Dmitri Shostakovich, a tightrope walker in the face of power9 reading minutes

Le Regard Libre N° 77 - Jean-David Ponci

Dossier «The arts in the face of Russian power»

Deputy of the Supreme Soviet in 1947, General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers in 1960, Hero of Socialist Labor in 1966... These appointments, reluctantly accepted, were often no more than a means to publish articles in his name that he had not written, or to have him read speeches he did not approve of. This fits in well with the totalitarian conception of power, according to which everything is at the service of the state. Shostakovich was supposed to be just another cog in this gigantic machinery. How can an artist still be creative under such conditions? Shostakovich did more than answer this dilemma. He embodies it in his very life. Just as a tightrope walker must submit to the laws of gravity if he is to survive, so Shostakovich submits to the implacable laws of gravity if he is to survive.