Shostakovich and his World

This book is a collection of essays and other documents that appear for the first time in English: letters from a young "Mitia" to his mother, a questionnaire from 1927 that Shostokovich answered about his tastes in the arts and the way he experienced the creative process, and also previosly unknown letters to Stalin that shed new light on the musician´s position within the Soviet artistic elite. The essays delve into neglected aspects of Shotakovich´s legacy: choreography, costumes, décor in his ballets; his activities as pedagogue; the practice of serialism; etc.