Dimitri Shostakovich

Dimitri Shostakovich (born St. Petersburg, 1906, died Moscow, 1975), also spelt Dmitri Shostakovich, was a Russian composer. Though he is now honoured as one of the best Russian composers of his time, during his lifetime the Communist government criticized his work which many consider to have stifled his creative talents.

Works
His best known works are his fifteen symphonies. The seventh is especially notable - it is known as the 'Leningrad' symphony as it was composed partly in Leningrad (now known as St. Petersburg) during the famous 900-day siege of World War Two. These contain a heavy patriotic theme. Other works include concertos for a variety of musical instruments and a major set of pieces for the string quartet, though his preferred instrument was the piano, which he composed a large amount of music for. He wrote the opera Katerina Ismailova also.

Relationship with the Communist government
The communist government of the Soviet Union overthrew the tsardom in 1917, when Shostakovich was still a young boy. When he started composing it had become very powerful already and his works were made to conform with the regime. This is illustrated by the political themes of his symphonies. His aforementioned opera, Katerina Ismailova, was originally called Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District though the name was changed to get him out of political trouble.