"Dissident" Meanings in Shostakovich's Music  by Allan B. Ho
Richard Taruskin has suggested ("Casting a Great Composer as a
Fictional Hero," New York Times, 5 March 2000) that the
"dissident" meanings attributed to Shostakovich's works were
fabricated by the composer, late in life, to revise his own
historical image, or are merely the result of speculation and
"fantasizing" by members of a Shostakovich "cult". In doing so,
he ignores the numerous testimonies of people who knew the
composer personally and understood these hidden meanings long
ago, not just in hindsight.  As Margarita Mazo states, "Those of
us who were 'in the know' were always searching for the second
layer of meaning in Shostakovich's works." (DSCH Journal 12, p.
72. Emphasis added.) Kurt Sanderling adds: "For us
contemporaries who knew and worked with Shostakovich, it has
never been difficult to interpret his works along with their
double meanings. For us, it was all very clear." ("Performers on
Shostakovich: Kurt Sanderling", DSCH Journal