Biography
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) was a Russian composer and pianist, and one of the major figures of twentieth-century music. Born on September 25, 1906, in Saint Petersburg, he received his first piano lessons from his mother. At thirteen, he entered the Petrograd Conservatory to study piano and composition. As a young musician, he accompanied silent films at the piano, an experience that brought him into close contact with cinema and its expressive possibilities.
His First Symphony, premiered in 1926, earned him international recognition before his twentieth birthday. Orchestral, theatrical and film works followed, alongside the operas The Nose and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. The latter enjoyed considerable success before being publicly condemned in Pravda in 1936. His Fifth Symphony, premiered in 1937, substantially restored his public standing.
During the Second World War, he composed his Seventh Symphony, known as the Leningrad Symphony. Alongside composing, he taught at the conservatories in Leningrad and Moscow. He worked closely with outstanding performers, including violinist David Oistrakh and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.
His output includes fifteen symphonies, fifteen string quartets, concertos and numerous other works. His late compositions often adopt a spare, introspective musical language. Despite seriously declining health, he continued writing through his final Viola Sonata, completed shortly before his death in Moscow on August 9, 1975.
