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By Alan Woods
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Friday, 22 December 2006 |
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"The Shostakovich centenary year has shown that, despite the
sneering of ill-intentioned critics, his music is getting an increasingly wide
audience.
Shostakovich's music will live for
as long as men and women love music, because, like his idol Beethoven, he was a
man with something important to say." Here we publish the second and last part of Alan Woods' article on Shostakovich.
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By Alan Woods
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Thursday, 21 December 2006 |
 This year is the centenary of Dimitri Shostakovich, one of
the greatest composers of the 20th century, a giant who gave voice
to the sufferings and triumphs of the Soviet people in one of the most
turbulent and revolutionary periods in history. In this two part article, Alan
Woods attempts to show Shostakovich as he really was: a great Soviet artist who used
music to express the terrible and inspiring events of the period in which he
lived, a man of the people who believed in the possibility of a better world
under socialism.
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By Matt Wells
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Thursday, 02 November 2006 |
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The band Catch 22 have produced an album based on the life
struggles and ideas of Leon Trotsky. Here Matt Wells gives a brief outline of
what the album is about.
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By Alan Woods
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Friday, 26 May 2006 |
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Like the great French revolutionaries, Beethoven was
convinced that he was writing for posterity. When (as frequently
happened) musicians complained that they could not play his music
because it was too difficult, he used to answer: "Don't
worry, this is music for the future."
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By Alan Woods
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Friday, 19 May 2006 |
 If
any composer deserves the name of revolutionary it is Beethoven. He
carried through what was probably the greatest single revolution in
modern music and changed the way music was composed and listened to.
This is music that does not calm, but shocks and disturbs. Alan Woods
describes how the world into which Beethoven was born was a world in
turmoil, a world in transition, a world of wars, revolution and
counter-revolution: a world like our own world.
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By Steve Jones
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Thursday, 08 December 2005 |
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Twenty-five years ago today John Lennon was killed in New York. There was a mass outpouring of grief all over the world. This was because he symbolised something different from the mainstream music industry. He gave expression in the words of some of his songs the genuine feeling of disgust of many workers and youth at what capitalist society stands for. |
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By Goran M. in Belgrade
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Thursday, 25 September 2003 |
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An interview with Public Enemy by Goran M. in Belgrade. |
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By Goran M. in Belgrade
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Thursday, 11 September 2003 |
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Goran M, after interviewing the famous Black American hip hop
band Public Enemy, wrote this analysis of their background, how they
emerged as a band, how their lyrics evolved, and what they generally stand
for. He puts everything within the context of the struggles of the Afro-American community for their rights.
Public Enemy clearly expressed, and
continue to express, a growing radical mood among blacks, but also among all
the youth. |
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By Alan Woods
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Wednesday, 09 May 2001 |
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This article looks at the relevance of
Mozart's work within the context of the general radicalisation
taking place across Europe in the period prior to the French
Revolution. |
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By Oke Ogunde, in Nigeria
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Wednesday, 14 October 1998 |
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In this article, the comrades of the Nigerian Marxist journal, Workers'
Alternative, examine the revolutionary essence of the music and songs of the
late Afro-beat master, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who died on August 2, 1997. The
article was originally written on the first anniversary of his death. This
artist was and still is extremely popular among African workers
and youth for the radical and revolutionary content of his lyrics. |
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Art & Literature 
