Dmitri Shostakovich

This Russian composer and pianist was born in St. Petersburg in 1906. He came from a family where art was important, his mother was a pianist and she was his first music teacher. At the age of 13, he began studying at the Leningrad Conservatory, where he was taught piano by L. Nikolayev and composition by M. Steinberg.
In 1922, he lost his father, which meant that he had to support his family by playing the piano. Two years later, he wrote his first symphony - Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10, which brought him recognition in the world of music. His subsequent works such as the opera 'The Nose' and the ballet 'The Golden Age' confirmed the talent of the young composer. At the age of 21, he received an honorary diploma at the 1st International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
The 1930s were years of success. However, the premiere of the opera 'Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District' in 1934 completely changed the composer's fate. Although well received by the public, the opera did not please the authorities and was criticized in the newspaper 'Pravda' for not aligning with the principles of Soviet music, which was supposed to be simple and understandable. Despite being considered one of the most representative composers in Russia along with Prokofiev in the West, his music was not always appreciated in his homeland.
With the composition of the patriotic Symphony No. 7 'Leningrad', symbolizing the Russians' fight against the Nazi invasion, the artist regained prestige in the country. After Stalin's death in 1953, Shostakovich's style became more personal, and the works he created at that time, mainly his final symphonies and string quartets, were a perfect form of expressing the author's fears and sorrows. Outstanding works from this period include 'Songs of the Forest', 24 Preludes and Fugues, and Symphony No. 12 in B minor 'The Year 1917'.
He composed works in every genre, writing around 147 of them. His creativity influenced later composers such as Alfred Schnittke and Edison Denisov. He died in Moscow in 1975.