Testimony: The Memoirs Of Dmitri Shostakovich
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: Chipped, torn with minor damage. Page Condition: Yellowed, tanning. Markings: none Binding condition: Good — pages intact, binding secure.
Few documents in the history of twentieth-century music carry the weight and controversy of Testimony, the purported memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the Soviet Union's most celebrated and tormented composers. As related to and edited by Solomon Volkov — and translated from the Russian by Antonina W. Bouis — this remarkable text presents Shostakovich's own account of his life under the crushing machinery of Stalinist repression, his uneasy relationship with Soviet authorities, and the impossible demands placed upon an artist forced to compose under ideological surveillance. Beyond its biographical revelations, Testimony stands as a searing indictment of totalitarianism and a testament to the resilience of artistic integrity in the face of state terror. Volkov's editorial hand gives the narrative an urgent, confessional tone that reads as part memoir, part political tract, and part musical commentary — a combination that has sparked fierce scholarly debate about its authenticity since its publication in 1979. Whether one accepts every word as gospel truth or approaches it with critical scrutiny, the portrait that emerges of a man who survived by encoding protest within his symphonies remains utterly unforgettable.
Author: Dmitri Shostakovich
Format: Hardback
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: Chipped, torn with minor damage. Page Condition: Yellowed, tanning. Markings: none Binding condition: Good — pages intact, binding secure.
Few documents in the history of twentieth-century music carry the weight and controversy of Testimony, the purported memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the Soviet Union's most celebrated and tormented composers. As related to and edited by Solomon Volkov — and translated from the Russian by Antonina W. Bouis — this remarkable text presents Shostakovich's own account of his life under the crushing machinery of Stalinist repression, his uneasy relationship with Soviet authorities, and the impossible demands placed upon an artist forced to compose under ideological surveillance. Beyond its biographical revelations, Testimony stands as a searing indictment of totalitarianism and a testament to the resilience of artistic integrity in the face of state terror. Volkov's editorial hand gives the narrative an urgent, confessional tone that reads as part memoir, part political tract, and part musical commentary — a combination that has sparked fierce scholarly debate about its authenticity since its publication in 1979. Whether one accepts every word as gospel truth or approaches it with critical scrutiny, the portrait that emerges of a man who survived by encoding protest within his symphonies remains utterly unforgettable.