Symphony for the City of the Dead

Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad

By: M. T. Anderson

Narrated by: M. T. Anderson

In September 1941, Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht surrounded Leningrad in what was to become one of the longest and most destructive sieges in Western history - almost three years of bombardment and starvation that culminated in the harsh winter of 1943-1944. More than a million citizens perished. Survivors recall corpses littering the frozen streets, their relatives having neither the means nor the strength to bury them. Residents burned books, furniture, and floorboards to keep warm; they ate family pets and - eventually - one another to stay alive.

Trapped between the Nazi invading force and the Soviet government itself was composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who would write a symphony that roused, rallied, eulogized, and commemorated his fellow citizens - the Leningrad Symphony, which came to occupy a surprising place of prominence in the eventual Allied victory.

This is the true story of a city under siege: the triumph of bravery and defiance in the face of terrifying odds. It is also a look at the power - and layered meaning - of music in beleaguered lives. Symphony for the City of the Dead is a masterwork thrillingly told and impeccably researched by National Book Award-winning author M. T. Anderson.

©2015 M. T. Anderson, original book published by Candlewick Press (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

Critic reviews

YALSA Nonfiction finalist, 2016

very compelling

I enjoyed the book. makes me want to go back in time and kill Stalin.

The endurance of music

For me, this book presented a new perspective on the historical events as Russia tried to exist as a Communist nation. I am a classical musician and have a strong interest in history. I had studied the era of the Bolshevik revolution and also knew about the role this symphony played during the siege of Leningrad, and this book describes these events well. What really caught my attention, however, was the narrative throughout about how the regime dictated over and over again what was the politically correct form for the arts, and the effect this had on writers, poets, artists, musicians, and composers. I would recommend that this book be included on the syllabus of any history or art history course to bring to students of both an appreciation of the role that all art forms have played since the beginning of everything we know as human beings. The narrator gets a bit excited here and there, but that's understandable.

Be a classical music fan. Raw info on WW2, no.

This is a semi biography on a legendary Soviet composer. It is interesting but not for someone who is looking for war specific information on Germany vs the Soviet Union during WW2.

Incredibly Moving

A nuanced and thought provoking look at Soviet politics in World War II, at the power of art in the hierarchy of human needs and at the heart of the Russian people. Read movingly by the author himself. Highly recommend.

In awe of tragic consequences

This is an astonishing accounting of the life of the Russian composer Shostakovich and an incredibly informative explanation of events leading up to and following the siege of Leningrad (St Petersburgh, Petrograd, Stalingrad?) and speaks to the unspeakable atrocities of Lenin, and Stalin and has implications for our contemporary experience with Putin.
My wife and I had the privilege to tour St Petersburgh several years ago and marveled at such treasures as the restore Amber Room of the Catherine Palace, Hermitage and other touristy attractions which likely are not the same or possible in our current torrential times.
I am really in awe of the tragic experiences recorded and cannot help but marvel at the fortitude that seems to be evident in the Slavic peoples as depicted in this work.