this presentation, a survey of the social and cultural climate surrounding The Nose will be discussed, as well as the Soviet culture following The Nose which made modernity in Russian opera a near impossibility for many years to come.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Gayla Blaisdell

Department/Program

Music

Additional Mentoring Department

Music

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May 21st, 2:10 PM May 21st, 2:30 PM

Dmitri Shostakovich's The Nose: A False-Start on Russian Avant-garde Modernism

SURC Ballroom A

Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the performing arts were greatly impacted on nearly all fronts except for opera. Left to the wayside, expanding the operatic canon into a more modern format and finding a truly Soviet voice was not even considered by composers for a multitude of reasons. These omissions from Soviet cultural life seemed to change with the publishing of Dimitri Schostakovich's avant-garde masterpiece The Nose. Within this presentation, a survey of the social and cultural climate surrounding The Nose will be discussed, as well as the Soviet culture following The Nose which made modernity in Russian opera a near impossibility for many years to come.