CCLVI. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri: Podrugi (The Girlfriends), Op. 41

CCLVI. SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Podrugi (The Girlfriends), Op. 41 (1934)
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mark Fitz-Gerald, cond.
(46:37)

Shostakovich always loved writing film music. For one thing, it gave him a chance to prove his Soviet bona fides by scoring patriotic plots like this one -- the story of three girls who grow up to be nurses in the Civil War -- already an iconic event in Soviet art and the film shows the women's contribution to the progress of socialism.

**

When the film was restored in the 60s, the Second Movement from the First String Quartet (1938; see Post CXXXI) was added to the main titles.

For complete details, see here.

**

All seemed well; his opera was received enthusiastically -- until it wasn't.

In late January of 1936, the Muddle Instead of Music editorial would change his life (not for the last time) in drastic and terroristic ways.