Shostakovich: A Journey into Light
Stephen Johnson, who has been diagnosed with serious clinical depression, claims that the music of Shostakovich has helped him to survive.
Presenter Stephen Johnson was diagnosed with serious clinical depression and this is his story. That depression almost proved fatal, and it's the music of Shostakovich which he says has helped him survive.
Yet Shostakovich is the composer of some of the darkest, most despairing music ever written. How can that music have something to say to Stephen and other people like him?
Stephen travels to Moscow and St Petersburg, the cities most closely associated with Shostakovich, to meet people who knew the man, and lived through the horror of the Stalinist regime.
He tries to put into perspective why the music speaks to a deeper human spirit, why people globally still relate to Shostakovich, and what his music means in a country still coming to terms with its past. This is Stephen's personal journey - A Journey into Light.
Producer: Jeremy Evans.
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcast
- Sun 20 Nov 2011 19:45±«Óãtv Radio 3
Featured in...
![]()
Discovering Shostakovich—Composer of the Week
Listen to programmes examining the life and works of Dmitri Shostakovich.
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh explore the puzzle of Beethoven’s poor health.
Classical music in a strongman's Russia – has anything changed since Stalin's day?
What composer Gabriel Prokofiev and I found in Putin's Moscow...
Six Secret Smuggled Books
Six classic works of literature we wouldn't have read if they hadn't been smuggled...
Grid
Seven images inspired by the grid
World Music collector, Sir David Attenborough
The field recordings Attenborough of music performances around the world.