The reception of Dmitri Shostakovich in twentieth-century France

© 2015 Madeline RoycroftThis dissertation assesses the reception of Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich in twentieth-century France, focusing on the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District (1932), and Symphony No. 5 (1937). These works represent artistic responses to the development of Socialist Realism and censorship under the Stalin regime. The research draws predominantly upon primary source material taken from archives at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Association Internationale “Dimitri Chostakovitch”. The results of this study demonstrate how Franco-Soviet relations influenced French critical perspectives on Shostakovich throughout the twentieth century