CCLII. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri: Suite for Jazz Orchestra #1

CCLII. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Suite for Jazz Orchestra #1 (1934)
1. Waltz
2. Polka
3. Foxtrot
Royal Concergebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly, cond.
[scrolling score]
(8:08)

In 1926, Shostakovich attended a performance of a "negro operetta" at the Leningrad Music Hall, by the American jazz band Sam Wooding and the Chocolate Kiddies. [no kidding]

Shostakovich was fascinated.

As an example of how twisted his existence as a Soviet artist was, let us examine the decade which followed this event:

In 1930, he wrote The Golden Age ballet -- a satirical take on Western Capitalism and the jazz era -- in which he delightfully wrote jazz dances (the foxtrot, for example) ... the Party didn't get the joke, and initially censored the work.

A few years later (1934), he wrote this "Jazz Suite." More Kurt Weill than real jazz, it is nevertheless a delightful lightweight counterpoint to his heavier compositions from the period -- notably the opera and Fourth Symphony [see Post VIII] (both banned) ...

**

And a Hawaiian guitar [5:43]!