Russian Soviet composer and pianist (1906-1975)

Dmitri Shostakovich

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Intro

Russian Soviet composer and pianist (1906-1975)

Genres

Opera Symphony Chamber music Western classical music

Awards Received

Stalin Prize

USSR State Prize

Order of Lenin

Hero of Socialist Labour

Order of the October Revolution

People's Artist of the USSR

Star of People's Friendship

Great Silver Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria

Léonie Sonning Music Prize

Lenin Prize

Order of the Red Banner of Labour

Order of Friendship of Peoples

Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"

Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal

People's Artist of the RSFSR

World Peace Council prizes

Honored art worker of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

Order of Lenin

"Hammer and Sickle" gold medal

Stalin Prize

Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR

Shevchenko National Prize

Wihuri Sibelius Prize

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art

People's artist of the Azerbaijan SSR

Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"

Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad"

Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"

Medal "Veteran of Labour"

Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad"

Nominated For

Academy Award for Best Original Musical Score

Music

Member of, past and present

Union of Soviet Composers

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Academy of Arts of the GDR

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts

Soviet Peace Committee

Royal Swedish Academy of Music

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Shostakovich in 1950

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (25 September [O.S. 12 September] 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Soviet composer and pianist. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century, with a unique harmonic language and a historic importance due to his years of work under Stalin.

Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union under the patronage of the Soviet chief of staff Mikhail Tukhachevsky, but later had a complex and difficult relationship with the government. Nevertheless, he received accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1947) and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (from 1962 until his death).

A polystylist, Shostakovich developed a hybrid voice, combining a variety of different musical techniques into his works. His music is characterized by sharp contrasts, elements of the grotesque, and ambivalent tonality; he was also heavily influenced by the neoclassical style pioneered by Igor Stravinsky, and (especially in his symphonies) by the late Romanticism of Gustav Mahler.

Shostakovich's orchestral works include 15 symphonies and six concerti. His chamber output includes 15 string quartets, a piano quintet, two piano trios, and two pieces for string octet. His solo piano works include two sonatas, an early set of preludes, and a later set of 24 preludes and fugues. Other works include three operas, several song cycles, ballets, and a substantial quantity of film music; especially well known is the "Waltz No. 2" from the Suite for Variety Orchestra, as well as the suite of music extracted from The Gadfly.
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