Tikhon Khrennikov is dead
at his home, age 94. There are those who would find such a late and serene passage to be not commensurate with that of Meyerhold or Mikhoels.But in a sense the torture was more exquisite: he lived to view the judgment of history.
Looking around on the Web, it was interesting to see the attempts to rehabilitate Khrennikov, making much of his flirtation with serialism in his Third Symphony (about the time that Shostakovich was doing similar things, and 6 years before his denunciation of the "Khrennikov Seven"), and claiming that it was Khrennikov who saved the ilk of Shostakovich and Vainberg from the fate of the actors noted above. This claim is good enough for Grove, but I'd like to see relevant USSR archives in its support; if it was Khrennikov's claim, it would resemble Carl Orff's claim to have been a member of the White Rose. And always, there's the implication if not the outright claim that he had to play along with the zhdanovschina. I'm willing to cut him the tiniest bit of slack with Stalin, but not with Brezhnev.
So it got him a peaceful life, and a boatload of medals. Shostakovich, his principal victim, is arguably the most beloved composer of the 20th century. At least two of the Khrennikov Seven are internationally renowned as leading Russian composers of their generation. Is Khrennikov's music unfairly neglected? I wish I could answer that. But I couldn't find any Khrennikov on Naxos Music Library (which has everyone nowadays), and Case Kulas Library has one donated LP. I think it cosmically just that the man who judged composers by their ideology is now himself judged by his.
Comments
Posted by: rightwingprof
Posted on: August 17, 2007 03:54 PM
That reminds me. We have an unwatched performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. We'll watch it after we watch Lulu.
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: August 17, 2007 04:03 PM
The amazing thing about Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo uezda is that Katerina really has no redeeming qualities, she's a total and deserved loser and yet, subversively, Shostakovich makes you feel sorry for her. It's no wonder Stalin had a fit.