The Law of Complements
Shostakovich and Prokof’ev
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Prokof’ev and Shostakovich did not have anything to say to one another, and they could not listen to the music of the other. The entire essence of Prokof’ev ran counter to Shostakovich aesthetically and structurally. Nonetheless, there were points of contact. Prokof’ev and Shostakovich belong together as do the material and spiritual world. In the case of these two composers, the same approach should therefore be taken as with Goethe and Schiller: Instead of arguing over who is better and more important, one should be happy that Germany has two great poets.
(Osteuropa 8/2006, pp. 49–60)