It is hard not to map biographical meaning onto Shostakovich’s music. His extraordinary life invites it. As do his own (often conflicting) comments. The symphonies in particular offer us a tantalising glimpse into his psyche – his complex relationship with the Soviet regime, his life as a member of a very precarious elite. Wavering between wild energy, wry humor and haunting desolation, they are a rich source of inference and contradiction. But, more than any of that, they demonstrate his utter devotion to music. He simply had to compose, even when the world around him was falling to pieces.
