Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 December 17

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December 17

russian jazz

I heard about a Russian composer who aquired American jazz scores and wrote a piece in the style of those scores, without ever having listened to any jazz music. Apparently the piece became quite famous.

Does anyone know the title or composer of that piece? Margalob (talk) 05:47, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

@Margalob: Although I'm not 100% sure, I do believe you may be referring to Dmitri Shostakovich and his Jazz Suites: [1] which have become very famous in the classical genre. The story fits since he lived under a very repressive regime; and was a genius. Best. Maineartists (talk) 14:19, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

I found an article on the website of Classic FM called Dmitri Shostakovich: Jazz Suites, which comments: "...they bear the same relationship to authentic jazz as socks and sandals do to high fashion. This is deeply sugary music, created in direct response to the Soviet government’s demand that more be done to reflect this emerging genre". It continues: "Did Shostakovich compose these suites in a deliberately tongue-in-cheek way, aware of the fact that they contain the kind of jazz that would make Miles Davis turn in his grave? Or was he musically naive, limited by the Russian communists from the true sound of what he was meant to be emulating? We’ll never know for sure..." Alansplodge (talk) 23:05, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

Yes, I've never found anything jazzy in them, but leave the title aside and they remain extremely likeable pieces of music. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:10, 18 December 2016 (UTC)

@JackofOz: It was 1934 Russia. What kind of "Jazz" were you expecting? Maineartists (talk) 21:18, 18 December 2016 (UTC)

That's a hard question to answer. Let's just say that if I played the music to someone who'd never heard it before, and asked them to state what genre/s of music it was, I doubt "jazz" would be on anyone's list. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 23:42, 18 December 2016 (UTC)

Apparently, the 1934 state-sponsored competition was intended to produce a distinctly Soviet jazz style which they called "red jazz", because the American version was said to be redolent of "homosexuality and bourgeois eroticism". [2] Under the circumstances, Shostakovich did pretty well, as refusal would probably have caused official displeasure. The parts most often heard are from the slightly later Suite number 2, notably the March No 1 and the Waltz No 2. Alansplodge (talk) 14:21, 20 December 2016 (UTC)