The Russian composer Shostakovich was famous for his first symphony when he wrote the opera ‘Lady Macbeth’. It was an instant success…until Stalin went to see it. He wrote an ‘anonymous’ editorial in Pravda declaring it to be ‘Muddle instead of Music’. Everyone including Shostakovich expected him to disappear. Shostakovich lived in constant fear for the rest of his life. When he wrote his fifth symphony he lied about the meaning of the music to satisfy the authorities. He constantly spoke the party line in public. However in an interview before his death he revealed his hatred of the Soviet system. These revelations were later published after his death in a book called ‘Testimony’. The notes for this book were all signed by Shostakovich so that it could be verified that these were his thoughts.

(The Great Courses – Great Masters: Shostakovich – His Life and Music)