Born: Sept. 25, 1906, his father was an engineer.
Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia
Died: Aug. 9, 1975 in Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.
Also Known As: Dmitry Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was his full name, Russian composer especially noted for his symphonies. When Joseph Stalin rose to power, many composers were forced to avoid writing music for the opera and artistic freedom was hugely limited.
Influence: In 1919, he entered the Petrograd Conservatory where Leonid Nikolayev became his piano teacher. Aleksandr Glazunov and Maksimilian Steinberg taught him about composition which he studied until 1925. Shostakovich was also influenced by other composers such as Tchaikovsky and Bartók.
Notable Works: Some of his famous compositions are: Symphony No. 1 (1924–25), The Nose (1927–28), Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1930–32, later on revised as Katerina Izmaylova), Symphony No. 5 (1937), Symphony No. 7 (1941), Symphony No. 8 (1943), Piano Trio (1944), Violin Concerto No. 1 (1947–48). String Quartet No. 4 (1949) and Quartet No. 5 (1951),
Interesting Fact: Shostakovich received an honorable mention at the Chopin International Competition for Pianists held in Warsaw in 1927. He started teaching at the Leningrad Conservatory in 1937. Shostakovich was an honorary member of Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. The University of Oxford also bestowed on him an honorary doctorate in music.
Music Sample: Listen to music samples of Symphonies 1 and 15 here.
