24 Preludes and Fugues

It's 4 AM and I have my last final in 6.5 hours. I'm freezing cold, crying, and listening to Preludes and Fugues by Shostakovich.

I've listened to the Preludes and Fugues so many times that I have them mostly memorized. I think the first and twelfth Fugues and the second Prelude are my favorites. I like the twelfth in particular because it's in 5/4 time; something I've always found fascinating. Most of the time 5/4 music is in the same style as Take Five by Brubeck; it gets old eventually.

Shostakovich always seems to have a 'new' (I use the term loosely; he was born in 1906 and died in 1975, so he's clearly older than Brubeck by 14 years, and of course older than any newer music) take on everything. He's very obviously influenced by other Russian composers, but he also has his own definite style. In general, music by Shostakovich has a darker tone; dissonances and minor keys show up consistently. I guess I listen to Shostakovich so much because the music illustrates how I feel a lot of the time. There's always five or six different, completely different, things happening in the music. They all clash but they work together perfectly at the same time. There's so much going on and it almost always works. And then, of course, there's sometimes something like the Leningrad Symphony (Opus 60, Symphony No. 7 in C Major), which works theoretically, but in reality, it's just mediocre because it's so forced.

And there's the Puppet Dances, which I love. The Polka is definitely my favorite. It's so absurd, such a strange form to put a Polka in, that I can't help but enjoy listening to it. It kind of reminds of Ravel's La Valse, just because it's another piece of a certain form that's strangely written.

And the Jazz Suites. Oh the Jazz Suites. I've listened to them more times than I can remember. I can't decide which one is my favorite. I like them all. Unlike a lot of his other music they're mostly upbeat and happy. Well, they're jazz, that's the point I guess. Suites for Jazz Orchestras Nos. 1 and 2 and The Bolt.

Twelve years of listening to Shostakovich and I'm still not sick of it. I think if I could go back in time and meet one person and one person only, Shostakovich would be one of the top few I'd like to meet.