The early film music of Dmitry Shostakovich

In the late 1920s, Dmitry Shostakovich emerged as one of the first Soviet film composers. With his first score for the silent film New Babylon (1928-29) and the many sound scores that followed, he was positioned to observe and participate in the changing politics of the film industry and to negotiate the role of the film composer. This work provides an examination of Shostakovich as a composer for early Soviet cinema, and the relationship between musical narration, audience, filmmaker, and composer. Six case studies selected from Shostakovich's early film scores, from 1928 through 1936, are the primary focus, and each engages the construct of Soviet intelligibility, the filmmaking and film scoring processes, and the cultural politics of Soviet film music.