Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad

by M.T. Anderson

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. Trapped between the Nazi invading force and the Soviet government itself was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, writing a symphony to rouse, rally, eulogize, and commemorate his fellow citizens: the Leningrad Symphony. 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. Symphony for the City of the Dead is a masterwork thrillingly told and impeccably researched by National Book Award–winning author M. T. Anderson.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Music, Biography, Russia, War, Historical

456 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 2015

About the author

Matthew Tobin Anderson (M. T. Anderson), (1968- ) is an author, primarily of picture books for children and novels for young adults. Anderson lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

His picture books include Handel Who Knew What He Liked; Strange Mr. Satie; The Serpent Came to Gloucester; and Me, All Alone, at the End of the World. He has written such young adult books as Thirsty, Burger Wuss, Feed, The Game of Sunken Places, and Octavian Nothing. For middle grader readers, his novels include Whales on Stilts: M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales and its sequel, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Dem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every now and then a book comes along that blows me away and Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad is one of those books.
A riveting story of the music of composer Dimitri Shostakovich along with an extensively researched
history of the siege of Leningrad.

I was vaguely aware of this composer and to be honest had only a little interest in reading this book, I had an audio copy downloaded for such a long time and never felt compelled to listen to it until a friend bought me a hard copy as a Christmas Gift and I was forced to read it and from the first chapter I was captivated by a book I thought I would have absolutely no interest in but its a fascinating read, extremely well researched and packed full of photographs, maps and images which add immensely to the overall reading experience.

" 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. After three years of bombardment and starvation, culminating in the bitterly cold winter of 1943-44, more than a million citizens lost their lives. In order to survive, many residents burned books, furniture and floorboards to keep warm; they ate family pets and, eventually, each other. In the midst of this bloodshed, Dimitri Shostakovich composed the Leningrad Symphony, a piece that both rallied and eulogized his fellow citizens ... and which would come to play a surprising part in the Allies' eventual victory

I love reading Russian History and this book ticked every box for me in terms of a 5 star read, the book reads like a thriller, is historically informative and packed full of remarkable photographs and images. I was shocked, saddened, I exclaimed out loud while reading. I reread chapters several times and underlined so many passages. I tried to slow down my reading in order to prolong the agony of finishing but alas the book ended. I know this is a book I will reread in the future and still learn something new from it. I loved reading about the the life works of Shostakovich and enjoyed listening to his music afterwards.

Every time I read about the horrors of World War I and World War II, I am shocked and saddened. The people of Leningrad suffered horribly during the siege and this book really brings their suffering to the forefront.

Some shocking facts taken from this book ...............

******27 million Soviet citizens died during the conflict more in other words that the dead of all the other nations combined. The total dead in World War II numbered roughly fifty million. Around 13.6 percent of the Soviet population had died. The siege of Leningrad alone cost approximately one and a half million Russian lives- more than the combined World War II casualties of the Americans and the British.

******After Stalin's death the labour camps began quietly to release their prisioners. About eight million of their twelve million prisioners were free and found themselves wandering through their home cities in the old, stained clothes they had been wearing years before when they were torn from their families.

*** LET NO ONE FORGET. LET NOTHING BE FORGOTTEN ***

I recommend this book for lovers of music and those who have an interest in the Siege of Leningrad.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cats, you guys. THIS BOOK. It's a masterpiece. At once a fascinating biography, a testament to the power of music, and a riveting World War II story that I bet your teens don't know much about (I certainly didn't). Your performing arts kids, your WWII and history buffs, DON'T LET THEM MISS IT.

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad history is very clearly explained starting with Bloody Sunday in 1905 and continuing through the Siege of Leningrad. The history presented is woven around the central figure Dimitri Shostakovich(1906-1975). You get history and biography together. Little of his life after the years of the siege is presented. The central focus is nevertheless the role of music, and particularly Shostakovich’s in the siege.

I have seen it stated that this book was for young adults. It is not a simplified version. History is not "cleaned-up" for the ears of the young. The history is clearly stated, interestingly told and unbiased. That which is not definitively known is stated as such. Rumors are presented only for what they are. I would not classify this as a young adult book; it is suitable for young adults and adults equally well. I never felt I was being talked down to.

Believe it or not, there is humor, although the siege is also depicted in all its ghastliness.

The author reads his own audiobook. For me he uses too much dramatization, but I believe this will be appreciated by others. He is easy to follow and that is the most important in my view. His pronunciation of Russian terms flow easily.

Bits of the Seventh Symphony, aka the Leningrad Symphony, are played in the audiobook. It is I important to “hear with your ears” exactly what is being explained with words. For this reason I would recommend the audiobook over the printed book.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Shostakovich, Stalin, the Russian Revolution, the Leningrad Siege and the importance/role/value of music.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're like me and struggle to read history, make it a cultural history like this one, where the history is told sideways through the life and work of an artist, in this case the composer Dmitri Shostakovich and his hometown of Leningrad, up until and during the Siege itself. The publisher is also YA and while this book is considered YA, I didn't find it overly simplified in its discussion of the music or the history. The author does a fantastic job narrating his own work, bringing a vibrance to the political and musical worlds of Shostakovich.

One of my goals this year was to better understand how Russia moved from WWI into the 1950s and still remain a powerhouse despite - or as I'm learning on top of - the devastation to the country and its people. The background of this story displays many of the missteps made by the Soviet government - really mostly Stalin - on the German front in particular, but also in dealing with their own citizens. One somewhat sordid argument this author uncovers is that it was Stalin's history of food deprivation that may have trained the citizens of Leningrad to survive what should have been an impossible solution. I don't want to give him that much credit, but it was an interesting tangent.

And who will now go on a Shostakovich listening spree? It's me!

[Francisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best things about this book for me is how it shed light on a period of Russian history that I had heard about but had never really understood on a gut level. The book took me from the 1917 Russian Revolution when Czar Nicholas II was overthrown to the take over by Lenin a few months later and on to the reign of Stalin and the siege of Leningrad by the Nazi army. History is told best in the particular. This turbulent and painful period of Russian history is woven around the life story of a city (Leningrad) and of a man (Dmitri Shostakovich). Shostakovich, a child at the time of the Russian revolution is world-famous by the time the Nazis invade Russia. How does a person create under the oppression of a ruthless government and then under the famine and daily threat of death of war? I put the book down a couple of times to listen first to Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony (composed when Stalin was at his worst) and then to his Seventh Symphony (when the city was being starved to death by the Nazis). With the Fifth Symphony, there were suspicions that Shostakovich's music was a condemnation of the Stalin regime and with the Seventh people pointed the various parts they thought signified hope and the ability of the Russian people to survive and even triumph against fascism. It was a great experience to read the book and listen to how the music reflected history. But it was also good to let the music be what my heart made it to be. Something that, I learned from reading the book, Shostakovich would not be opposed to me doing. My favorite part of the book was this mixture of history, biography and musical scholarship that the book wove into a personal experience. There was this amalgamation of disparate images that somehow coexisted coherently in the book (like Shostakovich's music) - the horrors of starvation, the raw evil of Stalin and the German army, the creative power of the individual intent on creating the ephemeral beauty of sound.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-constructed non-fiction that weaves together a biography of Dmitri Shostakovich with the key events in the history of the Soviet Union during his lifetime. It portrays how events influenced his music, and how his music, in turn, influenced and inspired the people. It tells of the rise of Lenin, Stalin’s Great Terror, the German invasion of Russia during WWII, the Siege of Leningrad, and the Cold War.

The author discusses Shostakovich’s many compositions, focusing on details of his writing his Seventh Symphony, which became known as the Leningrad Symphony. He gives readers a glimpse into the mindset of the Russian people as they endured one hardship after the next. He does not spare the gruesome details of starvation, deaths, and horrific circumstances experienced during the three-year Siege.

I appreciated the photos, which are inserted into the narrative at appropriate points to provide a visual of what has been described. One of the highlights of the book is a gripping set piece of the performance of the Leningrad Symphony during the Siege – simply amazing! It portrays the power of music to lift spirits, inspire hope, and unite people in a common cause.

This book offers a captivating account of a brilliant composer and the brutal times in which he lived. The author must occasionally infer motives and construct a possible series of events due to the lack of verifiable information. If you read the voluminous footnotes, you will get a good idea of why the author chose to interpret specific actions the way he did. I read the book, then listened to the symphony.

4.5

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still reeling from this book, and think I will be for quite a while. It was the kind of book that I had to put down often, just to be able to process the horror that the Russian people experienced. There's all kinds of horror in here: at the hands of the state, at the hands of the Germans, at the hands of people you thought were your friends. Anderson does an amazing job of bringing the realities of what it must have been like to live through Stalin's purges and the siege of Leningrad to life. It's incredibly hard to read, but also important to understand this time of history.

I found myself trying to bring all conversations back to Soviet Russia while reading this book. I wanted people to talk to about it; I wanted them to understand. I think Anderson using Shostakovich as the conduit to tell this story was particularly brilliant. There's a lot about Soviet history in here, but there's also a lot about art, and how an artist who is beloved by both the West and his own country fared during this time.

Another thing this book deals with is how tricky it is to find the truth. There's a lot about why it's hard to know for sure details of Shostakovich's thoughts on Communism, or anything else (living under an extremely totalitarian regime where being honest could get you killed is a huge impediment to speaking your mind, obviously). There's also a lot about the complexities of living under such a regime. People don't always fit neatly into categories like "hero" and "villain" and Anderson explores that really well and shows how multifaceted people had to be to survive.

I am somewhat surprised that this is a teen book. While I think everyone who sits down and reads this book will enjoy it, it's a really niche audience that will find it interesting without some hand-selling. (When I described it to people while reading it, they all looked at me like they were surprised anyone would want to read a book on this topic.) I'm worried that adults will skip this because it's a teen book, and that lots of teens won't think it will sound interesting, or that its size will be daunting. But I hope I'm wrong. I think everyone could benefit from reading this book--it will deepen your knowledge of WWII, of Russian history, of Dmitri Shostakovich, and of humanity.

[Max Berendsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly readable combination of a history of the siege of Leningrad and a biography of Dmitri Shostakovich. It shows the reader the status which Shostakovich deserves amongst the great modern composers, being perhaps the greatest of the twentieth century.

A book on musical history that's able to satisfy every category of history reader!

[Dov Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a long book and a library book, too, and I didn't read it as carefully as I likely would have had I owned it. Maybe I will get it out of the library again at some point. That said, I enjoyed what I read, and learned quite a bit, not just about Shostakovich, but about the shifting conditions. I was fascinated by how happy Shostakovich was in his early life though there was a lot of hardship. It seemed happiness in adverse conditions was not an unlikely outcome when people feel connected to each other and connected to a cause. And then, in contrast, this book presents the misery and torment of every-day life when people are faced with demented leadership that does its best to undermine and eat away at the fabric of trust between people and their loved ones. Not that there aren't always troubles on a personal and political level in any given community. But the severity of the persecution under Stalin, and the ways it tore people's words apart, was vividly and painfully drawn.

I think this book does something interesting as a YA historical biography. It lets the reader know at regular intervals that the information used to write this novel might not be accurate for so many reasons. For example, concerning primary source materials with Shostakovich writing (letters, statements made about his art) 1) Who knows when and if Shostakovich is speaking for himself; 2) who knows when and if the things being written were written in coded language, 3) or, at least, who knows the truth when things are likely written in the way one writes when one doesn't want to be the next target in a long line of artists tortured and/or killed by the leaders and followers of a sadistic, blood-thirsty, regime.

One thing that is interesting about reading this. We often forget how complicated truth is outside of these extreme circumstances (and how much more complex in and among them.) And Anderson is sort of guiding his readers through his process (teaching) of looking at source material, and noting that one can't look at it simply for information, but must really ask a lot of questions about the context in which things are written. (We might tell different versions of the same story to our lover, our sister, our friend. During war-time and during peace-time.)

Anyway, this is a funny book (definitely not "funny haha".) It defies categories a bit. I wonder what the YA readership is like. I imagine this might turn out to be a book read more by not so young adults than younger ones, but who knows. And who is to say where YA ends and nsya begins. I think it would be a great read also for first years in college who are getting deeper into the work of writing researched papers and essays.

It also offers ground for meditation on the role of art (and education) in nation-building. Where does propaganda end and art begin? Is it the role of art to undermine authority, to teach, to un-teach, to make us question the symbols we take for granted? ...

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Most symphonies...are built only of tones, nonlinguistic sounds vibrating in the air, and somehow, we take them to heart and feel that they speak to us more deeply than words ever could."

4 Stars // 85%
There are a lot of classical music-related books that are not for everyone. The Noise of Time, for example, is a similar book, yet it's not as accessible as Symphony for the City of the Dead, which stands out in the fact that anyone can fall in love with it, whether classical musician or not. It's written in uniquely beautiful, engaging prose that keeps the reader hooked, with images that serve to strengthen the text and add to the atmosphere. In short, this book packs the facts of nonfiction with the depth and rhetoric of fiction in an excellent biography of who is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers—Dmitri Shostakovich.



One thing that struck me was how fluently M.T. Anderson described Shostakovich's music and by extension the meaning of it. Shostakovich, like many other composers during the rapidly changing, politically charged twentieth-century, encoded hidden messages into every note and phrase, and Anderson analyzes them with ease, making sense of what some would call "muddle instead of music". Through his similes and elegant prose, one can almost hear Shostakovich's tense, frantic compositions playing in the background, as if Anderson's words are being backed by a soundtrack.

I also admire Anderson's ability to pull the reader into the narrative. Many nonfiction books seem to push you back as if telling you, "You don't belong in this story; this is the life and history of someone else!" Anderson, however, gives the reader room to ponder over dates and events, letting them freely wonder what they would do if they were in x situation. He doesn't push facts as much as pose questions and scenarios and probable answers, and thus Symphony for the City of the Dead becomes an intellectual playground as stimulating and evocative as listening to an actual classical music performance.



This book is about many things: how we cope with tragedy, how art heals, and how Dmitri Shostakovich saved millions of people. But in the end, it's about music and its transforming power. It's about the multilayered meanings of a single note. It's about how music can shape politics and vice versa and how composers play a duet with history itself. If you have ever felt something twinge in your heart from a simple melody, this is the book for you.

[Chris Burd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should give myself more time to compose an appropriate review, but I want so badly to hand everyone a copy of this book that I'm going to rush to get the word out. Biography, history, philosophy and sociology all collide in this brilliant book - and I am not going to be able to say enough good things about it.

During a semester studying abroad in St. Petersburg, I first heard the story of Shostakovich and his 7th symphony. That story has stuck with me for 20 years, and this book is able to articulate why in a way that I never could.

While the title indicates that the book is about this particular symphony, it is about so much more. The reader is taken into the world of Stalinist Russia in the 30s, with it's constant fear. It is a brilliant historical analysis of Russia's role in WW II, including some of Stalin's most baffling decisions. This book is also an extremely sensitive biography of a composer who was hailed as a hero, a traitor and coward throughout the course of his life - but was really just a man - a son, a brother, a husband and a father - who was just trying to survive. The author also digs into the question of what makes us human - and how far can we be pushed until our humanity gives out.

Ultimately, this book is about the power of music and art. And it is nothing short of brilliant. The writing itself is poetry - taking the reader through the triumph, fear, and horrors of the narrative. In the worst moments of the story, your stomach rolls with disgust. In the best moments, goosebumps and tears break out.

If you read my other book reviews, you will understand that I am not prone to this level of hyperbole in my reviews - but this may be one of the three best books I have ever read.


[I listened to this book as an audiobook - and while I will be picking up the hardcover version to keep in my library, I actually strongly recommend the audiobook for this one. The author has chosen to narrate his own work, and he puts as much emotion and poetry into the narration as he did into the writing.]

[Vanessa Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it's only taken me over six months to write this review. When I first started this book, I didn't really know what to expect, but it exceeded my expectations in so many ways!

The pacing and organization were extremely well-done. Some nonfiction books are super dry and draggy, but this one held my interest so well. Intertwining Shostakovich's story with and the story of Russian in the early 20th century made for a riveting read, and the suspense was high! I feared for Shostakovich as he lived through the pre-war horrors, but then when the war came, things got even worse for him. Also, the way the book was structured around the 7th Symphony was quite lovely, but this book isn't just focused on that single symphony. The author gives a lot of context that truly makes the story surrounding that symphony even more powerful.

And on the research side of things ... wow. The author did an outstanding job balancing reports and truth. There's a lot of confusion on what Shosty actually believed compared to what he said, especially after the war, and the author didn't enforce his own opinion about what Shosty actually believed. The author simply presented the facts and allowed the reader to come to your own conclusions.

On another note, the pictures interspersed through the book were a wonderful addition. I loved seeing all the different photos of Shosty, and the photos of Leningrad were just heart-wrenching.

I think the one major problem keeping this book from becoming extremely popular is its classification. As a YA-labeled book, most people who would really enjoy this (history nerds and music nerds), miss out. And beyond that, there's stuff in here I'm not sure I'd classify as appropriate for YA. The Siege of Leningrad was gruesome, and there was some stuff in this book that was probably some of the most disturbing and scary accounts I've ever read. There were also a few curse words, which I could've done without.

But beyond a perhaps-incorrect labeling and some uncomfortable scenes/wording, this book spins the amazing story of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony and the city of Leningrad. Music history people out there, you will love this, and you won't think about Shostakovich the same ever again!

[Zak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, sad and moving. This historical account of the role Shostakovich and his 7th Symphony played during the Siege of Leningrad is a true testament to the strength of the human spirit. That I got this from a 2 dollar shop makes it probably one of the best bargains of my life.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels like it's been a good year for nonfiction. This, the Steve Sheinkin... This is a powerful piece of work about the life of the Russian composer Shostakovich, who wrote the titular symphony for Leningrad - the City of the Dead. It's almost exhausting in its comprehensiveness. It's detailed and meticulously told and very interesting at the same time; it also retains a degree of author presence, particularly when pointing out how unreliable certain sources are.

It's a funny thing, that author presence: normally, it irks me a lot. Here, in a nonfiction work, it seems almost necessary to keep reminding readers that the world depicted here is something they can barely picture, much less comprehend:

When we read tales of atrocity, we all want to be the ones who stood firm, who would not bend, who shouted the truth in the face of the dictator... It is easy for us all to imagine we are heroes when we are sitting in our kitchens, dreaming of distant suffering.

Symphony for the City of the Dead doesn't sanitize history at all. The descriptions of the siege of Leningrad - the descriptions of Stalin's purges that precede that - are horrifying. And in between the author sprinkles descriptions of Shostakovich's symphony: beautiful descriptions, ones that personify and depict, in precise, lyrical detail, the amazing complexity of the piece.

There's also wonderful attention paid to what Shostakovich himself reportedly said about his works, and while that's underlined as unreliable itself, there are enough instances where he said that his work is what you make of it, and that if it wasn't understood he considered himself at fault, to thrill me. YES. The author is dead, etc.

This is a masterful piece of writing. I don't think it's perfect; the post-war Stalin era is almost glossed over and sometimes the authorial insertions are overbearing, but overall: this is a fantastic work.

[Robert Sheard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was terrific. Hitting both my love of classical music and one of my favorite reading subjects (WWII), this recounts what is an almost unbelievable story of the Russian people during the siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), and the writing of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony during the siege. And the audiobook includes snippets of the famous symphony as Anderson describes the work's creation.

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 5 out of 5]

In general, I’ve been reviewing all the books that really move me in full. Obviously, I’m not doing that for Symphony for the City of the Dead, mostly because I’ve never really been sure how to write a comprehensive review for nonfiction, since that seems to come down in large measure more on the accuracy of the information which I can’t really speak to.

In all my years studying history, I’ve always been most fascinated by the World War II era. One of my other favorite bits of history to study was that of Russia. Clearly, Symphony for the City of the Dead was up my alley. What added to its appeal and success is that M.T. Anderson is a writer of fictions, so he tells history in a way that’s not dry like so many nonfiction tomes can be. It’s alive and made me cry quite a bit.

I’ve not actually studied the Siege of Leningrad much, so I learned a lot here. I’m also now tempted to dive into that incredibly long history of the siege that’s been on my to-read list since college. I probably won’t do it soon, but someday.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary achievement. A penetrating gaze into the not-too-distant past into a chapter of history I imagine most people understand only in broadest brushstrokes, and through the haze of propaganda. The humanity and the horror of the people who lived under 20th Century European despotism is laid bare here, as the talents and survival of one nervous, brilliant composer are caught in the tug-of-war between Stalin's schizophrenically incompatible objectives, and then between Stalin and Hitler, and then between the USSR and the Cold War West. The full depravity of what humans are capable of, and the heights of courage, endurance, and heroic sacrifice they can reach in hopeless extremity, are laid side-by-side. Completely gripping, utterly heartbreaking, painstakingly researched, nuanced, revelatory. This should be required reading for every American before they enter the ballot box. If only.

[Iona Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular. I was blown away by this fascinating, rich, deeply heartfelt and affecting account of the life of the composer Dmitri Shostakovich and in particular of his Seventh Symphony, otherwise known as the Leningrad Symphony, written in and for his home city during its 900-day siege. In order to explain the context of the siege the author has to explain the two Russian Revolutions, Lenin and the Bolsheviks, Stalin and his purges and the rise of Nazism, and manages to do it without the book being a thousand pages. Instead it’s all clear and compelling and detailed. Some of those details are devastating: the story of the premiere of the symphony in Leningrad, played by starving musicians when they were too weak to walk, is one of them; I was also completely haunted by the fact that Radio Leningrad had a general custom of playing a metronome when not broadcasting programming. As the siege progressed, as the people died and less and less material was broadcast, the metronome kept on ticking, marking out time for the dead.

Be warned that this doesn’t shrink from details of what was done during Stalin’s purges and during the siege, but it would be a lesser book if it did. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would compare this book to The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia in that it's marketed toward an upper-level YA reader in the nonfiction vein, yet both are too convoluted and dense to be interesting for most teen readers.

I was interested in reading it for the history of the time period, the slice of life of musician Shostakovich, and how it all affected St. Petersburg/Leningrad all for learning more but for also having visited Russia (though not St. Petersburg) but seeing Lenin's body and knowing his history.

This cannot be marketed toward teens and would take a special reader. Those reading nonfiction would prefer an easier narrative. And just like Fleming's, both are clearly well-researched but the presentation would need to be tweaked in order to get most teens to sustain their interest.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent book detailing the life of Shostakovich, encompassing the Russian Revolution, the rise of Stalin, living through the Stalin Terror years and then living through the Great Patriotic War (for Soviets, the war started in 1941, because they like to forget about the first two years, when they collaborated with Hitler). Being such a gifted composer was a mixed blessing during Stalinist times because it put a target on his back, yet at the same time he lived a life of comparative privilege. Shostakovich was devoted to his friends and family and quite humble despite his enormous gift. He navigated this difficult time as best he could and it makes for fascinating reading. I loved all of the archival photos and the anecdotes and first person accounts. My one irritation with the book is that the author doesn't differentiate between "Soviet" and "Russian" -- they're not the same thing and to use the two terms interchangeably erases the suffering perpetrated on the many minorities living in the Soviet Union.

[Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um excelente livro sobre escolhas difíceis em tempos conturbados. A narrtiva une a história do cerco de Leninegrado com a vida melancólica de Shostakovich e das suas dolorosas sinfonias. Um retrato cruel e minucioso sobre a fome, o desespero, a tirania e a beleza, ainda que a beleza ceda à dor. Muito bem escrito, despretensioso, imparcial e com um sentido de oportunidade excelente quando entrelaça as duas narrativas. Uma excelente obra para os amantes de Shostakovich e para todos aqueles que se apressam a julgar o homem, sem saberem se teriam feito diferente. "Let no one forget. Let nothing be forgottem" (Olga Berggolts) serve para a alegria, a dor e o silêncio que fica quando a sétima sinfonia de Shostakovich termina e nos deixa a sós com o passado.

[Book Riot Community]

It's only out today, but Symphony for the City of the Dead has already made this year's National Book Award longlist. As it should - Anderson has written an amazing account of the atrocities that occurred in Leningrad when Hitler's forces surrounded the city, in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in Western history. Composer Dmitri Shostakovich was trapped in the fighting, and went on to write an amazing symphony that lifted spirits and beautifully commemorated the dead. This is a fascinating book, and should not be missed!


Tune in to our weekly podcast dedicated to all things new books, All The Books: http://bookriot.com/category/all-the-...

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, so, SO good! Why only 4.5 Stars, you ask? I reserve 5 star ratings for books I will read over and over. And while this book was illuminating, educating and astonishing - i'm likely good with the one reading.

Still - everyone who thinks they know all about WW2, or wants to know more - should read (or listen to) this! The author did a thorough job of researching and an excellent job of presenting. You feel like you're walking the streets of St. Petersburg/Leningrad or Moscow. Though I've not lived most of what takes place in this book, I could picture it in vivid detail. I could feel the bone chilling cold. Taste the fear of saying the wrong thing. Imagine keeping your head down and pasting on a smile. I could literally hear parts of Shostakovich's symphony's playing in the background! {ok, for reals I could cause it was included in the audiobook, but still... ;)} The message of the importance of music in keeping these people alive, giving them a sense of hope, is palpable.

This story is rich with imagery of life in Russia, particularly the life of composer Dmitri Shostakovich in Russia. I'm not musically inclined and have little musical ability, that said - i was engrossed and mesmerized by all that occurred during his life. Without getting into politics, government and social issues, there is still so much to unpack here! Add those details in and there's even more. My children listened with me at various points. The teen history lover was as captivated as I was. The younger kids had the misfortune of being present for some seriously graphic parts and were pretty freaked out. Life was not pretty then, and very unlike the privileged first world Republic they live in now. There were some disturbing parts for sure, so heads up on that.

I feel like Russian history was glossed over when I was in school in the 1990's. So much was unknown at that time; it was well hidden by those who didn't wish us to know the details. As I've learned about these things as an adult - in my 30's instead of my pre-teen & teenage years; I am astounded and appalled at all that went on.

I strongly encourage everyone to read or listen to this book! Music lover or not, it shows the influence different aspects have on our life. Music being one of them.

The importance of learning from the past is to keep mistakes from being repeated; that is a heavy responsibility we must all bear.

[Vedika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really wasn't bad - the first third though, was, torturous. To really pull through that first leg of the book and gain momentum was extremely difficult. But after I finished the book, I've realised that it really wasn't that bad honestly.

[Jessica Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

ALL THE STARS!!!!!!!

Fascinating and beautifully written. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

[Steve Smits · Rating 3 out of 5]

Symphony for the City of the Dead is a well-researched history and political analysis of the Soviet government's impact on the arts centered around Dmitri Shostakovich and his work, particularly his masterful seventh symphony -- the Leningrad Symphony. The book touches deeply on the manipulation of the arts and artists to further the political and ideological aims of the Communist state. Shostakovich, recognized then and now as one of the 20th century's most accomplished composers, was profoundly impacted by the state's attempts at controlling artistic content, particularly after Stalin took power. The use of art in the Soviet system as propaganda intended to sway the public's acceptance of the state's ideology is the major theme of this book and is told quite well.

After the Bolshevik's took power in 1917 a spirit of modernism took hold among the artistic elite. In the visual, literary and performing arts there emerged the so-called Futurist movement which optimistically exalted the arrival of the "new" society that discarded the corrupt and exploitive political, economic and social systems of the past. Shostakovich was a part of this scene, writing musical compositions, film scores for message-driven films and avant-garde operas. His renown soon became international.

This rosy optimism began to fade after Stalin's assumption of power following Lenin's death. His iron-handed approach to advance the Soviet state wrought incredible suffering and death to millions of people through the brutal efforts to collectivize farming and the five-year industrial plans. By the 1930's Stalin's tyrannical control over Soviet society became massively draconian and oppressive. His paranoid persecution of purported "enemies of the state" resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands and the exile to forced labor of millions. Intellectuals in all fields were caught up in this era of the "Great Terror"; those not persecuted were consumed by anxiety that they might be on the list of enemies and it decidedly affected their art. The book's depiction of Soviet brutality is quite chilling.

Shostakovich fell prey to the regime's campaign against "formalistic" art in the aftermath of the debut of his opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District". The work premiered to ecstatic reviews until it was seen in person by Stalin who, to the shock and dread of the composer, walked out in mid-performance. Shortly after, the critical reviews changed completely in tone and the work was deemed "a mess instead of music". In the Soviet Union of the 30's such criticism meant much more than disappointment; it could mean the life or freedom of the composer.

The invasion of Soviet Russia by the Nazi's in 1941 changed Shostakovich's standing dramtically. The city of Leningrad was surrounded by the German army within months. The city was continually shelled and bombed and was cut off from food and fuel resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths through starvation. It was Hitler's overt plan to starve the city into non-existence. The book's portrayal of the suffering of the city's residents details the horrors they endured. Shostakovich resided in Leningrad in the early months of its isolation, but later was evacuated to the east with most of his family. He had begun already to compose the seventh symphony and completed the work in exile. The piece is massive in scope and length. It was understood to convey the devastation inflicted by the German invaders and to praise the city's heroic resistance ending, by the fourth movement, in foreseeing the inevitable triumph of Leningrad and Mother Russia over the fascist enemy. The symphony brought a huge boost to the morale of the country and, after being smuggled circuitously out of the country, was performed throughout the West where it was perceived as a tribute to Russian courage and sacrifice. Here again the relationship of art and politics in the 20th century is seen. After the war and until Stalin's death in 1953 Shostakovich was again subjected to the state's political criticism of his work, most likely because his work was so revered in the West that by then had become the enemy of the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

The book touches well on the major themes and events from the onset of the Soviet state to the post war era. Its depth of analysis and description makes it a worthwhile read. It is marred, however, by quite a bit of sloppy and inartful writing. The author resorts to many one-sentence paragraphs that seem glib and curt. He makes frequent use of odd-sounding allusions -- "With the kind of grotesque, Tintin-esque whimsy that somehow always dogs espionage like a puppy hot on the heels of a murderous thug,...." There are too many cliches, e.g. "she watched him like a hawk" and so on. When his misplaced manuscript was found on the dirty bathroom floor of the train carrying his family to escape from besieged Leningrad... "they discovered that the score was almost entirely unstained. The lesson here: a true masterpiece can marinate in filth and still come out clean". Not major, but he mentions of allied planes shipped to Russia as "B-52's"; I think they were B-25's. One hopes that further editing will clean up this distracting writing because the book makes an important contribution to the story of the Soviet Union's use and misuse of artists.

One, of course, should listen to the symphony before and after reading the book. It is a deeply evocative, if profoundly complex, work.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My visit to Leningrad in 1989 still haunts me in large part because I had been completely ignorant of the huge role the Russians played in WWII and the enormous price they paid. All over Russia old WWII vets sat, in their uniforms covered with medals, in parks and on street corners and were paid great respect. M. T. Anderson's story about Shostakovich's life and the importance of his music to Russians and the war effort was another eye-opener for me. He spares no detail in describing Stalin's purges or the horrors of the siege of Leningrad, so this wasn't an easy read. But, I finished the book with a new admiration for the Russian people, their passion for the arts and how music has helped them survive and rise above dictators and Nazis. This book is shelved in our library's adult collection, however, I could recommend it to older teens with an interest in history and music. Powerful stuff!

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important story. I learned more than I expected. Then I started freaking out about some parallels between this and our world right now. Then I was blinded by hope. That’s important.

[Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on A Frolic Through Fiction

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

As much as I love learning about history, reading books about it can be a bit hit or miss. Especially when they’re as long as this.

Which side was this book on?

Well…both, actually. It was both a hit AND miss.

It took me awhile to get into. Like with most books, I went into this knowing barely what it was about, and somehow missed the fact it was a biography. Not just that, but a biography about a composer. And that was the main reason for this book being half a “miss”.

Don’t get me wrong, I did find reading about Dmitri Shostakovich’s life interesting. But there would be phases in this book where it focused heavily on the effect of symphonies, what they mean to people, how every person takes a different message from them. And as someone who isn’t a music buff at all, quite frankly I just… didn’t care.

And yet, as soon as this book started talking about the war more, I was hooked. It always feels weird to say I “love” reading about history and wars, considering they’re such horrendous stories, but I do. I love learning what happened and the effects of it all. So while the music talk didn’t grab my attention, the war certainly did. I learned how Hitler manipulated Stalin, how the siege of Leningrad happened, how people were forced to eat boiled belts, or even turn to cannibalism. Of course, I expected the war stories to be deeply saddening, but it was even more so just because of how detailed it was.

Plus there’s the photos. All the way through, there’s photos dotted around linking in with the story, showing you a glimpse into people’s family lives, or demonstrating the effects of war, or even showcasing some of the propaganda posters. For me – as someone who isn’t quite used to reading nonfiction yet – it helped bring that humanity back into the book. It’s not just a story, these events actually happened, and we’re reminded so with these photos.

I have to appreciate how well researched this is. In the back, there’s pages upon pages of source notes, listed as a bibliography. And I mean, there’s PAGES of them (and I thought my bibliographies for college were bad, phew) . There are even points in the book where the author stops and considers whether we can trust a source or not – which sounds super dull, but it actually fits so well.

“We should be cautious of believing absolutely the testimony of a natural storyteller who claimed that in her infancy, she was nursed by a bear.”

So yes, this book is a very hard balance for me. It seems to switch between storytelling and info-dumping, music centred and war related – and when your interests only lie on one side of that, it’s a fine line between interest and boredom. Luckily, I did actually end up enjoying this book. And while I know nonfiction history books are a hard market for most people, I do implore you to pick up this book even if you have the slightest interest.

No one can sum up this book better than the author already did:

“This is a tale of microfilm canisters and secret police, of Communists and Capitalists, of battles lost and wars won. It is the tale of a utopian dream that turned into a dystopian nightmare. It is the tale of Dimitri Shostakovich and of his beloved city, Leningrad. But at its heart, it is a story about the power of music and its meanings – a story of secret messages and double-speak, and of how music itself is a code: how music coaxes people to endure unthinkable tragedy; how it allows us to whisper between the prison bars when we cannot speak aloud; how it can still comfort the suffering, saying “whatever has befallen you – you are not alone.”

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5-wow, this is an amazing piece of nonfiction and so much that I didn’t know about. I’m not familiar with the siege of Leningrad in the WWII story but it was a massive undertaking and the toll on the Soviet people were staggering. I loved that it centered on Shostakovich and his symphonies, especially his 7th, the Leningrad Symphony, that he wrote while it was under German attack and starvation was rampant. It attests to the power of music on the human spirit. During the book I got chills when they described the Leningrad Symphony’s debut to the city that needed to hear it the most. It brought life back to them.

Shostakovich said speaking about the symphony, “it’s not about Leningrad under siege, it’s about the Leningrad that Stalin destroyed and that Hitler merely finished off.”

Highly recommend but know it’s a hard one to read at times.