Editorial Content for The Noise of Time
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On September 25, 1906, Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. During his nearly 70 years on the planet, he grew to prominence as one of the top composers and pianists of the 20th century. It would be a serious understatement to claim that his rise to world-wide success was not without turmoil. Renowned author and Man Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes has selected Shostakovich and his unique struggle as the subject of his latest novel, THE NOISE OF TIME.
Barnes does more than pen a biography of Shostakovich --- he parallels his plight side by side with the rise of socialism and eventually communism in Russia. The chief antagonist of the story is the infamous Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. What THE NOISE OF TIME seeks to accomplish is to provide readers with all sides of the controversy surrounding the existence of art within a totalitarian state.
"Barnes elegantly glides through this slim novel, peppering it with concise prose and short paragraphs that all pack a punch."
The novel’s action takes off in the year 1936 amidst a world war and Stalin at the height of his power. During this time, Shostakovich was standing out as an immensely talented composer whose work was in demand, especially at a time of global strife. However, art and music were closely regulated by Soviet government, and one of Stalin's men, Zakrevsky, proved to be the antithesis of musical freedom in an age when every aspect of life was seemingly controlled.
Shostakovich realized he was a marked man when his first public piano concerto was covered in the pages of Pravda on January 28, 1936 --- a date he would celebrate for the rest of his life. Since all composers were employed by the state, it must mean that everything he created was their property. This was in direct confluence to his own ideology. Even though writers were in more danger than composers, Shostakovich never felt comfortable reporting to “the Power” that was overseeing all artistic products.
Paranoia took over as Stalin was quick to believe that everyone was plotting against him and that any artist --- be they using music or words --- was suspected of stirring up public sentiment against his leadership. A journey to America and a meeting with Igor Stravinsky proved to light the fire of musical freedom under Shostakovich, and he would return to Mother Russia a changed man.
The basic premise of the decades-long conflict between Shostakovich and the heavy thumb of despotism revolved around the definition of music and art. Art does not exist for art's sake but for the people's sake. In following this mantra, he embodied a form of artistic socialism that drove him through a life-long struggle to create his music for the people in spite of the necessity to represent the new Soviet Union as one of their own musical prodigies.
Barnes elegantly glides through this slim novel, peppering it with concise prose and short paragraphs that all pack a punch. Shostakovich is depicted as a man, a hero, a victim, and eventually a victorious fighter in the battle between art and those who seek to limit it through suppression and fear. THE NOISE OF TIME presents us with the life of a musical genius who overcomes his challenges and leaves his music behind as a gift for all the world to share.
Teaser
In 1936, Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich fears for his livelihood and his life. Joseph Stalin has taken a sudden interest in his work and denounced his latest opera. Now, certain he will be exiled to Siberia (or, more likely, executed on the spot), Shostakovich reflects on his predicament. Though a stroke of luck prevents him from becoming yet another casualty of the Great Terror, for decades to come he will be held fast under the thumb of despotism: made to represent Soviet values at a cultural conference in New York City, forced into joining the Party, and compelled to weigh appeasing those in power against the integrity of his music.
Promo
In 1936, Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich fears for his livelihood and his life. Joseph Stalin has taken a sudden interest in his work and denounced his latest opera. Now, certain he will be exiled to Siberia (or, more likely, executed on the spot), Shostakovich reflects on his predicament. Though a stroke of luck prevents him from becoming yet another casualty of the Great Terror, for decades to come he will be held fast under the thumb of despotism: made to represent Soviet values at a cultural conference in New York City, forced into joining the Party, and compelled to weigh appeasing those in power against the integrity of his music.
About the Book
1936: Dmitri Shostakovich, just 30 years old, reckons with the first of three conversations with power that will irrevocably shape his life. Stalin, hitherto a distant figure, has suddenly denounced the young composer’s latest opera. Certain he will be exiled to Siberia (or, more likely, shot dead on the spot), Shostakovich reflects on his predicament, his personal history, his parents, his daughter --- all of those hanging in the balance of his fate. And though a stroke of luck prevents him from becoming yet another casualty of the Great Terror, he will twice more be swept up by the forces of despotism: coerced into praising the Soviet state at a cultural conference in New York in 1948, and finally bullied into joining the Party in 1960. All the while, he is compelled to constantly weigh the specter of power against the integrity of his music.
An extraordinary portrait of a relentlessly fascinating man, THE NOISE OF TIME is a stunning meditation on the meaning of art and its place in society.
