Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich was a very impressive composer and piano player who was born September 25 1906 and died August 9 1975. He is most known for the 15 symphonies he wrote and 15 string quartets. Devil Doll and Mr.Doctor have been highly influenced by the works of Shostakovich. One only has to take a look at the for instance the Dies Irae Gimmix LP to see several of his works recommended and noted as influence.

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich

One composition that is of great interest is a composition entitled Jazz Suite no. 1.(Waltz). This piece in particular is very interesting and important for Devil Doll fans for no other reason that it was recorded for Dies Irae but never made the final version of Dies Irae. The recorded music however was used for a TV show and can be found on The Lost Tapes. In the fragment at the end of this page you can hear both the original composition and the one recorded by Devil Doll for violin and accordion.

Another interesting similarity between Shostkovich and Mr.Doctor can be found in for instance String Quartet No.08 In C minor. It was a composition written in 3 days (July 12-14, 1960). What is very particular about this composition is that it quotes little pieces out of previous compositions, a thing we find in Devil Doll as well! One of the quotes in this string quartet is also a work recommended by Mr.Doctor entitled Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.

Find below some samples of relevant works by Dmitri Shostakovich and the excerpt from The Lost Tapes.

String Quartet no.8

Excerpt from the musical notation from the String Quartet No. 8


"Excerpt from Shostakovich - 01 - jazz suite no. 1 i waltz"
"Excerpt from The Lost tapes"
"Excerpt from String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor "