Shostakovich Ten Little Pieces

Most of us can listen to and create whatever music we like.

KEYPAD BEEPS

We've got that freedom.

WHISPERS: Not everyone is so lucky.

MUSIC: Symphony No 10 In E Minor by Dmitri Shostakovich

Joseph Stalin, dictator, the Soviet Union.

From the 1930s, for over two decades,

the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich

lived in fear of this man.

Stalin decided what music his people should listen to.

Everyone was watched.

Any composer who didn't conform

risked joining the millions of other people

that Stalin had thrown into prison or unmarked graves.

"If they cut off both my hands,

"I will compose with the pen

"between my teeth."

That was Shostakovich's answer.

And so he kept on composing,

and when his music was praised, he was a national hero.

When it offended Stalin's regime,

he slept with his bags packed,

waiting for the secret police to knock at his door.

SYMPHONY CONTINUES

In 1953, Stalin died,

and Shostakovich was able to finish this piece -

his 10th Symphony.

And, to me, it feels as if the music and emotion

that had been hidden away in his head

suddenly came flooding out.

Some people think this is actually an orchestral portrait

of Stalin himself,

but, whatever it is,

it sounds full of panic and terror and anger.

MARCHING FOOTSTEPS

What can you hear? Is it the knock at the door in the dead of night?

Knives sharpening? Bursts of gunfire?

Hearts racing faster?

SILENCE FALLS

MATCH FLARES

The Stalin's death didn't bring complete musical freedom

for Shostakovich,

but it was a moment in his life where he could say

what he wanted, out loud, in music.

SYMPHONY RESUMES