How Shostakovich Changed My Mind

In this powerfully honest and brilliant book, BBC music broadcaster Stephen Johnson explores the impact of Shostakovich’s music during Stalin’s reign of terror and writes – at the same time – of the extraordinary healing effect of music on the mind. As someone who has lived with bipolar disorder for most of his life, Johnson looks at neurological, psychotherapeutic and philosophical findings, and reflects on his own experience of how Shostakovich’s music helped him survive the trials and assaults of mental illness. Book