Hey everyone - I'm sure you've noticed that there's been a large gap between my videos recently. The reason is that I have a lot of other bits of work going on to pay the bills. Although my channel is still growing nicely, it's is not yet at the level where I can dedicate the sort of time I think it deserves and, as you've seen, I can hardly rely on YT to support me. So, if you have a bit of spare coin, I'd ask that you please consider become a Patron to support my channel. If not, don't worry. Thanks a lot for watching, regardless! www.patreon.com/Tantacrul
Wonderful job with this! I recently conducted research on Shostakovich's 9th Symphony actually and it turns out he did originally start writing a grand ninth symphony. He even stated he wanted to write a piece complete with large orchestra and choir. Unfortunately, for reasons not known, he ceased work on this piece and didn't commence work on the symphony again until the summer of 1945. By that time, it was a completely different work. The Polish National Radio Symphony actually recorded the original first movement fragment that was discovered in the early 2000s. It was released under the title "Symphonic Movement".
I totally agree: despite the lack of certain proof, no serious musician today would roast Shostakovich's music on any grounds. He has definitely a place in musical History. I feel very sorry for not have watched this video without auto-censorship. Total disgrace u.u.
RUclips deserves criticism for this. By censoring names and events that did happen instead of discouraging the ideologies they claim to oppose, they help them by avoiding the spread of good information about them.
That says something when they censor names that were involved in horrific atrocities just to keep the truth away from the viewers. Is RUclips censoring the word "Hol*domor" as well? (Just in case)
Yeah. Unfortunately, there is only so much they can do about advertiser stuff. However, suppressing its recommendations is a real problem. I suspect it's something that started happening in response to that kid video debacle, but it's not a solution they can keep applying to everything without it causing tangible harm to important discussions.
Not to play defense for youtube, but just so people know, all political content gets flagged. Of all things, even gay people talking about their stories gets flagged. So much for pride month.
Your video getting demonetized is quite ironic, considering that a large part of your video was about how Shostakovich thrived even though his music was censored
Jolly Templar watch a movie called “Testimony” Stalin.....”In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, no works are banned. There are circumstances in which performance is......unwise.”
Kristyan Yochev I don’t think people who work at RUclips were bothered by his video. The majority of them would support the his message. RUclips/Google want to put ads on as many videos as possible. After all they are making money from ads as well. It is the shareholders and clients that force the platform to resorting to content curation.
All jokes aside, RUclips's blanket blacklisting of historical content is absolutely despicable. The ability to openly and freely discuss, teach and analyse history is one of the most important aspects of human discourse, and whilst I accept that Google has the right to censor whatever they wish on their own platform, it pains me to see that this aspect of culture is being completely suppressed in a paranoid and stupid attempt to avoid internet scandals. Many brilliant smaller history channels have already been forced to leave, and many of the larger ones seem like they're about to do so. Whilst this goes on, RUclips actively promotes vapid, braindead and often directly harmful content, and cares nothing about the consequences, so long as they don't start drama. This is ironic, because many of the stars they promote produce far more drama than any historical content creators.
ThejollyFrenchman the thing is that it isn’t RUclips that is censoring these videos, but rather the advertisers that would refuse to show their ads on historic videos.
Honestly I agree, but it isn't RUclips completely at fault here, their content detection system is a bitch, but the rest of the reason videos get demonetized or "taken away" is due to bigger companies claiming ownership to copyrighted content in the videos regardless of if it was okay according to RUclips's guidelines, and when you ask to appeal it's not like there's an employee right there to the rescue who can completely understand your and the company's situation right away, so it ends up that the creator is f*cked. RUclips I'm pretty sure had the part in censoring things like this FOR the advertisers, they don't intend to blacklist the media, but rather a whole load of companies realized that videos like these were not good to "associate" with due to any reference to any bad or potentially controversial topic and figure. But RUclips's detection system is infamously not the best, but it serves what the companies want, the companies don't want to accidentally put their ad over a video regarding Stalin or Hitler despite the context. Therefore no ads and no money for the video. Yes it's stupid, but it's more of RUclips having no other choice with these large companies who provide the banknotes to creators. edit: And honestly I can't tell you that this comparison between content that YT directly promotes and what happens to be not seen as good content is a good comparison, since it's not RUclips at fault for the direct loss of the videos of RUclipsrs, these YT originals and celebrities are directlu backed by RUclips themselves, and they trust these people, I imagine if they found enough good in those channels that were drained down the hole due to companies takinh advantage of flaws of the system, they'd go out and promote those channels, but there's only so many artists they can do that for and that's what RUclips RED is for. RUclips has just got to start defending it's creators and their ability to make money, because it isn't some undetermined thing that takes them off the platform like many people think, a lot of RUclipsrs depend on the money coming in every video and when suddenly a whole portion of their videos aren't ad-friendly they lose a whole lot of what keeps them going and there would be no motivation. To be honest I don't know how much our criticisms and judgement will fix things because at the end of it all it's the companies who outright don't want to associate with "risky" content that are to blame, and at the further end, there are people like investors or customers who are out there to blame because they accuse the companies and put them in a negative light if they are associated with anything remotely risky or controversial , even on just one video. So really, there are a whole lot of hoops here and we can't just pinpoint it, and definitely not just to RUclips. RUclips could have done better though by realizing that creators are easily f*cked over and made the demonitization thing a whole lot more complex than just "Oh this one whole video contained one second of a hitler speech, was it educational? I dont care haha ha no more ads for you." Which really fucks a lot of people over. The consequence is the eventual downfall of RUclips's creator base, or a lessened dependence on it since nearly every noteable creator has a Patreon or something to help rather than be funded by the ads. Also flocking to sponsorships that at least understand that the content isn't too bad to associate with.
@@knixie The problem with that is that this isn't a problem of blatant censoring for the sake of stopping information from getting through, it's through the necessity that the advertisers don't want to put their ads on something that may be seen as threatening (even though it isn't.), and it's not like you couldn't post the video, it's just that you couldn't earn from it. People keep mistaking it for being that type of censorship, the type Stalin used, but that is just absolutely an over-exaggeration of the whole situation. The only things I'm quite sure you couldn't post as part of their guidelines are those that contain heavy violence and pornography, but I'm quite sure the former still exists out there, but if anything, no one is stopped from posting videos and information, RUclipsrs only have to do this and that to keep the video clean so RUclips doesn't detect it as having such problematic and threatening topics (Politics, war, genocide, H*tler, etc...) and they are able to keep monetization. Edit: Yes I hate it, but who is to blame here, and is it really a large-enough concern to the world that it becomes a public service that is going to be even more heavily-regulated? It's a problem between company, brands, and the RUclipsrs who decided to make a living off here. I'm not blaming anyone, but I hope at some point RUclips figures out how wrong their detection system can be due to the lack of context awareness, and that it is driving away RUclipsrs who are otherwise bringing money in for them. Though, if it does become a sort of public service even more people are able to show backlash and perhaps good changes will come, but right now, it does not need to become that ridiculous.
Dude imagine if Jo.Stal himself walked out on a performance you had conducted of piece that you, yourself, had created. I doubt anyone's ever felt nerves like that before or since
This whole re-upload is so meta, and I love it. A piece of critique on censorship effectively being censored, and then Tantacrul having to find a way around the system which still abides by it. On top of this, he has to demonstrate the very act Shostakovich did, by finding loopholes to satisfy the algorithm's criteria, while finding a way at poking fun at it at the same time...
@@endlessmijot RUclips: How dare you trick- oOh! Never mind Shostantacrul, what's this? A random video of some strange meme? I need to put it in everyone's recommended videos section, but I'll be back, I swear!
11:42 A bit off on that part. In Leningrad, there was a hotel that Hitler was at before that he liked. He gave his commanders a deadline: he wants to be in that hotel, sipping wine on a certain day. On said day, Shostakovich premiered his Seventh Symphony inside said hotel. The commander in charge of Leningrad's defense launched a counter offensive at the same time as the concert, blaring the music live to the German soldiers. A truly wonderful book about Shostakovich growing up under Stalin's thumb and composing music during the largest and bloodiest military siege of all time was written recently, called "Symphony for the city of the dead." Great read!
Don't you wonder why no one has made a good movie biography? There have been a couple of attempts but they're not good, one with Ben Kingsley, who couldn't look more unlike Dimitri
Having to redact parts of a discussion about creativity in the face of oppression, delivered in a purportedly "free" society, is both obviously ironic and genuinely frightening. I think that because this censorship is not coming from a government, we are more tolerant of it than we ought to be.
@@cooperised Corporate censorship usually cycle back to their bottom line. If RUclips continued implicitly promoting historical content, especially historical content ranging throughout the 20th century, advertisers interpret it as an inappropriate place for their ads. Imagine you're watching a video about fascism and a bacon-flavored Ritz Crisp & Thins ad pops in. RUclips wants a clean, abstractly easygoing platform. Nothing inherently wrong with that in my opinion, as plenty of channels I watch pass in this definition/benchmark while some just barely skim the line. I just think they need some better categorization to give channels and advertisers more options, beyond "is this child-friendly or not?" We do live in a world where corporate totalitarianism is the norm, though. I'm kinda pissed off that certain people who praise Orwell's 1984 don't see the parallels in neoliberal, corporate totalitarianism.
@@cornupswar Maybe it's just me and my absolute hate for advertisements, but ads take me completely out of the video and are not linked with the content I was watching in any way. They're the annoying 5 second wait that requires me to take my phone out of my pocket before continuing my enjoyment of the content I was watching. Also, youtube is voluntary for the audience, which usually means you're watching something you choose to. Which is a positive thing, so linking the idea of enjoyable content to your ads would actually be good.... Right?
I’ve sung Lady Macbeth a couple of times and I can say it is one of the best operas there are. The pacing is impeccable and the drama feels like a thriller. Really. Spectacular piece.
I don’t think it’s really tied into ideologies too much. I think it’s more of a broader subject, that being, the fact that these subjects are non advertiser friendly. To strengthen my argument take for example the times youtube censored transgender youtube channels and let anti-lgbtq ads run on its website.
I actually used this video for an essay about Shostakovich and Socialist Realism. Of course, I refered to you as "composer Martin Keary". Using "Tantacrul" as the name of a source in a college essay might raise some eyebrows. Great Video
Tantacrul ___ As an uneducated , and unsupervised child of the 1940's , I am impressed , by your 'take' on 'Shostakovitch, which was a favorite of my 'Polish Mother, and hated by my 'German Father, at the age of 77, I may finally understand the dynamics of my child hood. lol
A child of a Polish mother (pozdrawiam) and a German father from the 40s... this is movieworthy; I'm just not sure if it's a romantic one, or a horror story...
What I love the most about Shostakovich is that he knows how to build an atmosphere, especially in his more intense pieces. I’m primarily a metalhead, and many Shostakovich pieces, such as Symphony 11 mvmt 2 create a similar intensity to many of my favorite metal songs. I also like the slower, more subtle pieces such as Op. 87 No. 4 Prelude, and I still hope to learn how to write like that
It’s not-I know people who have worked there at high levels and they report a culture of total lack of creativity, drowning in money as the most important objective, run by advertising and marketing.
@@SikerScrapyard bullshit, the party they supposedly support wants to tax the hell out of them. Have you ever bothered to find out how real leftists think about Google? By the way, you are commenting on their platform without risking anything. The Gulag comparisions are ridiculous.
Serialism bores me. But that repeating BA-BUMMMM! phrase is the funniest shit I’ve ever heard. Shostakovitch is definitely gonna be on my spotify search tomorrow.
Imagine the sowjet soldiers practicing their glorious march getting depicted as sissies by the "weakish" music and terrorized with this papaaaam out of tempo. Showing them they will lose tact if it is not given to them. He had balls. Reframing a parade into a gauntlet run.
The fifth is what cements Shostakovich as an incredible composer to me. The fact that he was able to create something that both appeased the party and appealed to the people is fascinating and speaks volumes of his abilities as a composer.
at 7:34 there is a very specific change in the translation that i think should be adressed - Maxim says - "Of course there was Fear in him, fear for his family, because how can you not be terrified? Only a fool would have no fear. A smart man that sees that people dissapear and families of you and me get shot"
He can't monetise the video, that's not censorship. It's very different from censorship. Even if it gets shared less in recommendations, its still not censorship. It's not being done for ideological reasons, youtube is trying to satiate the demands of advertisers to not have their ads on certain content. They obviously can't go manually through every video, so flag certain words which may lend themselves to non advertiser friendly content. The list of words is definitely too broad, and obviously it ignores all important context, however youtube are clearly less willing to piss off advertisers than creators. I don't know what you're talking about, history repeating itself, or antifascists being the real fascists. That feels like the words of someone with no historical perspective.
Ruht wroh, looks like the RUclips overmind is slacking, he linked to books about the topic in the description. I don't like censorship at all but, when relying on an algorithm that they can't even directly enforce changes on, it does seem more likely that ignorance is key here rather than actual malice.
The fact that RUclips creators are having to go through these kind of lengths really speaks volumes about the absurdity of Google's current censorship system. They (Google) should be wholly ashamed.
Minor inaccuracy at 21:40: The "Sch" comes from the German way of writing his name "Schostakowitsch", not from the "ch" at the end. Otherwise great video! Reminded me, that I really should listen to more of Shostakovich's music.
Education gets demonetized. I don't know what's worse; the fact that you have to jump through these hoops in order to create your educational content, or the fact that I'm not surprised RUclips has festered - oops - I mean fostered an environment where this is necessary. I appreciate your work and hope that you never stop.
Companies don't want their products advertised and associated with violence or dictators and shit, so RUclips like a good dog it is essentially refuses to pay authors of such videos to appeal these companies. Capitalism, just like communism, has censorship - its just not concentrated in the hands of governments, moving to corporations instead.
As someone who lives in constant fear of death, I found the works near the end of his life incredibly chilling and now I need to find something uplifting to do.
I don´t know why you would have to pioneer some new composing technique to be well regarded as a composer. I don´t even buy that he should be regarded as a great pioneer because of his predicament of writing music in the Soviet union, I think his raw talent as a composer is enough. There is no one else I would rather listen to than Shostakovich. There is so much emotion in his symphonies.
I'm from the Nordic countries, but married to an Austrian. At my wedding nine years ago, my friends where constantly talking about Harry Potter and coming up with really dumb jokes that they laughed at hysterically. It took me a long time to finally ask them what the hell was up with all the Harry Potter talk. Turns out, they where afraid of accidentally mentioning 'the war', so they had decided to substitute all war names, terms and events for their equivalents from the Harry Potter universe. Rowling must have had history lessons when she was dreaming up her magical universe, because it works one-to-one! No faux pas was made. Only downside was that they came across as obnoxiously devout Harry Potter fans, because of course it instantly became so much fun to 'translate' names, history lessons and (ugh) deeply inappropriate jokes that they couldn't stop. I still can't unhear it when my wife listens to the audiobooks. All this to say: next time just do it all in Harry Potter-talk or some other well-known fantasy universe. For instance, I've heard that the famous wizard Arnold Schoenberg was a muggle who considered himself to be 'the chosen one'. As if to spite the conviction of He-who-must-not-be-named and his Death-Eaters that all wizarding muggles are squibs that can only do magic by stealing it from pure-bloods, Schoenberg invented a whole new system for spell casting that would outlast the horrors of the coming war. Indeed, Schoenberg saw himself not as a muggle, and might even have been a Death-Eater - proud as he was of the accomplishments of his country's historic accomplishments in the art of magic - where it not for the persecutions that ultimately culminated in "The Muggle-Born Registration Commission". He held it's accomplishments and values in much higher regards than that of any other nation....
I don't understand what the second paragraph is referring to irl, can anyone hint it at me? I think muggle ≈ Jew/repressed people, but the chosen one part blows that idea out :/
@@micaelgarcia1576 Arnold Schoenberg considers himself the Chosen one, and thinks his nation is better then all others. Who else thought that? The answer is Hitler.
@@gebs123 Franz Beckenbauer belongs here, as well - I always remember him saying, that Germany would now (after reuniting) win it all, just as Schoenberg foresaw (upsi!) Germany being (thanks to his 'invention') the leading music nation for the next 100 years. Love the Harry Potter analogies :D
The first classical music record I ever bought was Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony played by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. It was the first American recording and I got it new in 1972 or 1973. I played it over and over again. I loved it. It was something completely new to me. I was more into Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin at the time. I was only fourteen or fifteen. I'm glad I took the risk buying a Shostakovich symphony rather than another Deep Purple record. I agree that nobody sounds like Shostakovich. You only have to hear a few bars of his music to know who composed it. I too prefer his chamber music most of the time, though some of his symphonies leave me in tears, they are so moving. In my opinion, he is head and shoulders above most of the modern composers mentioned in the video. Who ever wastes their time listening to Schoenberg, for instance? And when you take into account the terrible situation he had to work in, his accomplishments are even more awe inspiring.
One thread runs through nearly all of Shostakovich's output. Whatever the repression and whatever his intentions, he was not only unmistakable, but extremely competent, almost seemingly effortlessly so. Many regard the 5th symphony as one of his best, even though it was apparently a response to "just criticism". It is still a cracking good piece of music, and maybe apart from Tchaikosvky, Shostakovich was perhaps the most "Russian" of all orchestral composers. I was privileged to have seen his son Maxim conduct two of his father's symphonies at the London Festival Hall in the early 1970s. It was one of the most electrifying concerts I ever attended.
Well, it *is* one of his best. Listen to the finale of the 4th movement, with that bombastically triumphant theme of the people or whatever, under that relentless string of high As. "You will celebrate the success of the party! Be happy! You are the Soviet!" The theme of enforced celebration is so obvious that I cannot believe it made it past the Party censors.
The irony of this is not lost on me. Arguably, while a massive ball ache, the way that this panned out serves as a stark commentary on the issues surrounding state/corporate censorship.
"Hey dude this symphony has tones that sound almost like your moking the soviet union" "nah fam thats just your opinion" "but-" "you wanted a happy tune. I made it. What else do you want."
I agree with you, music doesn't HAVE to be experimental, it just has to either be interesting to listen to or to think about. As long as you enjoy a piece, it's good in my book. Unless it's promoting the patzis or Jo.Stal, then we might have a problem.
I love your videos so much! I'm a Master Musicology student and it's so great to see others talking about academic music in the same way I do! It really eliminates the "stuffy" stereotype of classical music.
Bleeping Jo.Stal reminds me of people saying "you-know-who" in Harry Potter. Ridiculous this had to be done. Thanks for doing it though. "Composing despite the YT algorithm" lol
Hearing the ending of his Violin Concerto at the end of the video put the biggest smile on my face. Shosti is and always has been one of my many heroes, along with many other incredible musicians. Thank you for putting out a video that does him and his works the justice they have always deserved.
You got me to watch this without adblock AND recommend to a friend AND get some Shostakovich music. Russian here, never recalled his music to be so good. Great video, thank you.
Thanks for introducing me to my now favourite composer. I watched this over a year ago and haven't stopped listening to Shostakovich since. Almost every day.
It’s so sad that Shostakovich had to go through all these hardships and troubles. My father distantly knew him and tells me that he used to drink vodka when he woke up and when he ate breakfast and why he would do this is so saddening. The fact that he was suppressed so much and that he’s underrated as a composer is so unfortunate.
@@nicktaylor1902 yeah the OTHER people, who talk about the history WE don't like. All the while letting some speak about THEIR interpretation of history
They will eliminate Stalin and preach how great Communism is,these fucking cunts at RUclips ane other media.Fuck Them!Send me to Gulag,filthy RUclips,I dare you!Tell your algorythm to share some space woth Susan to share some of the CNN's cock.
His contemporaries mostly just came up with intellectual novelties. Shostakovich wrote MUSIC. It was genuine classical music for and of ordinary people, not for the toffs. I have long been a BIG fan of Shostakovich, the most autobiographical of all composers. Thanks for this upload - and massive shame on YouPravda!
I can't believe this had to be reuploaded. I watched your video when it was first uploaded, and it was a detailed and thoughtful explanation of why you love the composer and his music. Anything to do with the war was mentioned in passing, because ultimately it was a video about the music and what influenced its creation. Did you have no way of challenging this at all?
I think he could, but it would most likely take weeks before youtube did anything about it - meanwhile most of the people would have already seen the video without ads. So he'd still lose.
Generic modern composers: "we live in a society" or "awww my life sucks" or "I love you and feel the need to musically inform everyone" Shostakovich: "Don't mind me trolling the leader of half a continent lol"
On the other hand it's sort of funny that modern musical industry also forces artists to compose in an oversimplified, tangible way so the normal citizen would understand it - just like mr. Stalin did. Of course it uses much more sophisticated form of violence - financial force, but stil, we might say that Socialist Realism was indeed (and that's what Walter Benjamin brilliantly observed in the 30s) an anticipation of the road "popculture" crosseed - since the World War II. Of course you might close yourself in a small niche and compose the way you want, but your influence on the general public will be almost that small as in the Stalinist period. BTW - I love Shostakowicz musical imagination.
You are talking as if the 'modern music industry' as some INGSOC-style boogeyman. I'd say take a look at the history of rock, and how that moves along to create what we know as 'pop culture.' Conspiracy theories don't make you look good.
This was great. Would love to see another on Prokofiev's attempt at the same. Always feel like his 5th is a massive middle finger, particularly the alternation between optimistic Yankee themes in the 2nd movement and Russian folk themes invaded by military ones. Third movement is spooky as heck too. Plus plenty of material just in how the final movement is basically the ET soundtrack.
I think this is one of the best youtube videos of all time, it definitely is my top 5. I've rarely seen such great production and research go into a video.
Ive been following you for a little while and i think this is probably your best video. I learned so much, im not a music buff so seeing how shastocovich's music was pulled between to forces really helps me understand how the notes and techniques create the musical ideas and how those ideas are used. Its phenomanol. And dear god the irony of you being censored- in a video about the dangerers of censorship. Id say you couldnt make it up but....
Your selection of his music is wonderful and I really appreciated some of your analysis. I'm not a professional musician, but at least a fellow Shostakovich admirer. I think you really captured something very important in this short amount of time about beautiful, tragic, sarcastic music written during the time of enormous pressure of ideology and stupidity. There are some anachronisms in your story, from Red Terror, which happened before Stalin's reign (as opposed to purges), to Schnittke, not to mention Pokemon, which were probably a radical example outside the realm of socialist realism. But what I really want to say besides thanking you for this video and nitpicking is that I think the story of Muddle Instead of Music is more complex and interesting than how you present it. I read somewhere that at the performance 1936 Stalin was annoyed because he heard people in the audience call Shostakovich a genius, but unfortunately I can't remember where. If that is true, that jealousy might add another dimension to the story. And another dimension is Stalin's dislike to eroticism in art, and he was not alone. Before Stalin's reaction, the opera was very well received by the critics in the USSR and abroad, but not in New York in 1935, where Shostakovich was called “the foremost composer of pornographic music in the history of the opera”, and the New York Times music critic was outraged by “effrontery and his lack of self-criticism” (quotes from an English-language edition of Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator by Solomon Volkov, incidentally, the author The Testament, but that's beside the point). It's interesting that this American performance happened just after the Hays Code in 1934, and it seemed that everywhere around the worlds some people were suddenly more concerned about propriety and moral wholesomeness in different ways: in the USA, in Nazi Germany, and a little later in the USSR. The original novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov doesn't have any explicit erotic scenes at all, as far as I remember. Shostakovich filled them in, so to speak, but the times of artistic experimentation and relative freedom at home had changed.
You'll probably never read this, but I really wanted to thank you for this video- you've got me interested in the context behind classical music. I'm a 16 year old clarinettist who wants to play in an orchestra someday, and for a while I've intended on looking more deeply into classical music to get some more background knowledge, both to prepare for uni and to gain a deeper appreciation of some of my favourite works. Shostakovich wasn't even on my radar, but he's now my favourite composer (previously it was Dvorak and Brahms, but I'm mainly limited by the works I get to play because I don't really know what to look for if I want to find some other classical music to listen to). I got testimony for my 16th birthday as a result of this video, and I've really enjoyed reading it. I also wanted to ask where you got the scores from, I can't find them anywhere and I'd really like to play some of his pieces when I get the time. The only parts I can find are the clarinet solos in the 9th symphony (which are used as audition pieces), but I'd really like to try out some other excerpts, too. Again, thank you so much for this incredible video!
I've always loved the stark contrast of the works from Shostakovich. From the extravagance of his valses to the satire in his symphonies and the comedy of his piano pieces. He truely was a joker in the court of Stalin (and I love that so much).
I've never seen your videos before but I've always been obsessed with shostakovich and the music he created under this scrutiny. However one important piece of evidence that really showed this double meaning to his music was in his fifth symphony where he quotes himself covertly because he had not yet published the work that he was quoting and continually worked and modified it until his very late period. The work he quotes is opus 136 which I was very fortunate to see performed live while very little is written on this piece I was able to find papers about it on a russian music publication that further proved this was the case and it is very obviously not a patriotic piece. Thanks for this wonderful video teaching people the true genius of shostakovich.
The visualisation of the 9th against military imagery is honestly brilliant, I’ve never really had classical compositions make me laugh before. Such a fantastic video, and a wonderful breakdown of a remarkable artist.
What a quality video! Were there really people who didn't love Shostakovitch? In defense of the symphonies: Babi Yar. Yes, the string quartets are pure heaven!
How about if instead of everyone having to self censor themselves in ridiculous ways to satisfy a stupid algorithm: what if every big channel just included the forbidden words in the video and metadata for every video for a week or two? If almost every video watched is demonetized maybe even RUclips would start to feel the pain?
As nice as this idea is, it's difficult to spread the message far enough for this to work. That is unless if you organize it like 3 months in advance and get some people with massive social circles in on it.
Even if big channels did that, the contracts for many of the companies that are refusing to have their ads on videos mentioning those things are already signed, so unless a high volume of videos across the platform suddenly started all using those keywords, they probably wouldn't feel a real squeeze. Plus, some of those big channels are just network television programs that migrated over and basically pushed a lot of money to RUclips to get priority coverage and exposure to keep alfoat in the changing media landscape.
That excerpt from 15th Quartet you picked is is in my opinion the most gut wrenching music he ever wrote. When I listened to it the first time i literally felt like I was being cut to pieces with a dull instrument and couldn't help but break out into tears. Something that can happen to me with music from time to time, but back then was a completely new experience to me.
I think my first exposure to the music of Shostakovich was in 1985, at a concert featuring Mistislav Rostropovich as soloist (one of the Haydn concertos) and conductor (the 5th). He's a composer that has always reached me directly, always close to me. I seem to identify with his musical language. I bought and read Testimony by Solomon Volkov around 1989 or 90. I remember catching a few performances of his quartets by the Brodsky Quartet in London, and then a few years later by the Borodin Quartet in Madrid. Among the performances I remember best are the Piano Trio N. 2 by the Nash Ensemble at Wigmore Hall in London, the 7th Symphony conducted by Gennadi Rohzdestvensky in Madrid, and Lady MacBeth of Mitensk, with Rostropovich again, at the Teatro Real in Madrid. In 2017 I bought and rread the novel The Noise of Time, by Julian Barnes. I generally disagree with how he treats Shostokovich there, but that's just the way I see him. If I had to choose ten composers to save their musical output, Shostakovich would be one of the five or so 20th century composers on my list.
RUclips is so worried about controversial topic *might* get through a lot of my favorite channels get demonized. Like Forgotten Weapons: All the channel is, is a firearm auctioneer employee showing *really* rare, or unusual firearms. I have learned so much about history and engineering from that channel. The entire channel is demonized because it shows the firearms (they are almost never shot on that channel).
RUclips decides what's "advertiser-friendly", not advertisers. There are many cases where the advertisers want to work with people, but RUclips demonetizes the videos.
@@midge_gender_solek3314 I know, but I mean, shouldn't their criteria align with the criteria of the advertisers in the first place? I'd expect advertisers to complain if there's a mismatch.
I love Shostakovich (as somebody who is not too educated on contemporary classic) - His violin pieces really get me. Your explanation of his program notes reminded me of something my music teacher once told us. I come from the former GDR, which was socialist. The Mentor of my music teacher wrote a book on J.S. Bach but to get it published, he had to add a bullshit foreword, explaining how pro worker Bach war and that he was making music for the common man. Of course not a church musician. Well - his times kind of forced him to, but... you know. heart and soul of a worker, as can be proven with THIS line of music he wrote (do not remember the detail.) Everybody who had an ounce of musical knowledge knew that this was ideological crap. The book got approved. We also still had school books from before 1989 that were much more technical than the current books (about 2003ish). Our biology teacher enjoyed using the old books sometimes for very technical aspects. But he also pointed out the ideological discrepancies. Like one incredibly outdated section on pollution of rivers. That the fascist western ideologies simply cannot protect the environment and are the worst offenders in pollution and only a global cultural revolution to spread communism could save the earth. Then it went back to actually discussing pollution and what it did to plants - as could be perfectly seen in local, very communist rivers at that time ; ) While this is funny and ridiculous - there were real repercussions for people speaking up and such a blanket of misinformation and propaganda, that it was hard not to be isolated with an informed perspective. I love the subtle ways of protest. Like it was MANDATORY to get out for labor day and cheer - think North Korea Parades... To remind everybody of that, there were signs posted everywhere with slogans like: "Up! Up! Everybody Up for the First of May!" "Out! Out! Everybody to the streets on the First of May!" - the poster people put these also up on cemeteries and jails... you know, order is order ; ) Schostakovich was a genius to survive in that time. As you pointed out.
What an excellent analysis, witty, knowledgeable, and just downright smart. I feel privileged to have recently discovered your channel and it's such a refreshing change, honestly. I recommend it to people, just to check the brains on a guy, how well rounded can a guy get? Congrats and never stop!
This is a really good video. Its a real shame its difficult to boycott youtube. You should do a series where novice composers can submit their compositions to get some feedback from you.
The layers of Irony are deep and profound here.......A video about how a genius that wrote ironic music to avoid censorship being censored....and it just keeps on giving. Brilliant!
The very first time I listened to Shostakovich's 4th symphony (Kondrashin) full blast through my Sennheiser HD650 headphones, 16 minutes in I was producing so much adrenaline I thought I was going to have a heart attack. True story.
Hey everyone - I'm sure you've noticed that there's been a large gap between my videos recently. The reason is that I have a lot of other bits of work going on to pay the bills. Although my channel is still growing nicely, it's is not yet at the level where I can dedicate the sort of time I think it deserves and, as you've seen, I can hardly rely on YT to support me. So, if you have a bit of spare coin, I'd ask that you please consider become a Patron to support my channel. If not, don't worry. Thanks a lot for watching, regardless! www.patreon.com/Tantacrul
RUclips will be dead in the water before too long. Find a sponsor
Wonderful job with this! I recently conducted research on Shostakovich's 9th Symphony actually and it turns out he did originally start writing a grand ninth symphony. He even stated he wanted to write a piece complete with large orchestra and choir. Unfortunately, for reasons not known, he ceased work on this piece and didn't commence work on the symphony again until the summer of 1945. By that time, it was a completely different work. The Polish National Radio Symphony actually recorded the original first movement fragment that was discovered in the early 2000s. It was released under the title "Symphonic Movement".
I totally agree: despite the lack of certain proof, no serious musician today would roast Shostakovich's music on any grounds. He has definitely a place in musical History. I feel very sorry for not have watched this video without auto-censorship. Total disgrace u.u.
Sorry, but I just love your accent. And your sense of humour, but your voice is just overly relaxing to listen to. Lol
For anyone wanting the original video, it is still online, but "unlisted".
ruclips.net/video/fcqsujyq7Kc/видео.html
I'm loving and hating the irony here. Will there be a sequel entitled, "Composing With RUclips Watching"?
BRILLIANT tantacrul has to do this
YES!! We have corporate censorship ruling over our lives rigth now, we should fight back!!
Hope this idea doesn't go unnoticed!
I hope so.
Wow yes
RUclips deserves criticism for this. By censoring names and events that did happen instead of discouraging the ideologies they claim to oppose, they help them by avoiding the spread of good information about them.
That says something when they censor names that were involved in horrific atrocities just to keep the truth away from the viewers. Is RUclips censoring the word "Hol*domor" as well? (Just in case)
Their algorithm sucks and understands no context. It heard 'Stalin' and 'communism' and was flagged as whatever
Its almost like censorship doesnt work.
Yeah. Unfortunately, there is only so much they can do about advertiser stuff. However, suppressing its recommendations is a real problem. I suspect it's something that started happening in response to that kid video debacle, but it's not a solution they can keep applying to everything without it causing tangible harm to important discussions.
Not to play defense for youtube, but just so people know, all political content gets flagged. Of all things, even gay people talking about their stories gets flagged. So much for pride month.
Your video getting demonetized is quite ironic, considering that a large part of your video was about how Shostakovich thrived even though his music was censored
+
Yeah
Jolly Templar watch a movie called “Testimony” Stalin.....”In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, no works are banned. There are circumstances in which performance is......unwise.”
Kristyan Yochev I don’t think people who work at RUclips were bothered by his video. The majority of them would support the his message. RUclips/Google want to put ads on as many videos as possible. After all they are making money from ads as well. It is the shareholders and clients that force the platform to resorting to content curation.
@@rikwisselink-bijker Trust, but verify
Something that Google is not interested in doing for any of their videos on RUclips.
All jokes aside, RUclips's blanket blacklisting of historical content is absolutely despicable. The ability to openly and freely discuss, teach and analyse history is one of the most important aspects of human discourse, and whilst I accept that Google has the right to censor whatever they wish on their own platform, it pains me to see that this aspect of culture is being completely suppressed in a paranoid and stupid attempt to avoid internet scandals. Many brilliant smaller history channels have already been forced to leave, and many of the larger ones seem like they're about to do so. Whilst this goes on, RUclips actively promotes vapid, braindead and often directly harmful content, and cares nothing about the consequences, so long as they don't start drama. This is ironic, because many of the stars they promote produce far more drama than any historical content creators.
ThejollyFrenchman the thing is that it isn’t RUclips that is censoring these videos, but rather the advertisers that would refuse to show their ads on historic videos.
Honestly I agree, but it isn't RUclips completely at fault here, their content detection system is a bitch, but the rest of the reason videos get demonetized or "taken away" is due to bigger companies claiming ownership to copyrighted content in the videos regardless of if it was okay according to RUclips's guidelines, and when you ask to appeal it's not like there's an employee right there to the rescue who can completely understand your and the company's situation right away, so it ends up that the creator is f*cked. RUclips I'm pretty sure had the part in censoring things like this FOR the advertisers, they don't intend to blacklist the media, but rather a whole load of companies realized that videos like these were not good to "associate" with due to any reference to any bad or potentially controversial topic and figure. But RUclips's detection system is infamously not the best, but it serves what the companies want, the companies don't want to accidentally put their ad over a video regarding Stalin or Hitler despite the context. Therefore no ads and no money for the video. Yes it's stupid, but it's more of RUclips having no other choice with these large companies who provide the banknotes to creators.
edit: And honestly I can't tell you that this comparison between content that YT directly promotes and what happens to be not seen as good content is a good comparison, since it's not RUclips at fault for the direct loss of the videos of RUclipsrs, these YT originals and celebrities are directlu backed by RUclips themselves, and they trust these people, I imagine if they found enough good in those channels that were drained down the hole due to companies takinh advantage of flaws of the system, they'd go out and promote those channels, but there's only so many artists they can do that for and that's what RUclips RED is for.
RUclips has just got to start defending it's creators and their ability to make money, because it isn't some undetermined thing that takes them off the platform like many people think, a lot of RUclipsrs depend on the money coming in every video and when suddenly a whole portion of their videos aren't ad-friendly they lose a whole lot of what keeps them going and there would be no motivation. To be honest I don't know how much our criticisms and judgement will fix things because at the end of it all it's the companies who outright don't want to associate with "risky" content that are to blame, and at the further end, there are people like investors or customers who are out there to blame because they accuse the companies and put them in a negative light if they are associated with anything remotely risky or controversial , even on just one video. So really, there are a whole lot of hoops here and we can't just pinpoint it, and definitely not just to RUclips. RUclips could have done better though by realizing that creators are easily f*cked over and made the demonitization thing a whole lot more complex than just "Oh this one whole video contained one second of a hitler speech, was it educational? I dont care haha ha no more ads for you." Which really fucks a lot of people over. The consequence is the eventual downfall of RUclips's creator base, or a lessened dependence on it since nearly every noteable creator has a Patreon or something to help rather than be funded by the ads. Also flocking to sponsorships that at least understand that the content isn't too bad to associate with.
I think we should regulate Social media as a public service...
They don't people to find out about Stalin because they don't want other people to find out their using his method of censorship.
@@knixie The problem with that is that this isn't a problem of blatant censoring for the sake of stopping information from getting through, it's through the necessity that the advertisers don't want to put their ads on something that may be seen as threatening (even though it isn't.), and it's not like you couldn't post the video, it's just that you couldn't earn from it.
People keep mistaking it for being that type of censorship, the type Stalin used, but that is just absolutely an over-exaggeration of the whole situation.
The only things I'm quite sure you couldn't post as part of their guidelines are those that contain heavy violence and pornography, but I'm quite sure the former still exists out there, but if anything, no one is stopped from posting videos and information, RUclipsrs only have to do this and that to keep the video clean so RUclips doesn't detect it as having such problematic and threatening topics (Politics, war, genocide, H*tler, etc...) and they are able to keep monetization.
Edit: Yes I hate it, but who is to blame here, and is it really a large-enough concern to the world that it becomes a public service that is going to be even more heavily-regulated?
It's a problem between company, brands, and the RUclipsrs who decided to make a living off here.
I'm not blaming anyone, but I hope at some point RUclips figures out how wrong their detection system can be due to the lack of context awareness, and that it is driving away RUclipsrs who are otherwise bringing money in for them. Though, if it does become a sort of public service even more people are able to show backlash and perhaps good changes will come, but right now, it does not need to become that ridiculous.
Dude imagine if Jo.Stal himself walked out on a performance you had conducted of piece that you, yourself, had created. I doubt anyone's ever felt nerves like that before or since
You can feel your face disappearing from photographs as he's walking out.
The balls to finish the performance..
I would probably pass out. Shostakovich was such a fidgety person, good that he survived that. Eff Stalin.
I'd be sweating so hard you'd think there was a leak in the ceiling
And to have to keep going
Instead of bleeping Stalin's name, you should have just said "RUclips" instead.
I don't get it, you just said the same thing twice...
It's literally the same image
lol
Nah, that's too obvious.
@@cornupswar ba-BUM
This whole re-upload is so meta, and I love it. A piece of critique on censorship effectively being censored, and then Tantacrul having to find a way around the system which still abides by it. On top of this, he has to demonstrate the very act Shostakovich did, by finding loopholes to satisfy the algorithm's criteria, while finding a way at poking fun at it at the same time...
huh. quite a comparison. what does that say about youtube?
@@endlessmijot that it's slowly becoming part of the soviet revolution, just like the EUSSR.(articles 11,13,14)
@@endlessmijot RUclips: How dare you trick- oOh! Never mind Shostantacrul, what's this? A random video of some strange meme? I need to put it in everyone's recommended videos section, but I'll be back, I swear!
@@cleiven3533 Truth.
I was going to comment something to this effect, the irony is delicious.
Tantacrul: How to make videos with RUclips watching
I died when I read that. :)
11:42
A bit off on that part. In Leningrad, there was a hotel that Hitler was at before that he liked. He gave his commanders a deadline: he wants to be in that hotel, sipping wine on a certain day.
On said day, Shostakovich premiered his Seventh Symphony inside said hotel.
The commander in charge of Leningrad's defense launched a counter offensive at the same time as the concert, blaring the music live to the German soldiers.
A truly wonderful book about Shostakovich growing up under Stalin's thumb and composing music during the largest and bloodiest military siege of all time was written recently, called "Symphony for the city of the dead." Great read!
I’m reading that now, it’s very good
Don't you wonder why no one has made a good movie biography? There have been a couple of attempts but they're not good, one with Ben Kingsley, who couldn't look more unlike Dimitri
Oh my, his 9th sounds like he’s saying Jo.Stal is not a clown but the entire circus
Yes
I love that meme
I couldn't stop myself from laughing, thank god i wasn't in soviet russia
The fact you are doing this - fantastic.
The fact you have to do this - borderline dystopian
Yeah, I know :)
Having to redact parts of a discussion about creativity in the face of oppression, delivered in a purportedly "free" society, is both obviously ironic and genuinely frightening. I think that because this censorship is not coming from a government, we are more tolerant of it than we ought to be.
@@cooperised Corporate censorship usually cycle back to their bottom line. If RUclips continued implicitly promoting historical content, especially historical content ranging throughout the 20th century, advertisers interpret it as an inappropriate place for their ads. Imagine you're watching a video about fascism and a bacon-flavored Ritz Crisp & Thins ad pops in.
RUclips wants a clean, abstractly easygoing platform. Nothing inherently wrong with that in my opinion, as plenty of channels I watch pass in this definition/benchmark while some just barely skim the line. I just think they need some better categorization to give channels and advertisers more options, beyond "is this child-friendly or not?"
We do live in a world where corporate totalitarianism is the norm, though. I'm kinda pissed off that certain people who praise Orwell's 1984 don't see the parallels in neoliberal, corporate totalitarianism.
@@cornupswar Maybe it's just me and my absolute hate for advertisements, but ads take me completely out of the video and are not linked with the content I was watching in any way. They're the annoying 5 second wait that requires me to take my phone out of my pocket before continuing my enjoyment of the content I was watching. Also, youtube is voluntary for the audience, which usually means you're watching something you choose to. Which is a positive thing, so linking the idea of enjoyable content to your ads would actually be good.... Right?
ah yes, having to re-upload a video due to slight inconvenience leading to a lack of direct capital; the sure sign of 1984.
Great video, **Content Creator**! I sure enjoyed listening to you talk about **REDACTED**!
Jokes on you, youtube, now I can like this video TWICE.
FANCY
@@sajiwaji Not the time mate, not the time. Well it could be, but not the time...
joke's on youtube, now I'm patreon and blocked ALL ads !
I think this is the first time someone has really made me understand how instrumental music can have meaning and shown how to "understand" it.
I’ve sung Lady Macbeth a couple of times and I can say it is one of the best operas there are. The pacing is impeccable and the drama feels like a thriller. Really.
Spectacular piece.
yo ure an opera singer?
@@nwut yes
Tantacrul: *Literally talks about history*
RUclips: oh shoot he's a pazi, stop him!
*pazi
@@petemagnuson7357 ok I'll edit it
I don’t think it’s really tied into ideologies too much. I think it’s more of a broader subject, that being, the fact that these subjects are non advertiser friendly. To strengthen my argument take for example the times youtube censored transgender youtube channels and let anti-lgbtq ads run on its website.
S.Wilson: "- these subjects are non advertiser friendly"
Discovery Channel: ...
@@petemagnuson7357 Pansi*
I actually used this video for an essay about Shostakovich and Socialist Realism. Of course, I refered to you as "composer Martin Keary". Using "Tantacrul" as the name of a source in a college essay might raise some eyebrows. Great Video
I love citing RUclipsrs
"composer Martin Keary from MuseScore" my beloved
would love to read your essay!
Im using this video for an AP World project lol
I used this video for a biography about Shosty
Joseph Jo.Stal is my favorite JoJo character
I love and hate this so much just take my like
Hey, I like your music!
This comment killed me
Did not expect to see this here LMAO
Wasn't there an OVA about the Battle of Stalingrad?
Tantacrul ___
As an uneducated , and unsupervised child of the 1940's , I am impressed , by your 'take' on 'Shostakovitch, which was a favorite of my 'Polish Mother, and hated by my 'German Father, at the age of 77, I may finally understand the dynamics of my child hood. lol
why did you put ' before some words? That ' is just unnecessary!
@@1leon000 "German" as he called himself. (deeper meanings uncertain)
@@musicalaviator ooh
A child of a Polish mother (pozdrawiam) and a German father from the 40s... this is movieworthy; I'm just not sure if it's a romantic one, or a horror story...
@@aw2584 my oma was in the same boat, can verify that's the root of most of our family's issues.
What I love the most about Shostakovich is that he knows how to build an atmosphere, especially in his more intense pieces. I’m primarily a metalhead, and many Shostakovich pieces, such as Symphony 11 mvmt 2 create a similar intensity to many of my favorite metal songs. I also like the slower, more subtle pieces such as Op. 87 No. 4 Prelude, and I still hope to learn how to write like that
"Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It." must not be a very popular phrase over at RUclips HQ
I got multiple errors trying to like this comment, this specific comment, none of the others I tried to like in this comments section
It’s not-I know people who have worked there at high levels and they report a culture of total lack of creativity, drowning in money as the most important objective, run by advertising and marketing.
Ah yes. Soviet gulags and political purges are definitely equivalent to demonetization on a private platform.
@@SikerScrapyard bullshit, the party they supposedly support wants to tax the hell out of them. Have you ever bothered to find out how real leftists think about Google? By the way, you are commenting on their platform without risking anything. The Gulag comparisions are ridiculous.
Jack Marlow The private platform you’re talking about is the biggest platform for ‘free speech’ through videography, so yes it’s a big deal
Glad I saw this before youtube demonetized it.
So did I. I wish I had downloaded it as well, though.
I watched 30 minutes before it got demonetized. And now I’m watching it again.
Same
I luckily got the whole thing
Hey now he gets paid for 2 view from me
Serialism bores me. But that repeating BA-BUMMMM! phrase is the funniest shit I’ve ever heard.
Shostakovitch is definitely gonna be on my spotify search tomorrow.
It's like Shostakovich was anticipating PDQ Bach! ;-)
After hearing that how can anyone think this guy was a communist sympathizer...like holy shit the mockery is so obvious lol.
@@derrickmelton5844 It's so fucking sarcastic I love it.
Imagine the sowjet soldiers practicing their glorious march getting depicted as sissies by the "weakish" music and terrorized with this papaaaam out of tempo. Showing them they will lose tact if it is not given to them. He had balls. Reframing a parade into a gauntlet run.
I laughed so hard I nearly choked on water.
The fifth is what cements Shostakovich as an incredible composer to me. The fact that he was able to create something that both appeased the party and appealed to the people is fascinating and speaks volumes of his abilities as a composer.
at 7:34 there is a very specific change in the translation that i think should be adressed -
Maxim says - "Of course there was Fear in him, fear for his family, because how can you not be terrified? Only a fool would have no fear. A smart man that sees that people dissapear and families of you and me get shot"
How ironic - a video highlighting the impact of institutional censorship over the arts, is censored... Great job nonetheless, Tantacrul!
Demonetization isn't censorship
@@TheRugFace it flags the video and basically lowers its recommendations, so less people watch it
@@unnamed7398 still not censorship.
@@TheRugFace Then what the fuck is it, surprise "you're not allowed to talk about things and make money" mechanics?
He can't monetise the video, that's not censorship. It's very different from censorship. Even if it gets shared less in recommendations, its still not censorship.
It's not being done for ideological reasons, youtube is trying to satiate the demands of advertisers to not have their ads on certain content. They obviously can't go manually through every video, so flag certain words which may lend themselves to non advertiser friendly content. The list of words is definitely too broad, and obviously it ignores all important context, however youtube are clearly less willing to piss off advertisers than creators.
I don't know what you're talking about, history repeating itself, or antifascists being the real fascists. That feels like the words of someone with no historical perspective.
This video is a RUclips artist's creative response to justified criticism
Tantacrul: *puts history and knowledge into a video*
RUclips: "We don't do that here"
Tantacrul: *subtlety implies the Nazis were victims and scapegoats by making their code name "patsies"*
RUclips: *nods in approval*
Best way to control the people is to keep them uninformed and ignorant
Ruht wroh, looks like the RUclips overmind is slacking, he linked to books about the topic in the description. I don't like censorship at all but, when relying on an algorithm that they can't even directly enforce changes on, it does seem more likely that ignorance is key here rather than actual malice.
so what you’re saying is, essentially, whilst writing his 9th, he was shitposting about the government.
Oh, it wasn't a shitpost. It was a quality troll.
1.) patriotism floats on criticism
2.) cover yourself in patriotism
3.) play
The fact that RUclips creators are having to go through these kind of lengths really speaks volumes about the absurdity of Google's current censorship system. They (Google) should be wholly ashamed.
Trumpet: *plays 2 ascending notes*
Tank: *turns main gun towards camera* DID I HEAR A CALL TO ACTION?!?!
Minor inaccuracy at 21:40:
The "Sch" comes from the German way of writing his name "Schostakowitsch", not from the "ch" at the end.
Otherwise great video! Reminded me, that I really should listen to more of Shostakovich's music.
Education gets demonetized. I don't know what's worse; the fact that you have to jump through these hoops in order to create your educational content, or the fact that I'm not surprised RUclips has festered - oops - I mean fostered an environment where this is necessary. I appreciate your work and hope that you never stop.
Yeah but don't worry, anyone pushing harmful conspiracy theories will lose a couple cents in advertising revenue :p
Susan Stalinski
Companies don't want their products advertised and associated with violence or dictators and shit, so RUclips like a good dog it is essentially refuses to pay authors of such videos to appeal these companies. Capitalism, just like communism, has censorship - its just not concentrated in the hands of governments, moving to corporations instead.
As someone who lives in constant fear of death, I found the works near the end of his life incredibly chilling and now I need to find something uplifting to do.
I don´t know why you would have to pioneer some new composing technique to be well regarded as a composer. I don´t even buy that he should be regarded as a great pioneer because of his predicament of writing music in the Soviet union, I think his raw talent as a composer is enough. There is no one else I would rather listen to than Shostakovich. There is so much emotion in his symphonies.
I'm from the Nordic countries, but married to an Austrian. At my wedding nine years ago, my friends where constantly talking about Harry Potter and coming up with really dumb jokes that they laughed at hysterically. It took me a long time to finally ask them what the hell was up with all the Harry Potter talk. Turns out, they where afraid of accidentally mentioning 'the war', so they had decided to substitute all war names, terms and events for their equivalents from the Harry Potter universe. Rowling must have had history lessons when she was dreaming up her magical universe, because it works one-to-one! No faux pas was made. Only downside was that they came across as obnoxiously devout Harry Potter fans, because of course it instantly became so much fun to 'translate' names, history lessons and (ugh) deeply inappropriate jokes that they couldn't stop. I still can't unhear it when my wife listens to the audiobooks.
All this to say: next time just do it all in Harry Potter-talk or some other well-known fantasy universe. For instance, I've heard that the famous wizard Arnold Schoenberg was a muggle who considered himself to be 'the chosen one'. As if to spite the conviction of He-who-must-not-be-named and his Death-Eaters that all wizarding muggles are squibs that can only do magic by stealing it from pure-bloods, Schoenberg invented a whole new system for spell casting that would outlast the horrors of the coming war. Indeed, Schoenberg saw himself not as a muggle, and might even have been a Death-Eater - proud as he was of the accomplishments of his country's historic accomplishments in the art of magic - where it not for the persecutions that ultimately culminated in "The Muggle-Born Registration Commission". He held it's accomplishments and values in much higher regards than that of any other nation....
AHA!!! You love that, huh? Well, I also love your videos...
I don't understand what the second paragraph is referring to irl, can anyone hint it at me?
I think muggle ≈ Jew/repressed people, but the chosen one part blows that idea out :/
@@micaelgarcia1576 Arnold Schoenberg considers himself the Chosen one, and thinks his nation is better then all others. Who else thought that?
The answer is Hitler.
@@gebs123 ohhh thanks!
@@gebs123 Franz Beckenbauer belongs here, as well - I always remember him saying, that Germany would now (after reuniting) win it all, just as Schoenberg foresaw (upsi!) Germany being (thanks to his 'invention') the leading music nation for the next 100 years. Love the Harry Potter analogies :D
The first classical music record I ever bought was Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony played by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. It was the first American recording and I got it new in 1972 or 1973. I played it over and over again. I loved it. It was something completely new to me. I was more into Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin at the time. I was only fourteen or fifteen. I'm glad I took the risk buying a Shostakovich symphony rather than another Deep Purple record.
I agree that nobody sounds like Shostakovich. You only have to hear a few bars of his music to know who composed it.
I too prefer his chamber music most of the time, though some of his symphonies leave me in tears, they are so moving. In my opinion, he is head and shoulders above most of the modern composers mentioned in the video. Who ever wastes their time listening to Schoenberg, for instance? And when you take into account the terrible situation he had to work in, his accomplishments are even more awe inspiring.
"A RUclips artist's response to just criticism."
Aah the irony.
Best comment so far
Love it!!!
I like how we had the music that sounded like "Corporate Music" during the "let's be Jo.Stal" Part.
One thread runs through nearly all of Shostakovich's output. Whatever the repression and whatever his intentions, he was not only unmistakable, but extremely competent, almost seemingly effortlessly so. Many regard the 5th symphony as one of his best, even though it was apparently a response to "just criticism". It is still a cracking good piece of music, and maybe apart from Tchaikosvky, Shostakovich was perhaps the most "Russian" of all orchestral composers. I was privileged to have seen his son Maxim conduct two of his father's symphonies at the London Festival Hall in the early 1970s. It was one of the most electrifying concerts I ever attended.
Wow, you saw Maxim conduct? I've heard some of his recordings online before. What I wouldn't give to hear them in person!!
Well, it *is* one of his best. Listen to the finale of the 4th movement, with that bombastically triumphant theme of the people or whatever, under that relentless string of high As.
"You will celebrate the success of the party! Be happy! You are the Soviet!" The theme of enforced celebration is so obvious that I cannot believe it made it past the Party censors.
The irony of this is not lost on me.
Arguably, while a massive ball ache, the way that this panned out serves as a stark commentary on the issues surrounding state/corporate censorship.
Joseph Jo.Stal. was my favorite JoJo for sure.
CommunistOrc too bad Heaven's Door is Rohan's stand
*[RA RA RASPUTIN]*
*
His hamon breathing technique helped him early on in the war, but his stand, Hermit Red, was what led to the final victory.
Top 10 reasons why the soviet union was the best thing in the world by WatchJoJo.
"Hey dude this symphony has tones that sound almost like your moking the soviet union"
"nah fam thats just your opinion"
"but-"
"you wanted a happy tune. I made it. What else do you want."
AlmightyJello ... I want you to not mock me. OFF TO THE GULAG WITH YOU. NOW I WILL TAKE THAT MUSIC THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Orchestra, play this for me
@@Tonatsi Alexa, play the new March "Jo.Stal is a poopy head". I want to listen and find out if he was mocking me.
What is interesting is how he wasn't executed. People make fun of Stalin of executing people, but Shostakovich wasn't executed.
Liggliluff He was going to be, but his agent himself was shipped off instead
1:55
Shostakovich showcasing his uncanny ability to make his piano sound like a low string section.
quite!
I agree with you, music doesn't HAVE to be experimental, it just has to either be interesting to listen to or to think about. As long as you enjoy a piece, it's good in my book.
Unless it's promoting the patzis or Jo.Stal, then we might have a problem.
After watching this, I went off a bought a complete set of his symphonies, which I've been enjoying ever since. Thanks.
The terrible adventures of Jo.Stal and the Pazzies
F****sm is Unbreakable
100th
I love your videos so much! I'm a Master Musicology student and it's so great to see others talking about academic music in the same way I do! It really eliminates the "stuffy" stereotype of classical music.
Bleeping Jo.Stal reminds me of people saying "you-know-who" in Harry Potter. Ridiculous this had to be done. Thanks for doing it though. "Composing despite the YT algorithm" lol
Hearing the ending of his Violin Concerto at the end of the video put the biggest smile on my face.
Shosti is and always has been one of my many heroes, along with many other incredible musicians. Thank you for putting out a video that does him and his works the justice they have always deserved.
RUclips censoring crearly educational content like this is incredibly ironic. This is what happens when you hold a monopoly.
Exactly. But what can be done against this monopoly?
RUclips censoring work in part about being censored.
Hahahah, *I’m in danger.*
@@o.sunsfamily We can try to keep Lena Khan as the head of the ftc now that she’s successfully won their antitrust case against google
You got me to watch this without adblock AND recommend to a friend AND get some Shostakovich music. Russian here, never recalled his music to be so good. Great video, thank you.
Thanks for introducing me to my now favourite composer. I watched this over a year ago and haven't stopped listening to Shostakovich since. Almost every day.
It’s so sad that Shostakovich had to go through all these hardships and troubles. My father distantly knew him and tells me that he used to drink vodka when he woke up and when he ate breakfast and why he would do this is so saddening. The fact that he was suppressed so much and that he’s underrated as a composer is so unfortunate.
RUclips: "Let's punish people for talking about history "
Sterling Nykamp let's punish CERTAIN people for talking about history
@@nicktaylor1902 Well, you aren't wrong
@@nicktaylor1902 yeah the OTHER people, who talk about the history WE don't like. All the while letting some speak about THEIR interpretation of history
I mean, at least we can bask in the irony of Stalin being removed from images and history.
Which allows radical partisans to moe easily control the narritive.
Irony is fun and all....
HAhAH! How does it feel, Mr. (REDACTED)! HOW DO YOU LIKE IT.
They will eliminate Stalin and preach how great Communism is,these fucking cunts at RUclips ane other media.Fuck Them!Send me to Gulag,filthy RUclips,I dare you!Tell your algorythm to share some space woth Susan to share some of the CNN's cock.
@@Bronze_Age_Sea_Person wtf, camon anime picture guy, you wouldnt last a week in a gulag, so is better not to ask.
Oh, the absolute irony.
22:44 Don’t forget his cello concerto! That’s also very clearly in the 8th quartet
His contemporaries mostly just came up with intellectual novelties. Shostakovich wrote MUSIC. It was genuine classical music for and of ordinary people, not for the toffs. I have long been a BIG fan of Shostakovich, the most autobiographical of all composers. Thanks for this upload - and massive shame on YouPravda!
Oh the [redacted] irony of a video about [redacted] being destroyed by [redacted].
Really capitalised on the opportunity presented to you with this re-upload.
It's also ironic that this video, where you criticize and condemn Stalin and the USSR, was censored to appease capitalist advertisers.
Shostakovich's 9th symphony is like whistling and a walk in the park 😂 i love his sarcasm!!
there's just something about shostakovich's music that appeals to me.
23:30 he looks so happy
this smile on his dead face is probably as ironic as his whole life and career
@Augie Chapin The pain of having to lie to yourself the entire life
Tantacrul is the Shostakovich of our time.
Ayyy boi
@@Smickleschannel *It's been 3000 years.*
I can't believe this had to be reuploaded. I watched your video when it was first uploaded, and it was a detailed and thoughtful explanation of why you love the composer and his music. Anything to do with the war was mentioned in passing, because ultimately it was a video about the music and what influenced its creation. Did you have no way of challenging this at all?
I think he could, but it would most likely take weeks before youtube did anything about it - meanwhile most of the people would have already seen the video without ads. So he'd still lose.
Generic modern composers: "we live in a society" or "awww my life sucks" or "I love you and feel the need to musically inform everyone"
Shostakovich: "Don't mind me trolling the leader of half a continent lol"
lmao
bruh lmfao
2.) cover yourself in patriotism
3.) criticize half the continent
@@samtinkle9076 4.) may 1941 "heaven stairway" incident
dude just trolled the man of steel and his posse
On the other hand it's sort of funny that modern musical industry also forces artists to compose in an oversimplified, tangible way so the normal citizen would understand it - just like mr. Stalin did. Of course it uses much more sophisticated form of violence - financial force, but stil, we might say that Socialist Realism was indeed (and that's what Walter Benjamin brilliantly observed in the 30s) an anticipation of the road "popculture" crosseed - since the World War II. Of course you might close yourself in a small niche and compose the way you want, but your influence on the general public will be almost that small as in the Stalinist period. BTW - I love Shostakowicz musical imagination.
You are talking as if the 'modern music industry' as some INGSOC-style boogeyman. I'd say take a look at the history of rock, and how that moves along to create what we know as 'pop culture.' Conspiracy theories don't make you look good.
the first image i got from his ninth symphony was ducklings walking behind their mother xD
In respect to your urge to reupload I decided to rewatch. Never worry to present viewers with history
This was great. Would love to see another on Prokofiev's attempt at the same. Always feel like his 5th is a massive middle finger, particularly the alternation between optimistic Yankee themes in the 2nd movement and Russian folk themes invaded by military ones. Third movement is spooky as heck too. Plus plenty of material just in how the final movement is basically the ET soundtrack.
I think this is one of the best youtube videos of all time, it definitely is my top 5. I've rarely seen such great production and research go into a video.
Wow, I was sure I was the only person on the planet whose favorite quartet was Shostakovich's 9th. Glad to find out I was wrong. Great video!
Just commenting to promote your video in the algorithm :)
yeppppppppppppppppppppp same
Ive been following you for a little while and i think this is probably your best video. I learned so much, im not a music buff so seeing how shastocovich's music was pulled between to forces really helps me understand how the notes and techniques create the musical ideas and how those ideas are used. Its phenomanol. And dear god the irony of you being censored- in a video about the dangerers of censorship. Id say you couldnt make it up but....
You're an American, right? I chuckled at the way you mildly misspelled words the way you would pronounce them. Can't even blame you.
Your selection of his music is wonderful and I really appreciated some of your analysis. I'm not a professional musician, but at least a fellow Shostakovich admirer. I think you really captured something very important in this short amount of time about beautiful, tragic, sarcastic music written during the time of enormous pressure of ideology and stupidity. There are some anachronisms in your story, from Red Terror, which happened before Stalin's reign (as opposed to purges), to Schnittke, not to mention Pokemon, which were probably a radical example outside the realm of socialist realism.
But what I really want to say besides thanking you for this video and nitpicking is that I think the story of Muddle Instead of Music is more complex and interesting than how you present it.
I read somewhere that at the performance 1936 Stalin was annoyed because he heard people in the audience call Shostakovich a genius, but unfortunately I can't remember where. If that is true, that jealousy might add another dimension to the story. And another dimension is Stalin's dislike to eroticism in art, and he was not alone. Before Stalin's reaction, the opera was very well received by the critics in the USSR and abroad, but not in New York in 1935, where Shostakovich was called “the foremost composer of pornographic music in the history of the opera”, and the New York Times music critic was outraged by “effrontery and his lack of self-criticism” (quotes from an English-language edition of Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator by Solomon Volkov, incidentally, the author The Testament, but that's beside the point).
It's interesting that this American performance happened just after the Hays Code in 1934, and it seemed that everywhere around the worlds some people were suddenly more concerned about propriety and moral wholesomeness in different ways: in the USA, in Nazi Germany, and a little later in the USSR. The original novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov doesn't have any explicit erotic scenes at all, as far as I remember. Shostakovich filled them in, so to speak, but the times of artistic experimentation and relative freedom at home had changed.
Thanks!
You'll probably never read this, but I really wanted to thank you for this video- you've got me interested in the context behind classical music. I'm a 16 year old clarinettist who wants to play in an orchestra someday, and for a while I've intended on looking more deeply into classical music to get some more background knowledge, both to prepare for uni and to gain a deeper appreciation of some of my favourite works.
Shostakovich wasn't even on my radar, but he's now my favourite composer (previously it was Dvorak and Brahms, but I'm mainly limited by the works I get to play because I don't really know what to look for if I want to find some other classical music to listen to). I got testimony for my 16th birthday as a result of this video, and I've really enjoyed reading it.
I also wanted to ask where you got the scores from, I can't find them anywhere and I'd really like to play some of his pieces when I get the time. The only parts I can find are the clarinet solos in the 9th symphony (which are used as audition pieces), but I'd really like to try out some other excerpts, too.
Again, thank you so much for this incredible video!
try imslp for sheet music, or if push comes to shove just play along with score videos on youtube
There is a russion online library that has almost all of Shostakovich's scores free to access, I do not remember its name though
I've always loved the stark contrast of the works from Shostakovich. From the extravagance of his valses to the satire in his symphonies and the comedy of his piano pieces. He truely was a joker in the court of Stalin (and I love that so much).
Shostakovich finally getting some of the recognition he Absolutely Deserves. Thank you.
Damn, I didn't even notice this was 26 minutes long.
Probably one of the most fascinating videos I've seen in a while, thank you.
I've never seen your videos before but I've always been obsessed with shostakovich and the music he created under this scrutiny. However one important piece of evidence that really showed this double meaning to his music was in his fifth symphony where he quotes himself covertly because he had not yet published the work that he was quoting and continually worked and modified it until his very late period. The work he quotes is opus 136 which I was very fortunate to see performed live while very little is written on this piece I was able to find papers about it on a russian music publication that further proved this was the case and it is very obviously not a patriotic piece. Thanks for this wonderful video teaching people the true genius of shostakovich.
Thanks very much!
The visualisation of the 9th against military imagery is honestly brilliant, I’ve never really had classical compositions make me laugh before. Such a fantastic video, and a wonderful breakdown of a remarkable artist.
What a quality video! Were there really people who didn't love Shostakovitch? In defense of the symphonies: Babi Yar.
Yes, the string quartets are pure heaven!
“How to create videos with RUclips watching”
How about if instead of everyone having to self censor themselves in ridiculous ways to satisfy a stupid algorithm: what if every big channel just included the forbidden words in the video and metadata for every video for a week or two? If almost every video watched is demonetized maybe even RUclips would start to feel the pain?
As nice as this idea is, it's difficult to spread the message far enough for this to work. That is unless if you organize it like 3 months in advance and get some people with massive social circles in on it.
Even if big channels did that, the contracts for many of the companies that are refusing to have their ads on videos mentioning those things are already signed, so unless a high volume of videos across the platform suddenly started all using those keywords, they probably wouldn't feel a real squeeze. Plus, some of those big channels are just network television programs that migrated over and basically pushed a lot of money to RUclips to get priority coverage and exposure to keep alfoat in the changing media landscape.
RUclips wouldn't care, and the creators involved would go broke. That's all that would happen.
It's owned by alphabet inc. I'm pretty sure they can afford 2 weeks without Adsense. The RUclipsrs might not be able to fair so well on the other hand
RUclips still plays ads over the videos, they just don't pay the creators
That excerpt from 15th Quartet you picked is is in my opinion the most gut wrenching music he ever wrote. When I listened to it the first time i literally felt like I was being cut to pieces with a dull instrument and couldn't help but break out into tears. Something that can happen to me with music from time to time, but back then was a completely new experience to me.
I actually love Shostakovich's 5th symphony
And I had no idea that in the west he had a reputation like you describe!
I think my first exposure to the music of Shostakovich was in 1985, at a concert featuring Mistislav Rostropovich as soloist (one of the Haydn concertos) and conductor (the 5th). He's a composer that has always reached me directly, always close to me. I seem to identify with his musical language. I bought and read Testimony by Solomon Volkov around 1989 or 90. I remember catching a few performances of his quartets by the Brodsky Quartet in London, and then a few years later by the Borodin Quartet in Madrid. Among the performances I remember best are the Piano Trio N. 2 by the Nash Ensemble at Wigmore Hall in London, the 7th Symphony conducted by Gennadi Rohzdestvensky in Madrid, and Lady MacBeth of Mitensk, with Rostropovich again, at the Teatro Real in Madrid. In 2017 I bought and rread the novel The Noise of Time, by Julian Barnes. I generally disagree with how he treats Shostokovich there, but that's just the way I see him. If I had to choose ten composers to save their musical output, Shostakovich would be one of the five or so 20th century composers on my list.
Is that an actual request by advertisers? To not be associated with videos depicting reality?
Advertising and Reality have been at odds with each-other since the inception of advertising.
RUclips is so worried about controversial topic *might* get through a lot of my favorite channels get demonized.
Like Forgotten Weapons: All the channel is, is a firearm auctioneer employee showing *really* rare, or unusual firearms.
I have learned so much about history and engineering from that channel.
The entire channel is demonized because it shows the firearms (they are almost never shot on that channel).
capitalism rules : do less, cost less, risk less
RUclips decides what's "advertiser-friendly", not advertisers. There are many cases where the advertisers want to work with people, but RUclips demonetizes the videos.
@@midge_gender_solek3314 I know, but I mean, shouldn't their criteria align with the criteria of the advertisers in the first place? I'd expect advertisers to complain if there's a mismatch.
I love Shostakovich (as somebody who is not too educated on contemporary classic) - His violin pieces really get me.
Your explanation of his program notes reminded me of something my music teacher once told us. I come from the former GDR, which was socialist. The Mentor of my music teacher wrote a book on J.S. Bach but to get it published, he had to add a bullshit foreword, explaining how pro worker Bach war and that he was making music for the common man. Of course not a church musician. Well - his times kind of forced him to, but... you know. heart and soul of a worker, as can be proven with THIS line of music he wrote (do not remember the detail.) Everybody who had an ounce of musical knowledge knew that this was ideological crap. The book got approved.
We also still had school books from before 1989 that were much more technical than the current books (about 2003ish). Our biology teacher enjoyed using the old books sometimes for very technical aspects. But he also pointed out the ideological discrepancies. Like one incredibly outdated section on pollution of rivers. That the fascist western ideologies simply cannot protect the environment and are the worst offenders in pollution and only a global cultural revolution to spread communism could save the earth. Then it went back to actually discussing pollution and what it did to plants - as could be perfectly seen in local, very communist rivers at that time ; ) While this is funny and ridiculous - there were real repercussions for people speaking up and such a blanket of misinformation and propaganda, that it was hard not to be isolated with an informed perspective. I love the subtle ways of protest. Like it was MANDATORY to get out for labor day and cheer - think North Korea Parades... To remind everybody of that, there were signs posted everywhere with slogans like: "Up! Up! Everybody Up for the First of May!" "Out! Out! Everybody to the streets on the First of May!" - the poster people put these also up on cemeteries and jails... you know, order is order ; )
Schostakovich was a genius to survive in that time. As you pointed out.
I'm really glad you reuploaded this. It's a great video.
Thanks a lot
What an excellent analysis, witty, knowledgeable, and just downright smart. I feel privileged to have recently discovered your channel and it's such a refreshing change, honestly. I recommend it to people, just to check the brains on a guy, how well rounded can a guy get? Congrats and never stop!
The last 15 seconds of the violin concerto sent shivers down my spine! One of the best concertos ever composed in my view!
9:29 uhm that excerpt makes his music sound amazing actually
This is a really good video. Its a real shame its difficult to boycott youtube. You should do a series where novice composers can submit their compositions to get some feedback from you.
The layers of Irony are deep and profound here.......A video about how a genius that wrote ironic music to avoid censorship being censored....and it just keeps on giving. Brilliant!
Those last four minutes. Never expected my eyes to tear up watching one of those video essays. Great job!
The very first time I listened to Shostakovich's 4th symphony (Kondrashin) full blast through my Sennheiser HD650 headphones, 16 minutes in I was producing so much adrenaline I thought I was going to have a heart attack. True story.