Chamberlin Free Public Library Catalog
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Symphony for the city of the dead : Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad /

By: Material type: TextTextEdition: First editionDescription: 456 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9780763668181
  • 0763668184
Subject(s): Genre/Form: DDC classification:
  • 780.92 B 23
LOC classification:
  • ML3930.S4995 A53 2015
Contents:
The death of yesterday -- The birth of tomorrow -- Life is getting merrier -- Friendship -- Barbarossa -- The approach -- The first movement -- The second movement -- The third movement -- Fables, stories -- Flight -- Railway car no. 7 -- Kuibyshev and Leningrad -- An optimistic Shostakovich -- The city of the dead -- My music is my weapon -- The road of life -- Symphony for the city of the dead -- Cold war and thaw.
Summary: In September 1941, Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht surrounded Leningrad in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in Western history -- almost three years of bombardment and starvation that culminated in the harsh winter of 1943-1944. More than a million citizens perished. Survivors recall corpses littering the frozen streets, their relatives having neither the means nor the strength to bury them. Residents burned books, furniture, and floorboards to keep warm. They ate family pets and -- eventually -- one another to stay alive. Trapped between the Nazi invading force and the Soviet government itself was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who would write a symphony that roused, rallied, eulogized, and commemorated his fellow citizens -- the Leningrad Symphony, which came to occupy a surprising place of prominence in the eventual Allied victory. This is the true story of a city under siege: the triumph of bravery and defiance in the face of terrifying odds. It is also a look at the power and layered meaning of music in beleaguered lives.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode
NF NF Chamberlin Free Public Library Nonfiction 780.92 AND (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 34480000539472

Includes bibliographical references (pages 436-442) and index.

The death of yesterday -- The birth of tomorrow -- Life is getting merrier -- Friendship -- Barbarossa -- The approach -- The first movement -- The second movement -- The third movement -- Fables, stories -- Flight -- Railway car no. 7 -- Kuibyshev and Leningrad -- An optimistic Shostakovich -- The city of the dead -- My music is my weapon -- The road of life -- Symphony for the city of the dead -- Cold war and thaw.

In September 1941, Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht surrounded Leningrad in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in Western history -- almost three years of bombardment and starvation that culminated in the harsh winter of 1943-1944. More than a million citizens perished. Survivors recall corpses littering the frozen streets, their relatives having neither the means nor the strength to bury them. Residents burned books, furniture, and floorboards to keep warm. They ate family pets and -- eventually -- one another to stay alive. Trapped between the Nazi invading force and the Soviet government itself was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who would write a symphony that roused, rallied, eulogized, and commemorated his fellow citizens -- the Leningrad Symphony, which came to occupy a surprising place of prominence in the eventual Allied victory. This is the true story of a city under siege: the triumph of bravery and defiance in the face of terrifying odds. It is also a look at the power and layered meaning of music in beleaguered lives.

Ages 14-17.

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