shostakovich

[capnreverb]

im going to get a tatoo of him. should i go for the young or the old? I am partial to the later years when he wore those real thick glasses. i know this is a dumb question, but it's a permanent choice.

[rojo]

Well, I wouldn`t feel right about influencing you on such a personal decision. But I find Shostakovich to be a fairly original choice. Then again, I don`t know anything about the popularity of tattoo subjects, nor tattoos in general...

Makes me curious about your choice of Shostakovich though...have you a favourite work by him? I think his 5th Symphony is my fave.

[capnreverb]

I am really only a fan of chamber music, and his output for this medium is the most consistant of the 20th century. There might be better works out there, but not a complete output. His viola sonata to the SQ's to the Trio are just superb. Ervin Schulhoff's first, Ginastera's 2nd, Rochbergs third, and Quincy porter's 8th (all sq's) are as good as any of Shostakovich sq, but not all of their works.

I did a search on this site and found little to no mention of guys like Henry Cowell, Milhaud, Pijper, etc.... Not a lot of fans here of modern stuff?

[rklaas]

If i were to go for either or, I'd go for the older shostakovich, it'd have more character.

My favourite work of his would have to be his 5th symphony. There's an absolutely awesome bass drum part that ends the symphony. It is the most amazing ballsy bass drum part to play.

[acc]

Makes me curious about your choice of Shostakovich though...have you a favourite work by him? I think his 5th Symphony is my fave.

My favourite is the (admittedly bleak and eerie) 11th symphony. The 8th symphony is not far behind.