ABSTRACT
In the first decades of the twentieth century art seems to be saturated with the grotesque. The grotesque occupies such a dominant place in Russian culture that it seems to be a fundamental part of its very nature. Thus a survey of the grotesque in Russian art, poetry, literature and theatre seems to be necessary for the understanding of Shostakovich's musical grotesques. It is obvious that Russian culture emphasizes aspects of the grotesque different from those of its German and French counterparts. The first Russian artist whose paintings can be related to the grotesque is Boris Kustodiev. The music enhances the grotesque by juxtaposing a hopping dance rhythm, a very high-pitched whirling, repetitive motif, and a minor, Dorian mode, with an emphasized augmented second, that stands in a strong musico-semantic incongruity with the otherwise lighthearted musical import.
