What is the debate about Dmitri Shostakovich?

Answer 1

In the West, there still exists debate about the political allegiances that Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich held during his life. After Shostakovich's death, author Solomon Volkov published Testimony, Shostakovich's memoirs, which scathingly criticized Communist political and musical authorities. However, the book's authenticity has been hotly debated, sparking in the West a decades-long controversy about Shostakovich's political allegiances: specifically, whether Shostakovich was a loyal Communist as he outwardly appeared (a view supported by Laurel E. Fay and Richard Taruskin), or whether he harbored dissenting sentiments (a view supported by Elizabeth Wilson and Ian MacDonald). Russian musicologists have largely dismissed this controversy, however, and most post-USSR books published about Shostakovich -- including those by Sofia Khentova, along with many primary sources like Isaak Glikman's commentary on Shostakovich's private letters -- acknowledge the composer as both a private and public dissenting voice.