Symphony For The City Of The Dead Summary

I am currently reading Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson. As of last night, I am in the second part of three total parts. In the section I read for this week, the book continues with the struggles of Dmitri Shostakovich’s musical partnerships. To summarize this week’s reading, Dmitri had to work with the minds of Vsevolod Meyerhold, a Russian and Soviet theatre director and Vladimir Mayakovsky, a Russian Soviet poet and playwright. The Bedbug, a comedic play by the trio would be gladly received. On the contrary, the play caused controversy in the Soviet press. During time of production of the play, Shostakovich had to move in to Meyerhold’s home where he learned to dislike the man more and more. In this quarter of the book,
Shostakovich used his music to inspire others into working with each other against the German attack on Leningrad. Furthermore, he stood up in podiums telling his Leningrad citizens to stand up to the Nazis. This Siege of Leningrad lasted two years from September 1944 to January 1944. Dystopia relates to this book because Shostakovich is in a Russia with a corrupt communist government. This week’s reading I’ve learned that Anderson gives occasional references to the Russian government. In my opinion, I think the author will further explain the siege of Leningrad and the Russian government.

Furthermore, the setting of Leningrad is essential to the text and that became clear last section. First, Anderson introduced us to St. Petersburg then named Leningrad as a busy city in Russia where riots constantly happened. Dmitri Sr. would constantly be involved in the riots where one day, he would be shot by an oncoming officer in a street. Thus, making the family move to another city where the family would be safe and where Dmitri could study music. His mother and his sisters would work very hard in order to give him a lot of education. This would pay off since Dmitri became a sensational pianist and