Friday, November 8, 2024 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST
Thirty-five years after its dismantling, the Berlin Wall continues to hold a place in memory as a symbol of the Cold War. The collective output of a generation of writers, artists, and musicians on both sides of the Iron Curtain reveals a complex and often unexpected mix of conflicted nationalist loyalties, ideological optimism, and artistic triumph in the face of profound challenge. Guarneri Hall’s three-day festival commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 will explore the music of the Cold War and its context through the socio-political lenses of both the west and the east. With the help of leading topical experts, each event will illuminate less conventionally understood aspects of the era’s music and provide a balanced view of the forces that influenced its composers.
About This Event
No composer is more often associated with Russian political repression than Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). In 1960, with Cold War tensions approaching their high point, Shostakovich composed two profoundly contrasting works that together demonstrate an incredible range of expression. In Satires, Pictures of the Past, Op. 109, Shostakovich tested the limits of artistic freedom with parodies of old Russian tales and a sardonic polka to mock the absurdities of the Soviet bureaucracy. His next work, the String Quartet #8, is dedicated to the victims of fascism and war, but further expresses the trauma Shostakovich felt after joining the Communist party.
Dance on a Tightrope, written in 1993 by Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1933), demonstrates the flourishing of music in the immediate post-Soviet era. It’s been described as “a metaphor for life as risk, and art as flight into another existence…”
University of Chicago Graham School instructor Jennifer A. Lind will discuss the events leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, with emphasis on how everyday Germans and creative artists persevered throughout decades of authoritarian government. Special attention will be paid to how the fall of the Berlin Wall was received differently between East and West Germany, Eastern and Western Europe, and the United States.
Program
Dmitri Shostakovich: Satires, Pictures of the Past Op. 109
Sofia Gubaidulina: Dancer on a Tightrope
Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110
Artists: Laura Strickling, soprano; Steven Beck, piano; Elizabeth Fayette, Maria Ioudenitch and Adé Williams, violins; Brian Hong, viola; Alex Hersh, cello
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59 people are attending Sounds of the Cold War: Between Laughter and Tears
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