Othmar Gimpel: Schostakowitschs Filmmusik zu Der Fall von Berlin

It is generally accepted that Dmitri Shostakovich’s film music is of slight musical significance when compared to his “real” compositions. Beyond this, certain film scores are marred by yet another blemish: they served as background music for Stalinistic propaganda films. For this reason, and because they allegedly came into being only as a result of the censorship of Shostakovich’s other works, they are considered worthless. That these compositions, within the context of the genre, impressively reveal a masterful hand is largely ignored. Shostakovich composed the music for one of the most ambitious post-war Soviet propaganda films, The Fall of Berlin (Padenije Berlina). Its score, together with the circumstances of its conception, are described in detail. Using selected examples, the author will attempt to demonstrate the obstacles Shostakovich was forced to endure at the highpoint of Stalin’s tyrannical regime and how he came to terms with them.

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