The Story of a Friendship
Dmitrii Shostakovich and Mieczysław Weinberg
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Longstanding friendships between artists are rare, for artists are to a high degree egocentric. A close friendship bound Dmitrii Shostakovich and Mieczysław Weinberg for over 32 years. The polarity of temperaments enhanced their creative powers. The work on their own compositions, the uplifting experience of give and take, bound both composers. This productive and creative use of “common stylistic devices” is an exception in the history of music in the 20th century.
(Osteuropa 7/2010, pp. 79–92)