Dmitry Shostakovich biography

Profile

Dmitry Shostakovich was a Russian composer, renowned for his 15 symphonies, numerous chamber works, and concerti, many written under the pressures of government-imposed standards of Soviet art. From 1928, when Joseph Stalin inaugurated his First Five-Year Plan, an iron hand fastened on Soviet culture, and Shostakovich was officially shunned. He persevered, though, and his music is now revered.