Performer Composes Solo Snare Drum Inspired by Shostakovich

YouTuber and performer Jesse Sieff, a fan of Shostakovich, has made “Chopstakovich”, a piece for solo marching snare drum that played over the second movement of the String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110 composed by Dmitri Shostakovich. This piece is written with the dark and dissonant style that Shostakovich is known for. According to Jesse in a video on his YouTube channel, the biggest challenge of performing Chopstakovich for his USMC Drum & Bugle Corps.

He wrote:

“For me, the biggest challenge of this piece was not playing the notes, or adjusting rhythmic time to a chamber symphony with the most unforgiving instrument in the world – it was simply having the audacity to write over a legendary composer’s masterpiece.”

The audition was not adjusting the time of the rhythm or playing the note even though the original piece was composed for one of the most difficult instruments in the world.

He also expressed a great admiration for the genius of Dmitri Shostakovich and how he hoped to share the influence of the maestro with others by making a genuine rendition of the composition.

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