ECU Libraries Catalog

Symphony for the city of the dead : Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad / M.T. Anderson.

Author/creator Anderson, M. T. author.
Format Book and Print
EditionFirst edition.
Publication Info Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2015.
Copyright Notice ©2015
Description456 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm
Subject(s)
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.
Abstract 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.
Local noteLittle-472049--3051310671880
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 436-442) and index.
Audience 990 Lexile
LCCN 2015936915
ISBN9780763668181 library binding
ISBN0763668184 library binding

Available Items

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner TRC Biographies B SH821A ✔ Available Place Hold