Unless otherwise stated, it can be assumed that all persons included in this appendix were born and lived in Russia (or after 1917 in the Soviet Union). I decided not to use the term ‘Soviet’, as in ‘Soviet composer’, ‘Soviet film-maker’ or ‘Soviet writer’, because it has acquired a secondary meaning: by implication a ‘Soviet composer’, for example, is one who is connected with the regime and writes in the socialist-realist style.
Note: A starred name indicates a contributor.
Afinogenov, Alexander (1904–41), playwright. Influenced by Proletkult philosophy, one of the leaders of RAPP. DDS wrote the music for his play Salute to Spain (1936). Killed during Nazi bombing of Moscow.
Akimov, Nikolai (1901–68), theatre director and artist. In 1932 produced his first play at Vakhtangov Theatre, a highly eccentric Hamlet, for which DDS wrote the music.
Alexandrov, Alexander (1883–1946), composer and choral conductor. Founder of Red Army Ensemble of Song and Dance. Composed Soviet national anthem; well known for his popular and patriotic songs.
Alikhanov, Abraam (1904–70), physicist. Graduated from Leningrad Polytechnic in 1929. Made important discoveries with his brother Artyom Alikhanyan in 1930s.
Alikhanyan, Artyom (1908–78), physicist. Born Tbilisi. Studied Leningrad University, graduating in 1931. Discovered (with his brother Abraam Alikhanov) phenomenon of emission of electron-positron, and in 1939, of the stream of fast protons in cosmic rays. Founded Erevan Physics Institute in 1943. In 1945 created highaltitude station on Mount Aragats for research into cosmic radiation.
Alyokhin, Alexander (1892–1946), chess player. World champion 1927–35, 1937–46. Emigrated to France in 1921. Died in Portugal.
Apostolov, Pavel (1905–68), musicologist, specialist in military music, composed for military bands. Cultural activist who hounded DDS, especially during the campaign against formalism.
Arapov, Boris (1905–92), composer. Student of V. Shcherbachov at Leningrad Conservatoire, where he himself taught composition from 1930. Like DDS, he was dismissed from his position in the wake of the ‘anti-formalist’ campaign in 1948.
*Arnshtam, Leo (1905–80), cinema director. Lifelong close friend of DDS. Studied piano at Petrograd Conservatoire. From 1925–28 worked as pianist at Meyerhold’s Theatre in Moscow. Under Meyerhold’s influence, abandoned music in favour of cinema. Shostakovich wrote the music for five of his films, starting with The Girlfriends (1935).
Asafiev, Boris (1884–1949) (literary pseudonym: Igor Glebov), composer, writer, founder of Soviet school of musical criticism. Had a radical influence on many composers (including DDS) during the 1920s. Withdrew his support for Lady Macbeth in 1936. Was responsible for organizing the backstage proceedings of the 1948 ‘Zhdanov’ campaign. In recognition for his services, Stalin had him elected to the Academy of Sciences, a unique honour for a musician.
Atovmyan, Levon (1901–73), composer and music administrator. Director of Muzfond 1939–48. Came under attack and was exiled to Turkmenistan in 1936. Close personal friend of Shostakovich who often acted as his secretary and editor. Made arrangements of Shostakovich’s music, such as the Ballet Suites.
Babel, Isaac (1894–1939), prose writer. Arrested and shot in 1939.
*Balanchivadze, Andrey (1906–92), Georgian composer. Studied at Leningrad Conservatoire, where his brother, the choreographer George Balanchine, had studied piano. He developed a lasting friendship with DDS in his student years.
Balasanyan, Sergei (1902–82), composer and founder of Tadzhik professional school of music.
*Barshai, Rudolf (1925–), viola player and conductor. Founder member of Borodin Quartet. In 1953 joined Tchaikovsky Quartet, led by brilliant violinist Julian Sitkovetsky. In 1958 B. and André Volkonsky founded Moscow Chamber Orchestra; B. was its chief conductor until 1976, when he emigrated to Israel. First performer of DDS’s Fourteenth Symphony.
*Basner, Venyamin (1925–1996), composer. Studied violin at Leningrad Conservatoire, graduating in 1949. Attended Shostakovich’s composition classes as an observer, playing new works on violin at request. Developed and maintained close friendship with DDS, seeking advice on composition from him.
Belinsky, Vissarion (1811–48), influential literary critic.
Berg, Alban (1885–1935), Austrian composer. His expressionist opera, Wozzeck, premiered in 1925, was performed two years later in Leningrad, where DDS saw it, and remained much impressed.
Beriya, Lavrenti (1899–1953), head of NKVD 1938–53. Renowned for his atrocious cruelty. Formed part of triumvirate that succeeded to power on Stalin’s death. Arrested in July 1953 and executed later that year.
*Berlinsky, Valentin (1925–), cellist. Founder member of Borodin Quartet with which he still plays (original names: 1943–6, Quartet of Students of Moscow Conservatoire; from 1946–55, Quartet of Moscow Philharmonic). Performed Piano Quintet frequently with DDS.
Bezymensky, Alexander (1898–1973), ‘proletarian’ poet. Participated on Bolshevik side in October Revolution. Active in Komsomol movement and prominent member of RAPP. DDS set his verse in the Second Symphony, and wrote music to his play The Shot.
Blanter, Matvei (1903–1990), composer and popular song writer. His song Katyusha gained worldwide fame. Close friend of Shostakovich, and like him a great football fan.
Bogachova, Irina (1939–) mezzo-soprano, soloist of Kirov Theatre, Leningrad. First performer of DDS’s Six Tsvetayeva Songs Op. 143.
Bogdanov, Alexander (1873–1923), philosopher. Developed ideas under influence of German idealist philosopher Mach’s theory of economy of life’s forces. Founded Proletkult in 1917 as a non-party organization of intellectuals wishing to develop new proletarian culture on principle of collectivism. Non-proletarian classes were to be refused admission to the laboratory studios where the new culture would be created. Proletkult was taken over by the Ministry of Education, but disbanded on Lenin’s orders in 1920.
*Bogdanov-Berezovsky, Valerian (1903–71), composer and musicologist. Studied at Petrograd Conservatoire, close friend of composer in early 1920s.
Brodsky, Iosif (1940–96), most distinguished Russian poet of postwar generation. Arrested in 1964 on charges of parasitism, sentenced to five years exile, although later allowed to return to Leningrad. Emigrated to USA in 1972. Awarded Nobel Prize for literature in 1987.
Budyonny, Semyon (1883–1973), Marshal of Soviet Cavalry Army, which he led during civil war. Despite being a crony of Stalin, he lost his command during World War II due to his incompetence and inability to understand new technology.
Bukovsky, Vladimir (1942–), scientist and dissident. In 1976 allowed to leave the Soviet Union in exchange for Luis Corvalan (head of Chilean Communist Party).
Bunin, Revol (1924–76), composer, whose mildly experimental work of the 1950s was valued by DDS.
Chernyshevsky, Nikolai (1828–89), radical publicist and critic, who had a profound influence on Russian revolutionary movements of nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
*Chukovsky, Evgeni (1938–98), cameraman. His grandfather, Kornei Chukovsky (1882–1969), was an eminent man of letters and children’s writer. His uncle, Nikolai Chukovsky (1905–66), was a successful novelist. His aunt, Lydia Chukovskaya, well known for her memoirs of Anna Akhmatova, was an active supporter of many dissident writers. His father, a biologist, died in active service during World War II. As a boy, he was brought up partially in his grandparents’ home, acquiring an awareness of the pre-Stalinist Russian cultural background, which had been lost by most of the young generation growing up in the 1950s. Met Maxim and Galina Shostakovich while a student at GITIS (State Institute of Theatrical Art). In 1959 he married Galina Shostakovich, with whom he had two sons. Divorced in 1991.
*Chulaki, Mikhail (1908–89), composer. Before World War II he was artistic director of the Leningrad Philharmonic. From 1963–70 he worked as artistic director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. Also taught composition at the Moscow Conservatoire. Took an active part in the affairs of the Union of Composers.
Chyorny, Sasha (real name Alexander Glikberg) (1880–1932), poet and satirical writer who emigrated from the Soviet Union in early 1920s.
Dankeyevich, Konstantin (1905–84), Ukrainian composer and teacher. His best-known work, the opera Boris Khmelnitsky, considered a classic of Ukrainian socialist-realist music, was attacked for a wrong interpretation of nationalist issues. In 1958 it was restored to favour in the Decree ‘On Reevaluating the Errors of Boris Khmelnitsky’.
Dargomyzhsky, Alexander (1813–69), composer. His opera The Stone Guest, a setting of one of Pushkin’s ‘Little Tragedies’, had a formative influence on Mussorgsky and thus on Russian opera in general.
Davidenko, Alexander (1899–1934), composer, leader of RAPM. Was dubbed ‘The Red Beethoven’. His choruses and mass songs achieved great popularity.
*Denisov, Edison (1929–96), composer. Studied mathematics at Tomsk University, simultaneously attending musical high school. Encouraged by Shostakovich, came to study composition with Shebalin at Moscow Conservatoire. One of the first Soviet composers to embrace ‘avant-garde’ techniques and to make contacts with the leading figures of Western modernism. Has played an important role as teacher and leader of all Soviet ‘progressive’ musicians from the 1960s to this day. His compositions were the first of Soviet ‘avant-garde’ to be performed in the West.
Deshevov, Vladimir (1889–1955), composer and teacher. In 1920s wrote in ‘constructivist’, urbanistic style, under influence of Honegger et al.. with an additional political edge to his work. His opera Ice and Steel was one of the first Soviet operas to be staged, and was compared to The Nose.
Dmitriev, Vladimir (1900–48), artistic, stage designer. Studied with Petrov-Vodkin. Worked at Vakhtangov, Moscow Arts and Bolshoi Theatres.
Dobuzhinsky, Mstislav (1875–1957), painter, illustrator, theatre designer, member of Mir Isskustva (World of Art). Emigrated from Soviet Union in 1925.
Dolmatovsky, Evgeni (1915–94), patriotic poet, best known for his popular songs. Despite his being an ‘official’ writer, DDS consistently set his poems during the 1950s. Wrote text of DDS’s oratorio The Song of the Forests.
Dolukhanova, Zara (1918–), mezzo-soprano. First performer of DDS’s From Jewish Poetry.
*Dorliak, Nina (1908–98), soprano. Her mother was the operatic singer Xenia Dorliak, renowned for her Wagnerian roles. Nina studied singing at the Petrograd Conservatoire, and had a successful career as a lieder singer. First performer of Shostakovich’s cycle From Jewish Poetry. Amongst her recordings are the above cycle (with the composer at the piano), and Prokofiev’s Ugly Duckling with Sviatoslav Richter, to whom she was married. Professor of singing at the Moscow Conservatoire for over forty years.
Dovzhenko, Alexander (1894–1956). One of the most important Soviet filmmakers and cinema theorists.
*Druskin, Mikhail (1905–91). Studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatoire, and from 1930 to 1932 in Germany. Based in Leningrad, he pursued a successful career as pianist and teacher. Has also published books and articles on a large range of subjects, from J. S. Bach to the New Viennese School. His authoritative book on Stravinsky was translated into English by Martin Cooper. Had a great influence in musical circles as a thinker and a man of impeccable integrity.
*Druzhinin, Fyodor (1934–), viola player and composer. After completing his studies at the Moscow Conservatoire, he embarked on a soloist’s career. Joined the Beethoven Quartet in 1964. DDS dedicated his last work to him, the Viola Sonata Op. 147.
Dubinsky, Rostislav (1923–97), violinist. Founder member of Borodin Quartet. Emigrated in 1970s, first to Holland then to the USA.
Dulova, Vera (1909–2000), harpist. She and her husband, the baritone Alexander Baturin, were friendly with DDS during evacuation in Kuibyshev. Baturin gave first performances of DDS’s Pushkin Romances Op. 46.
Dunayevsky, Isaac (1900–55), composer of operettas and songs; achieved great popularity for his optimistic marches (‘March of the Enthusiasts’, ‘The Jolly Kids’, etc.). Influential figure in Leningrad Union of Composers.
Dzerzhinsky, Feliks (1887–1926), founder of CHEKA (Commission for the struggle with Counter-revolution) in 1917. Renamed the GPU in 1923, this organization effectively acted as a secret police force and was the antecedent of the KGB.
Dzerzhinsky, Ivan (1909–71), composer. Of mediocre talents. Studied with Gnessin, Gavriil Popov and Ryazanov. Shostakovich helped him in the orchestration of his opera Quiet Flows the Don (1932–4), which achieved considerable success and was upheld as a model of socialist-realist opera after the Lady Macbeth scandal of 1936.
Dzhabayev, Djambul (1846–1945), Kazakh bard. His songs in praise of Stalin (many of which were fabricated by Russian translators) brought him fame, and he was awarded the Order of Lenin. DDS set some of his texts, but was adamant that such creative frauds should be exposed.
Ehrenburg, Ilya (1891–1967), writer and journalist. Worked as a foreign correspondent in Paris (1908–17), Berlin (1921–4), in Spain during the civil war and with the Soviet Army during World War II. His memoirs People, Years and Life (1961–5) had a great impact on the younger generation of Russians, to whom Ehrenburg represented a lost culture.
Eisenstein, Sergei (1898–1948), theatre and film director. Joined Moscow Proletkult Theatre in 1920. Developed theory of ‘montage of attractions’. Early silent films include Strike and Battleship Potemkin. His two later films, Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible, with scores written by Prokofiev, are acknowledged classics. DDS regarded the latter film with hostility, regarding it as an apology for Stalinism.
*Elagin, Yuri (1910–87), violinist, writer. Played in orchestra of Vakhtangov Theatre. Emigrated after World War II to Houston, USA, where he became leader of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Published a biography of Meyerhold, The Black Genius.
Eliasberg, Karl (1907–78), chief conductor of Leningrad Radio Orchestra during 1940s, with whom he gave performance of DDS’s Seventh Symphony in besieged Leningrad.
Ermler, Friedrich (1898–1967), film director. Directed Counterplan with Yutkevich for which DDS wrote music.
*Evtushenko, Evgeni (1933–). One of the most talented poets of the post-war generation. While much admired for such outspoken poems as ‘Babi Yar’ and his epic ‘Bratskaya GESS’, he was accused of compromising his integrity and poetic talent by writing on ‘authorized’ topics and currying official favour. Shostakovich set his poems in the Thirteenth Symphony and in the cantata The Execution of Stepan Razin.
Ezhov, Nikolai (1895–1940), People’s Commissar of NKVD from 1936 to 1938. In 1938 was arrested and subsequently shot. Succeeded by Lavrenti Beriya.
*Ferkelman, Arnold (1914–). Studied cello in Tbilisi with the distinguished teacher Konstantin Miniard-Byeloruchev. Lived in Leningrad from 1930. Won second prize in All-Union competition for performing musicians in 1933. Soloist of Leningrad Philharmonic. Worked in Moscow Orchestra of Cinematography after World War II.
Ferré, Vladimir (1902–71), composer. Studied with Myaskovsky. Member of Prokoll (1925–9), the Moscow group of proletarian composers. Director of the Kirghiz Philharmonic in Frunze 1936–45. Taught composition at the Moscow Conservatoire from 1945.
Filonov, Pavel (1883–1941), avant-garde painter. He associated with the Futurists before the Revolution and developed a theory of analytical art. He created his own school (the Leningrad Collective of Masters of Analytical Art), which was dissolved in 1932.
Frederiks, Vsevolod (1885–1943), physicist. Of Danish extraction. Met Nadezhda Kokaoulina while studying at university and befriended Shostakovich family. Professor at Leningrad Polytechnical Institute. Husband of DDS’s sister Mariya. He was arrested in 1937 and died immediately after release from the labour camps.
*Fried, Grigori (1915–), composer. He studied at the Moscow Conservatoire with Shebalin and Litinsky, and founded the youth club at the Moscow Union of Composers in 1965 with the aim of promoting contemporary music, and initiating discussions between composers, performers and an educated ‘general’ public. He thereby created a platform for enterprising performers to present new works by Western and Soviet composers long before they reached the general Soviet public.
Furtseva, Ekaterina (1910–74), Minister of Culture 1960–74.
*Galli-Shohat, Nadezhda (Nadejda) née Kokaoulina) (dates not known). Maternal aunt of DDS. Educated in native Siberia and studied physics at the Bestuzhev Courses at St Petersburg. Was involved in revolutionary politics, joining the Social Democrat Bolshevik Party after the 1905 Revolution. Was close to Sofiya, her elder sister and mother of DDS, and for some time lived with the Shostakovich family. In 1923 she left Russia with her second husband and settled in the USA. Collaborated with Victor Seroff in writing the first English-language biography of DDS, which was printed in the USA in 1943.
Galynin, Hermann (1922–66), composer. Studied at Moscow Conservatoire with DDS, who acknowledged his original and striking talent. He suffered from schizophrenia.
Gamov, Georgi (1904–68), physicist. Studied in Leningrad and worked in Denmark and Cambridge (UK) before emigrating to the USA. Worked with E. Teller on theory of Beta decay.
*Gauk, Alexander (1893–1963), conductor. Studied with Nikolai Cherepnin at Petrograd Conservatoire. Started his career as opera and ballet conductor in Leningrad at GATOB and MALEGOT. Chief conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic 1930–3. Appointed chief conductor of Moscow Radio Orchestra in 1933, and soon afterwards of the newly founded Moscow State Orchestra. Taught at Leningrad and Moscow Conservatoires.
Glazunov, Alexander (1865–1936), composer. Followed traditions of the Mighty Five and Rimsky-Korsakov, whom he succeeded as head of St Petersburg/Leningrad Conservatoire from 1906 to 1928. Emigrated to Paris in 1928. Glazunov’s music forms part of the Russian classical repertoire. Remembered for his devotion to the Conservatoire, and for his generous encouragement of many musicians, notably the young Shostakovich.
Glière, Rheingold (1875–1956), composer. Studied with Tanyeev at Moscow Conservatoire, where he himself taught for many years. Chairman of organizational committee of Union of Composers 1938–48.
Glikman, Isaak (1911–2003), literary and drama critic. Professor of Leningrad Conservatoire. Lifelong friend of DDS. During 1930s he worked unofficially as a secretary for DDS.
*Glivenko, Tatyana (1906–96?). Daughter of well-known Moscow philologist. Met DDS in 1923; their on and off romantic attachment lasted for nine years. She married A. Berlin, a professor of chemistry, in 1929.
Glyasser, Ignati (1850–1925), pianist. Of Polish extraction. Studied with K. Klindwort and J. Kullak, possibly also with Hans Bülow, whom he idolized. Founded courses in St Petersburg. Worked out an intensive technical system for his piano school. Wrote and published two textbooks: Drills as the Basis of Piano Technique and Rhythmic Repetition.
Gnessin, Mikhail (1883–1957), composer. Pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov. Professor at the Leningrad and Moscow Conservatoires, and also at the Gnessin Institute, Moscow. Created a national Jewish ‘school’ of music in Russia, which was actively discouraged in the Stalinist years. Had a great influence as a teacher, being respected not only as an excellent professional, but for his dignified and supportive behaviour to his colleagues during the Zhdanov campaign etc.
Golodny, Mikhail (1903–49), poet. Member of ‘Young Guard’. Party member from 1933. Well-known for his patriotic ballad songs.
*Gozenpud, Abraam (1908–2004), literary critic and musicologist. Met Shostakovich through Ivan Sollertinsky (a close friend) in 1934. Was friend of Vissarion Shebalin. Wrote the libretto of Shebalin’s opera The Taming of the Shrew. Amongst his many publications are a biography of the tenor Ershov, a monograph on Dostoevsky, etc.
*Gubaidulina, Sofiya (1931–), composer. Studied with Nikolai Peiko at the Moscow Conservatoire. After graduating, she encountered enormous difficulties in getting her music performed and published. In the late 1960s and 1970s, she experimented with electronic music and formed an improvisation group called ‘Astrea’. From the 1980s her music has received worldwide recognition.
*Ikonnikov, Alexei (1905–2000), musicologist. Studied at Leningrad Conservatoire.
Ilizarov, Gavriil (1921–92), orthopaedic surgeon. Developed procedure to correct and lengthen deformed bones. Formed Research Institute of Experimental and Clinical Orthopaedics and Traumatology in Kurgan, Siberia. DDS underwent two periods of treatment with him in 1970.
Ilyichyov, Leonid (1906–1990), one-time chief editor of Izvestia. Head of Department of Propaganda and Agitprop of Central Committee of Communist Party 1958–61. Secretary of Central Committee 1961–5.
Ivanovsky, Alexander (1881–1968), theatre and cinema director.
Johnson, Hewlit (1874–1966), English cleric. Head of Anglo-Soviet Friendship Society, member of peace movement. Awarded Lenin prize.
Joliot-Curie, Frederick (1900–58), French nuclear physicist of ‘progressive’ views. President of France–USSR Society from 1947. From 1950 head of World Committee of Peace. Awarded Lenin prize.
Kabalevsky, Dmitri (1904–87), composer associated with the regime. Won popularity for his concertos dedicated to ‘Youth’.
Kaganovich, Lazar (1893–1992), Bolshevik, one of Stalin’s right-hand men, associated with some of the worst excesses of the Stalinist period (including the deportation of the Kulaks). Removed from Presidium by Khrushchev in 1957.
Kamenev, L. B. (real name Rosenfeld) (1883–1936), Bolshevik, member of Lenin’s Central Committee and Politbureau. Married Trotsky’s sister. Together with Zinoviev, formed opposition of the left after Lenin’s death. Expelled from Party in 1927, 1932 and 1934. Arrested in 1935 for membership of ‘terrorist counter-revolutionary Trotskyist-Zinoviest bloc’. Charged at the notorious show trial of 1936 with treason, the assassination of Kirov and planning that of Stalin. Sentenced to death and shot.
Kapitsa, Pyotr (1894–1984), physicist, member of Academy of Sciences. Worked with Rutherford at Cambridge 1924–34. Refused to develop atomic bomb for Stalin, who held him under house arrest.
Karayev, Kara (1918–77), Azerbaijani composer. Studied at Moscow Conservatoire with Alexandrov and DDS. In his writing used a colourful national idiom together with modern compositional techniques (neoclassicism, twelve-tone series, etc.).
*Karetnikov, Nikolai (1930–94), composer. Belongs to the alternative stream of Soviet composers. From the 1960s he developed his compositional style on serialism, under the influence of Webern’s music.
Keldysh, Yuri (1907–), musicologist allied to official line. Taught at Moscow Conservatoire.
Kerensky, Alexander (1881–1970), politician. Occupied positions of Minister of Justice, Minister of War, then Prime Minister in the provisional government of Russia between February and October 1917. Emigrated in 1918.
*Khachaturian, Aram (1903–78), Armenian composer. Studied at Moscow Conservatoire with Myaskovsky. Gained recognition with Piano Concerto in 1936. His striking use of nationalistic music was particularly suited to his ballet scores, such as Gayaneh (1942) and Spartacus (1954). Active in the affairs of the Union of Composers.
*Khachaturian, Karen (1920–), composer. Studied with Shostakovich and Shebalin in the Moscow Conservatoire, graduating in 1949. His subsequent career was much supported by the Union of Composers and Khrennikov. In 1962 he was entrusted by Tikhon Khrennikov to accompany Stravinsky during his return trip to Russia. One of the Principal Secretaries of the Union of Composers.
*Khaikin, Boris (1904–78), conductor. Worked mainly in the field of opera. Started his career at the Leningrad Kirov Theatre; worked at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow 1954–78.
Kharms, Daniil (real name Yuvachyov) (1906–42), writer and poet. Member and founder of the short-lived Leningrad absurdist school, Oberiu. Was arrested in early 1930s, released, then arrested again and perished in the Gulag camps.
Khlebnikov, Velimir (1885–1922), Russian experimental poet, one of the founders of the futurist movement. Developed theories on the renovation of language which were tied into his mystic philosophy. Although a cult figure amongst the intelligentsia of the time, his poems were not published during the Soviet era.
Kholodilin, Alexander (1908–71), musicologist. Head of the music department of the Ministry of Culture. On friendly terms with DDS. Responsible for commission of complete edition of DDS’s works published in the Soviet Union.
Khrapchenko, Mikhail (1904–86), literary critic. President of Committee of Arts of the USSR during the war years.
Khrennikov, Tikhon (1913–), composer. Studied with Shebalin 1932–6. His realistic opera Into the Storm (1939) brought him success, and was upheld as an example to Prokofiev, when his opera Semyon Kotko was subject to attack. In 1948 was elected First Secretary of the Union of Composers, a position he still holds. In 1948 he led the attacks on the ‘formalist’ composers, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian et al. His defenders point out that in the Stalinist years no composer was arrested; also that he always looked after the welfare of composers. While he moderated his views, ‘moving with the times’, his name was anathema to the younger generation of composers.
Khubov, Georgi (1902–74), musicologist, editor of Sovietskaya Muzyka.
Kirov, Sergei (real name Kostrikov) (1886–1934), Bolshevik leader. From 1926 worked in Leningrad, succeeding Zinoviev. During 17th Party Congress he won more votes for Party leadership than Stalin, who falsified the results to show himself victor. Stalin resented his popularity and independence from central Party control in Leningrad. His assassination in December 1934, almost certainly on Stalin’s orders, signalled the start of the Terror.
Klemperer, Otto (1885–1973), German conductor. Music director at Cologne (1917–24) and Wiesbaden (1924–7). Head of Berlin Kroll opera (1927–31), which was set up to stage new works. Performed frequently in the Soviet Union in late 1920s. Last visit to USSR in 1936, when he declined the post of chief conductor of Moscow Philharmonic.
Knipper, Lev (1898–1974), Composer, nephew of Olga Knipper-Chekhova. After the Revolution, served as officer in White Army, before joining the Kachalov group of the divided Moscow Arts Theatre company in exile. Returned to Soviet Union in 1922. Subsequently studied composition in Germany, where he came under modernist influences. In the Soviet Union he became a model socialist-realist composer. He was known to work for the security organs, and was involved in espionage during World War II.
Knipper-Chekhova, Olga (1868–1959), actress, wife of Anton Chekhov. Created heroines of Chekhov’s plays at first Moscow Arts Theatre productions.
Kokoshkin, Fyodor (1871–1918), founder of KADET Party. Member of Provisional Government of 1917. Both he and fellow Kadet Shingaryov were arrested by Bolsheviks in November 1917, and assassinated by sailors in January 1918.
*Kondrashin, Kirill (1914–81), conductor. Studied at Moscow Conservatoire with Zhilyaev and Khaikin. Worked at MALEGOT 1936–43. From 1943 conductor at Bolshoi Theatre. Artistic Director of Moscow Philharmonic 1960–75. Applied for political asylum in Holland in 1978, where he was appointed to the Concertgebouw Orchestra. First met DDS in 1937 in Leningrad. Gave first performances of Fourth Symphony (1961) and Thirteenth Symphony.
Konniskaya, Mariya (1905–), artist. During World War II she lost most of her family during the siege of Leningrad, but escaped across Lake Lagoda with her two small children. Was taken prisoner by Nazis and transported with her children to Germany. After the war she was ‘repatriated’, and hence was regarded as ‘a potential enemy of the people’ and deprived of all citizen’s rights. For ten years she led a precarious existence, earning her living as a charwoman, manicurist, nanny, etc. Married Lev Lebedinsky in 1955.
Konstantinovskaya, Elena (1914–75), translator. DDS met her in Leningrad in 1934 while she was acting as interpreter during official meetings with foreign musicians. DDS took English lessons with her, which led to romance during 1934–5. She was arrested in 1935 as a result of an anonymous denunciation, but released the following year. Went to Spain during civil war, where she met and married Roman Carmen. Later remarried and taught foreign languages at Leningrad Conservatoire.
Kornilov, Boris (1907–38), poet. Married to Olga Bergolts. Author of ‘Song of the Counterplan’. Perished in Stalinist purges.
Kostrykin, Maxim (d. 1937), revolutionary. The brother-in-law of D. B. Shostakovich. Married (1903) to DDS’s paternal aunt, Mariya Boleslavovna Shostakovich. An ardent revolutionary and member of the Bolshevik Party, he was exiled to Siberia in the early years of this century. The Shostakovich family was very friendly with the Kostrykins, and during the 1920s DDS often stayed with them in Moscow. Maxim Kostrykin perished in the purges of 1937.
Koussevitsky, Sergei (1874–1951), American conductor of Russian birth. In 1909 founded his own publishing house and his own orchestra. Champion of new music; in 1910 premiered Skryabin’s Prometheus. Left Russia after 1917 revolution. From 1924 chief conductor of Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Koval’, Marian (Kovalyov) (1907–71), composer and musicologist. Studied with M. Gnessin at the Moscow Conservatoire. Member of Prokoll in 1920s/1930s. In late 1940s/early 1950s was chief editor of Sovietskaya Muzyka. A follower of Asafiev. During the Stalinist period he outdid himself in his active persecution of ‘formalists’, and hence was one of Shostakovich’s most dangerous critics.
Kozhunova, Fedosya (Fenya) (d. 1965), Shostakovich’s housekeeper, who worked for the Varzar family in Leningrad.
*Kozintsev, Grigori (1905–73). One of the most distinguished of Russia’s film and theatre directors and a theatrical/cinema theorist. Founder (with Trauberg and Yutkevich) of the ‘FEKS’ experimental group – the Factory of the Eccentric Actor. Worked as a film director with L. Trauberg until the 1940s. DDS consistently wrote music for Kozintsev’s films through the years from 1928 (New Babylon) till 1970 (King Lear).
Kozolupov, Semyon (1884–1961), cellist and teacher. Professor at Moscow Conservatoire.
Kubatsky, Viktor (1891–1971), cellist. Founder of Stradivarius Quartet. Later worked in Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, where he was active in organizing concerts. Dedicatee of DDS’s cello sonata.
Kustodiev, Boris (1878–1927), artist, illustrator. Famous for his portraits, and his colourful ‘primitive’ scenes of Russian life. Continued to paint even when confined to a wheelchair through illness. Painted DDS when a boy. DDS reputedly influenced by his illustrations to Leskov’s ‘Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District’.
Landau, Lev (1908–68), physicist. Studied at Leningrad, and in Denmark at the Niels Bohr’s Institute. Founded school in Kharkov which became leading centre of study of theoretical physics. Known for his work in atomic and low-temperature physics.
*Lebedinsky, Lev (1904–92), musicologist and expert in musical folklore. One of the founders and chief ideologues of RAPP. Close friend of DDS during the 1950s. In his capacity as editor at the Sovietsky Kompozitor publishing house, he edited the piano score of the second version of Katerina Izmailova.
Ledenyov, Roman (1930–), composer. Student of Shebalin. One of the post-World War II generation of Soviet composers who was criticized for his tentative experiments in ‘Western’ styles. Teaches composition at the Moscow Conservatoire.
Leskov, Nikolai (1831–95), realist writer, whose story, ‘Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District’ was the basis of Shostakovich’s second opera.
*Levitin, Yuri (1912–93), composer. Studied with DDS at Leningrad Conservatoire 1937–40. His symphonies and oratorios are written in the conventional ‘socialist-realist’ style. Composed much light music, popular songs, etc.
Litvinov, Maxim (1876–1951), Bolshevik revolutionary. Arrested and escaped to Britain in 1902, where he met his English wife, Ivy Low. Arrested by British Government in 1917, who allowed him and his family to return to Soviet Union the next year in exchange for James Lockhart. Commissar for Foreign Affairs 1930–9. Ambassador to Washington 1941–3. Deputy Commissar for Foreign Affairs 1943–5. Retired in 1946.
*Litvinova, Flora (née Yasinovskaya) (1920–), biologist. Brought up by mother, who worked as a seamstress in a Moscow factory. Married Mikhail Litvinov (1917–) in 1940. Spent years of evacuation in Kuibyshev where she got to know DDS and family. Her son Pavel (1940–) trained as a physicist, became prominent member of the dissident movement, suffered arrest and exile to the USA. In recent years she has been actively involved in the Moscow organization MEMORIAL (created in the years of Glasnost’) which re-habilitates all survivors of Gulag, obtains evidence from newly opened-up archives and arranges pensions for the needy.
*Litvinova, Tatyana (1918–), artist, translator. Married sculptor Ilya Slonim in 1941 while in evacuation in Kuibyshev. After the war she studied art and the classics, but was expelled from college as a ‘formalist’ before she was able to graduate. Returned to England in early 1970s with her mother Ivy Low-Litvinova.
Lopukhov, Fyodor (1886–1973), choreographer 1933–6. Director of ballet group at MALEGOT. Produced DDS’s ballets The Bolt and The Limpid Stream.
*Lossky, Boris (1905–2004), art historian. Son of Nikolai Lossky, Russian idealist philosopher (1870–1965). Left Russia with family in 1922. Studied at Sorbonne; from 1947 curator of the Tours Art Gallery; and from 1967 until his retirement curator of Palace of Fontainebleau.
Lourié, Arthur (1892–1966), avant-garde composer linked to futurists. Under the influence of Skryabin, he was one of the first Russians to experiment with elements of dodecaphony, graphic notation, etc. From 1917 acted as Commissar of the Music Division of the Ministry of Education under Lunacharsky. In 1922 emigrated to Paris.
*Lubotsky, Mark (1931–), violinist. Studied in Moscow with Yampolsky and Oistrakh. Currently resides in Hamburg.
Lukashevich, Klavdia (1859–1937), children’s writer. Godmother of DDS.
Lunacharsky, Anatoly (1875–1933), Bolshevik Commissar for Enlightenment 1917–29. A literary critic and playwright, and unlike all his successors in Soviet times a man of considerable culture.
Lysenko, Trofim (1898–1976), biologist, member of Soviet Academy of Sciences. Lysenko denounced the theory of intraspecific competition as bourgeois formalist deviation. Instead he promoted the theory of ‘class’ biology, stating that acquired characteristics can be inherited, enabling the creation of new species and the transformation of old ones. His ideas appealed to Stalin, who readily supported him in his attempts to destroy all his opponents among Soviet geneticists.
*Lyubimov, Yuri (1917–), actor, theatre director. Founder of Taganka Theatre in 1964, which was noted for its controversial productions. In 1983 remained in London while on tour; in 1984 was stripped of Soviet citizenship. In 1988 invited to return to work in Russia.
Lyubimsky, Zahkar (1887–1983), Director of Leningrad state theatres.
Maazel, Lev (1907–2000), music theorist whose work, unlike so many of his Party-minded colleagues, was highly regarded. Professor at Moscow Conservatoire.
Malenkov, Georgi (1902–88), Bolshevik leader. Chairman of Council of Ministers after Stalin’s death. Removed from office in 1957 by Khrushchev as member of ‘anti-Party’ group.
Malevich, Kazimir (1873–1935), painter. Founder of suprematist school, which evolved from abstract cubism. His Leningrad studio was influential in the 1920s. Died in obscurity and poverty.
*Malko, Nikolai (1883–1961), conductor. Director of Leningrad Philharmonic 1925–9. Left the Soviet Union in 1929. Worked frequently in London and Denmark before World War II. Settled in Chicago in 1940. Conductor of Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra (1954–5) and from 1957 till his death conductor of Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Marshak, Samuiil (1887–1964), poet and translator. Well known as children’s writer and for his translations of Shakespeare.
Martynov, Ivan (1908–), musicologist. Wrote book on DDS’s music. Worked as DDS’s assistant in running the RSFSR Union of Composers.
Mayakovsky, Vladimir (1893–1930), poet, playwright, artist and actor. Together with Burlyuk brothers, founder of Russian futurism. After 1917 he allied himself and futurism with the Bolshevik regime. In 1920s editor of LEF.
Melik-Pashayev, Alexander (1905–64), conductor. Worked at Bolshoi Theatre 1931–64.
Mendeleyev, Dmitri (1834–1907), chemical scientist. Discoverer of Periodic Law of Chemical Elements. His daughter Lyubov’ was married to the poet Alexander Blok.
Mendelssohn-Prokofieva, Mira (1915–62), translator and writer. Second wife of Sergei Prokofiev, for whom she wrote libretto of War and Peace.
Messerer, Asaf (1903–92), choreographer and dancer, famous for his performance in the role of Petrushka. Worked at Bolshoi Theatre.
*Meyer, Krzysztof (1943–), Polish composer. Author of Dmitri Shostakovich (PWM, Krakow, 1973), which was also published in Germany (Reclam, Leipzig, 1980) and of Shostakovich: Life, Work and Times (DSCH-Kompozitor, St Petersburg, 1998). He is a prolific composer, whose works have been widely performed. Completed Shostakovich’s opera The Gamblers (1980–1), which was staged in Wuppertal in 1984. Since 1987 teaches composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne.
*Meyerovich, Mikhail (1920–1993), composer and pianist. Studied at Moscow Conservatoire. Played Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony with DDS in four-hand versions at audition at the Union of Composers.
Mikhailkov, Sergei (1913–), writer, children’s poet. Held influential position as Secretary of Writers’ Union.
Mikhailov, Nikolai (1906–82), Minister of Culture 1955–60.
Mikhoels, Solomon (1890–1948), actor. Founder of the Jewish Theatre in Moscow.
Milhaud, Darius (1892–1974), French composer. Member of ‘Le Six’. Visited Leningrad and Moscow in 1926 with Jean Weiner, when he met DDS.
*Milkis, Yakov (1931–), violinist. Studied at Odessa and Moscow Conservatoires (with Lev Zeitlin). He became leader of the Maly Opera theatre orchestra in Leningrad in 1955, and played in the Leningrad Philharmonic 1957–74. Currently holds position of associate leader of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Molchanov, Kirill (1922–), composer who made career in official circles; author of Friendship Cantata, patriotic songs, etc.
Molotov, Vyacheslav (real name Skryabin) (1890–1986), Bolshevik statesman. As Commissar for Foreign Affairs he negotiated the Soviet–German non-aggression pact in 1939. Belonged to ‘anti-Party group’ who tried to depose Khrushchev in 1957, after which was demoted to position of Soviet ambassador to Mongolia. Expelled from Communist Party in 1964.
Mosolov, Alexander (1900–73), composer who achieved renown for his constructivist, mechanistic music in the 1920s (i.e. the ‘Iron Foundry’). Unable to adapt his considerable talents to the demands of socialist-realism, Mosolov became a marginal figure in Soviet musical life.
*Mravinsky, Evgeni (1903–88), conductor, whose reputation was established after giving the premiere of DDS’s Fifth Symphony. This marked the beginning of a long and close working contact with DDS. Chief conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic from 1938 till his death.
Muradeli, Vano (1908–70), Georgian composer and musical activist. Now remembered for his opera The Great Friendship, which provoked Stalin’s wrath and was the subject of and gave the title to Zhdanov’s 1948 ‘Decree’ against formalism. He was quick to recant and rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the officials.
Myaskovsky, Nikolai (1881–1950), composer. Taught at Moscow Conservatoire. His earlier works demonstrate experimental ideas, with expressionist and constructivist influences. Was able to adapt successfully to the demands of Soviet ‘socialist-realism’ without compromising his integrity. Many of his twenty-seven symphonies remain in repertoire today.
*Nabokov, Nicholas (1903–78), emigré composer. Cousin of writer Vladimir Nabokov.
Nazirova, Elmira (1928–), composer and pianist. Studied briefly at Moscow Conservatoire under Shostakovich. Returned to Baku in 1948. Emigrated to Israel in 1990.
Neizvestny, Ernst (1926–), sculptor and dissident. Was subject of Khrushchev’s tirade against ‘abstractionism’ in 1962. Later he and Zhutovsky designed memorial stone on Khrushchev’s grave. Emigrated to USA.
Nesterenko, Evgeni (1938–), bass, soloist of Bolshoi Theatre. First performer of DDS song cycles ‘Five Romances on Texts from Krokodil’, Michelangelo Suite, Lebyadkin Songs, etc.
Nestyev, Israel (1911–93), musicologist. One of leading ‘Party line’ critics during the campaign against formalism. Author of books on Prokofiev.
Neuhaus, Heinrich (1888–1964), distinguished concert pianist and professor at the Moscow Conservatoire. Teacher of Richter and Gilels.
Nikolayev, Leonid (1878–1942), pianist and composer. Remembered as remarkable piano teacher. Amongst his pupils were Vladimir Sofronitsky, Mariya Yudina and DDS.
*Nikolayeva-Tarasevich, Tatyana (1924–93), pianist and composer. Studied at Moscow Conservatoire. In 1950 won first prize at Leipzig competition held for bi-centennial commemoration of Bach’s death. During this festival DDS, replacing Mariya Yudina, performed in concert with her and Serebryakov Bach’s Concerto for three pianos. DDS wrote his Preludes and Fugues as a result of his profound impression of her playing.
Oborin, Lev (1907–74), pianist and composer. Member of Moscow group of ‘Six’ (‘Shestyorka’). Winner of Chopin competition in 1927. Close friend of DDS in student years. Member of duo and trio with violinist David Oistrakh and cellist Sviatoslav Knushevitsky.
*Oistrakh, David (1908–74), violinist and conductor. Studied with Stolyarsky in his native Odessa. Professor at Moscow Conservatoire. Dedicatee of DDS’s two violin concertos and violin sonata.
*Ovcharek, Vladimir (1927–), violinist. Studied at Leningrad Conservatoire. While still a student, formed quartet which in 1963 became known under its present name of ‘Tanyeev’ Quartet. Their Melodiya recording of DDS’s fifteen string quartets won a Grand Prix in 1978.
Pasternak, Boris (1890–1960), one of Russia’s greatest twentieth-century poets. Unable to publish his poetry during Stalinist era, he earned his living as a translator (notably of Shakespeare’s plays). His only novel, Dr Zhivago, was published outside the Soviet Union in 1957, caused a furore at home and his expulsion from the Writers’ Union. Awarded Nobel Prize for literature in 1958, but refused it under pressure from the authorities.
Paustovsky, Konstantin (1892–1968), novelist. Appreciated for his fine prose writing.
Pavlov, Ivan (1849–1936), scientist, specialist in animal physiology and psychology. Discovered the ‘Pavlovian reflexes’ in chimpanzees and dogs. In USSR Pavlov was championed, as his theories confirmed the materialistic view of man. Privately he remained an Orthodox believer.
*Pears, Peter (1910–89), English tenor, whose professional career was closely associated with Benjamin Britten’s music. Met DDS with Britten both in England and on various visits to Russia.
Peiko, Nikolai (1916–95), composer. Acted as Shostakovich’s assistant at the Moscow Conservatoire 1943–8.
*Perelman, Nathan (1906–2002), pianist and teacher. Studied with Nikolayev. Professor of piano at the Leningrad Conservatoire. When Maxim Shostakovich enrolled at Leningrad Conservatoire to study conducting, Perelman accepted him in his class at DDS’s request.
Piotrovsky, Adrian (1898–1938), theatre and literary critic. Organized revolutionary mass spectacles in early 1920s. Worked as dramaturge at MALEGOT and TRAM. Perished in the purges.
Polyakin, Miron (1895–1941), violinist, pupil of Auer.
*Pokrovsky, Boris (1912–), opera and theatre director. Studied piano. Has worked at Bolshoi Theatre on and off for fifty years, from 1943. Amongst innumerable new productions at Bolshoi was Vano Muradeli’s The Great Friendship (1947). In reaction to the frustrations of working with the large, unwieldy administration of Bolshoi Theatre, he and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky founded the Moscow Chamber Theatre in 1972. Under his directorship, the theatre has acquired an enormous reputation for its intimate and imaginative productions and its adventurous repertoire.
Popov, Gavriil (1904–72), pianist and composer. Studied with Shcherbachov at Leningrad Conservatoire. Earned a reputation as a ‘modernist’ in the 1920s.
Popova, Lyubov’ (1889–1924), avant-garde artist. Worked in cubist style and evolved a theory of dynamics of movement and colour. From 1918 onwards was involved with new system of practical artistic instruction.
Preis, Alexander (1906–42), writer. Librettist, with DDS and Ionin, of operas The Nose and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.
*Prokofiev, Oleg (1928–98), art historian, painter and sculptor. Son of the composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) and the singer Lina Prokofieva (1897–1989). From 1971 he lived and worked in England.
Rabinovich, David (1900–78), musicologist. Author of first Soviet biography of DDS. Arrested in 1949.
Rabinovich, Nikolai (1908–72), conductor. Worked principally in Leningrad. Esteemed as outstanding musician and personality. Conducted much of Shostakovich’s film music (the Maxim trilogy, Hamlet, etc).
Radlov, Nikolai (1889–1942), painter. Son of prominent Russian philosopher. With his brother Sergei, the theatre director, was active in Leningrad’s avant-garde circles in 1920s.
Raikh, Zinaida (1894–1939), actress. Wife of Meyerhold. Brutally murdered after her husband’s arrest and the closing of his theatre.
Rakhlin, Nathan (1906–79), conductor. Gave world premiere of DDS’s Eleventh Symphony and Leningrad premiere of Second Cello Concerto.
Richter, Sviatoslav (1914–97), pianist. Student of Heinrich Neuhaus. First performer of many of Prokofiev’s works (the Ninth Piano Sonata is dedicated to him). Acquired a legendary reputation before he was allowed to travel and perform in the West. First performer, with Oistrakh, of DDS’s Violin Sonata.
Rodchenko, Alexander (1891–1956), avant-garde artist. Gave up painting in 1921 to work on poster, book and textile designs, photography, etc. In 1920s active as instructor in the Commissariat of Education’s Applied Arts section, promulgating the incorporation of art into everyday life. Stage designer for production of Mayakovsky’s The Bedbug, for which DDS wrote the music.
Roslavets, Nikolai (1881–1944), avant-garde composer. Developed a system of tone organization which contained elements of serialism. A Marxist by conviction, he worked for the Bolshevik regime in education and agitprop. Supporter of ASM, rather than RAPM, with whom he came into conflict in 1927. Died in Moscow in total obscurity.
*Rostropovich, Mstislav (1927–), cellist, conductor and pianist. Studied cello initially with his father, then at Moscow Conservatoire with Semyon Kozolupov. Also student of composition with Shebalin and DDS. During the 1950s established a uniquely brilliant career. Has commissioned innumerable new works from the world’s leading composers, enriching the cello repertoire and extending the instrument’s possibilities. DDS dedicated his two cello concertos and his orchestration of Schumann’s cello concerto to him. In consequence of his protection of the disgraced writer Solzhenitsyn, his activities were severely restricted by the Soviet authorities. Hence his request to leave the Soviet Union with his family in 1974. First returned to Russia in 1990, conducting the Washington National Symphony Orchestra, and was hailed as a national hero.
Rozanova, Alexandra (1876–1902), pianist. Taught at St Petersburg Conservatoire as assistant of Malazemova, a disciple of Anton Rubinstein. Teacher of DDS and, a generation earlier, his mother Sofiya Vasilyevna Shostakovich.
*Rozhdestvensky, Gennadi (1931–), conductor. During the lifetime of DDS he held the positions of chief conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre, the Moscow Radio Orchestra and the Moscow Chamber Theatre. Reputed for his championship of contemporary composers, and many neglected scores from the past. His research has brought to light some of DDS’s previously forgotten scores, including the music to the film New Babylon, and other theatre, ballet and cinema music.
*Rudnyeva, Lyubov’ (Fegelman) (1915–2003), writer. Author of numerous novels and short stories, and also of critical studies of Mayakovsky and Meyerhold.
Ryazanov, Pyotr (1899–1942), Leningrad composer and teacher. Follower of V. Shcherbachov.
Ryumin, Pavel (dates not known), Secretary of Central Committee of Party, where he worked in the Cultural Department. Ridiculed by DDS as ‘Sryulin’ in introduction to Rayok.
*Sabinina, Marina (1917–2000), musicologist, writer and teacher at Moscow Conservatoire. Author of several books on DDS’s music, including an authoritative survey of his symphonies.
Sakharov, Andrei (1918–89), nuclear physicist. Dissident and founder of Russian human rights movement. Like DDS, owned a dacha in Zhukovka outside Moscow.
Saltykov-Shchedrin, Mikhail (1822–89), greatest satirical writer of the nineteenth century.
Samosud, Samuil (1884–1964), conductor. Opera conductor at MALEGOT (1918–36), at Bolshoi Theatre (1936–43) and at Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre (1943–56). First performer of DDS’s The Nose, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Seventh Symphony.
*Sanderling, Thomas (1942–), German conductor. Born in Novosibirsk, but grew up in Leningrad. His father, Kurt Sanderling, fled from Nazi Germany to USSR in the late 1930s, and shared the position of director of the Leningrad Philharmonic with Evgeni Mravinsky 1941–60, during which time he was closely associated with DDS and his music. The family returned to East Germany in 1960, where he studied and started his professional career. Gave first German performances of DDS’s Thirteenth and Fourteenth Symphonies.
Schillinger, Joseph (1895–1943), composer and theorist. Active in Leningrad musical life of the 1920s. He emigrated to the USA in 1928/29, where his theories had considerable influence in jazz circles. Taught Gershwin and Miller.
Schnittke, Alfred (1934–98), composer. Studied with Golubiev at Moscow Conservatoire. Came to prominence in late 1960s as one of the most interesting of Russia’s avant-garde composers. Experimented with serialism, polystylism, etc. Today is regarded as the most important composer to emerge from Russia. Currently lives in Hamburg.
Schnittke, Benedict (1905–66), teacher of music theory at Leningrad Conservatoire, where his wife Ala Schnittke (1908–87) taught musical analysis and form.
*Schwartz, Isaak (1923–), composer. Studied at Leningrad Conservatoire with Arapov and Evlakhov. Composer of many lyrical songs and chamber works. Best known for his stage and film music.
Serebryakov, Pavel (1909–79), pianist. Pupil of L. Nikolayev. Director of Leningrad Conservatoire 1938–52, 1962–79.
*Serebryakova, Galina (1915–80), writer and specialist on Karl Marx. Her husband, the diplomat Sokolnikov, was shot in 1937, while she languished for twenty years in the Gulag prisons. DDS renewed contacts with her after her release. In 1965 DDS wrote music for the film A Year as Long as a Lifetime based on her book on the life of Karl Marx.
Serov, Alexander (1820–71), opera composer, whose music and ideas influenced Dargomyzhsky and Mussorgsky.
Shaporin, Yuri (1887–1966), composer, teacher and activist. His most famous work is the opera The Decembrists (1953).
Shcherbachov, Vladimir (1889–1952), composer. Had considerable influence in the 1920s. Led a school of reformist ‘modernist’ composers in Leningrad, where he taught 1923–31. In 1931 was ‘demoted’ to a professorship at the Tbilisi Conservatoire. His music (including his monumental Symphony no. 2 on words by Alexander Blok, and his ‘Izhorsk’ Symphony no. 4) has been unjustly neglected over the last fifty years or so.
Shebalin, Vissarion (1902–63), composer and teacher. Studied with Myaskovsky. Member of Moscow group called The Six. Close friend of DDS from 1925 until his death. Director of Moscow Conservatoire 1943–8. Criticized by Zhdanov in 1948, together with DDS, Prokofiev, etc. Had an important influence as a teacher; his pupils included such diverse figures as Edison Denisov, Nikolai Karetnikov and Tikhon Khrennikov. DDS not only valued Shebalin as one of his few loyal friends, but admired him as a composer. Much of their life-long correspondence was dedicated to musical discussion.
*Shebalina, Alisa (née Gubé) (1902–2003), paediatrician. Trained in Moscow and Germany. Met the composer Vissarion (Ronya) Shebalin in 1924. As was the fashion in the 1920s, the couple despised the ‘bourgeois’ trappings of matrimony, and only officially registered their marriage in the late 1930s, after the birth of their two children. To this day she dedicates her energies to honouring her husband’s memory, and has published several books of reminiscences, documents, etc.
*Shenderovich, Evgeni (1918–), pianist. Studied at Leningrad Conservatoire, specializing in accompaniment. Met DDS during his student years. Duo partner of bass Evgeni Nesterenko, with whom he gave first performances of DDS’s two last vocal cycles. Taught at Leningrad and Moscow Conservatoires. Since 1991 lives in Israel.
Shepilov, Dmitri (1905–95), Secretary of Central Committee of Communist Party. One of the ideological spokesmen who led the attack against ‘formalism’ in 1948. Ridiculed by DDS in Rayok.
Shirinsky, Sergei (1903–74), cellist of the Beethoven Quartet. Shostakovich dedicated his Fourteenth Quartet to him.
Shirinsky, Vasili (1901–65), violinist and conductor. Second violinist of the Beethoven Quartet.
Shneyerson, Grigori (1901–82), musicologist allied to the official establishment. Editor of book of reminiscences and articles on DDS published in 1976.
Sholokhov, Mikhail (1905–84), writer. Established his reputation with epic novel Quiet Flows the Don. Quickly became an establishment figure, who was accorded the highest honours and lived in unheard-of luxury, even though he virtually stopped writing. Often acted as Party spokesman on literary matters.
Shostakovich, Irina Antonovna see Supinskaya
Shostakovich, Mariya Dmitriyevna (1903–73), pianist. Composer’s elder sister.
Shostakovich, Sofiya Vasilyevna (1878–1955), pianist. Composer’s mother.
*Shostakovich, Zoya Dmitriyevna (1908–90), veterinary scientist. Younger sister of DDS. Married Grigori Khrushchev in 1920, a histologist by profession who later became director of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Simonov, Ruben (1899–1968), actor and theatre director. Worked at Vakhtangov Theatre from 1926, becoming its director in 1939.
Sitkovetsky, Julian (1925–58), violinist. Winner of Queen Elizabeth Competition. Leader of Tchaikovsky Quartet.
*Slonim, Ilya (1906–73), sculptor. Best known for his bust portraits. After being accused of ‘formalist’ tendencies, he experienced great difficulties in exhibiting his work. Married T. Litvinova in 1941.
*Slonimsky, Sergei (1932–), composer. Son of the writer Mikhail Slonimsky. Graduated from the Leningrad Conservatoire in composition under Professor Evlakhov, a former DDS pupil. Published a book on Prokofiev symphonies in 195\\8. Much of his work in 1960s and 1970s was written in experimental, radical style; hence he experienced difficulties in getting his music performed. In recent years he has also achieved a reputation outside Russia for his symphonies, operas and chamber works.
Smolich, Nikolai (1888–1968), opera and theatre director. Artistic director at MALEGOT 1924–30. Later he worked at the Bolshoi in Moscow, where he also taught at the Conservatoire.
*Sokolov, Nikolai (1903–2000), artist. In 1924 formed the ‘Kukryniksy’ group with two other artists, M. Kupriyanov and P. Krylov (the ‘Ku’ and ‘Kry’ of the group). The ‘Kukryniksy’ (an anagram of the three artists’ names) had a wide range of team activity, working in the theatre and illustration. They achieved nation-wide fame for their satirical cartoons, created for the magazine Krokodil.
Sokolovsky, Mikhail (1901–41), theatre director. Created TRAM, the avant-garde experimental youth theatre, based on collective principles and influenced by Brecht, which was closed down in 1935. At the beginning of World War II he enlisted with the People’s Volunteer Brigade and died in the defence of Leningrad.
Sollertinsky, Ivan (1902–44). A man of incredible erudition and wit, equally at home in the many professions of which he was master: theatre and art specialist, linguist, specialist in Romance and Hispanic languages. Eventually chose to follow career in music as a professor at Leningrad Conservatoire, artistic director of the Leningrad Philharmonic and brilliant lecturer in music. From 1927 was DDS’s closest friend and confidant.
Solovyov-Sedoy, Vasili (1907–79), composer of popular songs. Best known as the composer of the song ‘Moscow Nights’. Chairman of the Leningrad Composers’ Union 1945–64.
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander (1918–), writer. Served in Soviet Army in World War II; arrested on trumped-up charges, languished in the Gulag camps until rehabilitation in 1958. Although tentatively published in Russia during the Thaw years, from 1968 he was subjected to ferocious campaign of criticism and forced to emigrate from Russia in 1974. Won Nobel Prize in 1970.
Souvchinsky, Pierre (1892–1985), writer and musicologist. Emigrated to France, where he became a leading figure of the Russian emigré community. Was on close terms with Stravinsky. After World War II he helped Boulez form the Domaine Musical etc. Corresponded with Pasternak until the poet’s death.
Spassky, Boris (1937–), chess player. World champion 1969–72.
Stakhanov, Alexei (1905–77). Miner who achieved fame by breaking the record for mining coal on the night 30/31 August 1935, when he produced in one shift fourteen times the expected norm. A few weeks later he doubled his own record. Gave his name to the Stakhanovite movement of shock workers, whose aim was to boost morale and increase industrial productivity. Later he was an administrator in the Ministry of Coal and Industry and a deputy to the Supreme Soviet.
Stanislavsky, Konstantin (1863–1938), theatre and opera director. Co-founder of Moscow Arts Theatre in 1898. First director of Chekhov’s late plays. In 1918 organized Bolshoi Theatre Opera studio, renamed Stanislavsky Opera Theatre.
Steinberg, Maximilian (1883–1946), composer. Taught composition at the Petrograd/Leningrad Conservatoire for over forty years. Son-in-law of Rimsky-Korsakov.
Stiedry, Fritz (1883–1968), Austrian conductor. Director of Leningrad Philharmonic 1932–6. Promoted much new music, notably Schoenberg’s.
Stuckenschmidt, Hans Heinz (1901–88), German musicologist. Schoenberg’s last pupil. Has written books on Busoni, Schoenberg, et al.
Supinskaya, Irina (1934–), literary scholar. DDS’s third wife from 1962.
Sveshnikov, Alexander (1890–1980), chorus master. Director of Moscow Conservatoire from 1948. Director of State Academic Choir.
Svetlanov, Evgeni (1928–), principal conductor of the USSR State Symphony Orchestra from 1965.
Sviridov, Georgi (1915–98), composer. One of DDS’s most talented pupils. Best works are settings of Russian lyrical poetry (Esenin, Pasternak) for chorus or solo voice. Became an establishment figure, a yes-man in the Union of Composers.
Tarkhanov, Mikhail (real name Moskvin) (1877–1948), actor and theatre director. Worked at Moscow Arts Theatre. Head of GITIS (State Institute of Theatrical Art) 1942–8.
Tatlin, Vladimir (1885–1953), avant-garde painter. Influenced by Picasso’s cubist paintings. From 1917 worked in Lunacharsky’s Commissariat for Enlightenment as head of Moscow Department of Painting. In 1920s worked in design and three-dimensional art, his most famous construction being the 20 ft spiral tower dedicated to the Third International. From the 1930s his work was no longer tolerated.
Theodorakis, Mikis (1925–), Greek composer of revolutionary outlook and communist sympathies. Arrested in 1967 by right-wing Colonels’ regime. His music was banned in Greece. Released in 1970.
Tishchenko, Boris (1939–), composer and pianist. Studied at Leningrad Conservatoire with Evlakhov and as post-graduate with DDS. One of most outstanding talents of his generation. DDS rated him highly, and particularly admired his setting of Akhmatova’s Requiem.
Tolstoy, Dmitri (1923–), composer. Son of the writer Alexei Tolstoy (1883–1945). Studied with Shebalin in Moscow, and Arapov and DDS (1947–8) in Leningrad.
*Tomashevskaya, Zoya (1926–), architect. Comes from well-known St Petersburg/Leningrad intellectual family. Her father, the distinguished Pushkin scholar Boris Tomashevsky, enjoyed close friendships with some of Russia’s most distinguished writers, notably Anna Akhmatova. The Tomashevskys always kept open house for musicians and writers in their flat on the Griboyedev Canal at the heart of old St Petersburg.
Toscanini, Arturo (1867–1957), Italian conductor. As an anti-fascist, he refused to conduct in Italy and Germany. Spent the war years in the USA as head of the NBC orchestra 1938–45. One of the first conductors to promote DDS’s music outside the USSR, giving first Western performance of the Seventh Symphony in New York in 1943.
Trauberg, Leonid (1902–90), film director. Founder of FEKS with Kozintsev and Yutkevich. All his films 1924–46 co-directed with Kozintsev.
Trifonov, Yuri (1925–81), writer.
Trotsky, Lev (real name Bronstein) (1879–1940), revolutionary. Originally a Menshevik before joining forces with Lenin early in 1917. Founded Red Army and was responsible for its political training and tough discipline. From 1924 he was in opposition to Stalin, who ousted him from power, had him exiled from Russia in 1928 and assassinated in Mexico.
Tsekhanovsky, Mikhail (1895–1965), film director and animator. DDS wrote the music for two of his cartoon ‘opera’ films, The Tale of the Priest and His Servant Balda and The Silly Mouse.
Tsyganov, Mikhail (1905–93), violinist. Leader and founder of Beethoven Quartet, which gave the first performance of DDS’s quartets (with the exception of No. 1 and No. 15).
Tukhachevsky, Mikhail (1893–1937), Marshal of the Soviet Army. One of the most brilliant Soviet military strategists. Eliminated by Stalin, along with the elite of the Red Army, in the ‘generals’ purge.
Tuskiya, Iona (1901–63), Georgian composer. Studied with Shcherbachov.
Tvardovsky, Alexander (1910–71), poet and writer. Editor of progressive literary journal Novy Mir; responsible for publishing Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
*Tyulin, Yuri (1893–1978), composer and music theorist. Follower of Shcherbachov’s reformist school in the 1920s. Taught at Leningrad Conservatoire for fifty years. Together with Asafiev and Yavorsky he deeply influenced musical thinking in Soviet Russia during the first half of this century.
Tyutchev, Fyodor (1803–73). Russian metaphysical poet.
Ulanova, Galina (1910–98), ballerina. Outstanding soloist of Kirov Theatre.
Ustvolskaya, Galina (1919–), composer. Studied with DDS 1938–47 at Leningrad Conservatoire. DDS regarded her compositional talent most highly, quoting themes from her music in his work and giving her many of his own manuscripts. Her uncompromising radical music, together with a retiring, impractical personality, has meant that her music suffered neglect until a recent revival of interest.
Utyosov, Leonid (1895–1982), singer and entertainer from Odessa. As one of the earliest recording artists, gained incredible popularity. Founded TeaJazz (teatralny Jazz), one of the first jazz orchestras in Soviet Union, in 1929.
*Vakman, Sofiya (1911–2000), pianist and accompanist. Studied at Kiev and Leningrad Conservatoires. Gave first performance of Tsvetayeva Songs Op. 143, accompanying I. Bogachyova.
Varzar, Nina (1910–54), physicist. Studied at Bestuzhev Courses and Leningrad University. Married DDS in 1932. Mother of his children, Galina (1936–) and Maxim (1938–).
*Vecheslova, Tatyana (1910–91), ballerina. Soloist of Leningrad Kirov Theatre. Participated in the production of The Bolt in 1931.
Villiams, Pyotr (1902–47), painter and theatre designer. Worked with VKHUTEMAS in early 1920s. Best work done at Bolshoi Theatre 1941–7.
*Vishnevskaya, Galina (1926–), soprano. Soloist of Bolshoi Theatre 1952–74. Married M. L. Rostropovich in 1956. Dedicatee of three vocal works by DDS. Britten wrote ‘The Poet’s Echo’ and the soprano part of the War Requiem for her voice.
Volkonsky, André (1933–), composer and harpsichordist. Born in Geneva of old aristocratic Russian family. They returned to USSR in 1947. Expelled from Moscow Conservatoire in 1954. One of the most talented musicians of his generation, profoundly influencing composers’ avant-garde circles, as well as stimulating interest in early music. Founder of Moscow Chamber Orchestra and Madrigal Group.
Voroshilov, Kliment (1881–1969), Bolshevik and close associate of Stalin. Full member of Politbureau from 1926. In 1941 was stripped of his command for failing to prevent the German blockade of Leningrad. Chairman of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet 1953–7. Lost his Party and government posts after unsuccessfully trying to depose Khrushchev in 1957.
Vovsi, Miron (1897–1960), therapist and paediatric surgeon. Arrested in 1953 as part of ‘Doctors’ Plot’.
*Vovsi-Mikhoels, Natalya (1921–), linguist. Daughter of the famous Jewish actor Solomon Mikhoels, and the niece of Professor Miron Vovsi. First marriage was to composer Moisei Weinberg. After her divorce in 1972 she emigrated to Israel. Author of My Father, Solomon Mikhoels.
Vvedensky, Alexander (1904–41), poet. Member of Oberiu, the Leningrad group of absurdist writers.
Vysotsky, Vladimir (1938–80), actor at Taganka Theatre. Achieved incredible popularity for his songs, which were written in the style of ‘street’ or ‘camp’ ballads to guitar accompaniment.
Weinberg, Moisei (later known as Mechislav or Mieczyslaw) (1919–1996), composer and pianist. Graduated from Warsaw Conservatoire. In 1939 escaped to USSR. Became close friend of DDS from 1943. Arrested in 1953, released after several months. DDS never taught him, but had high opinion of his gifts.
Weisberg, Julia (1880–1942), composer and critic. Pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov. Married A. N. Rimsky-Korsakov, son of the composer. In 1920s edited the music journal Muzikalny Sovremmenik.
Welter, Nadezhda (1899–94), mezzo-soprano. Worked with GATOB (Kirov Theatre) in Leningrad as soloist of the company 1930–3 and 1945–53. Also worked at MALEGOT 1933–45, where her roles included a remarkable portrayal of Carmen and the Countess in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades.
Yarustovsky, Boris (1911–78), musicologist and teacher. Responsible for ideological matters at the Union of Composers. Was one of Shostakovich’s persecutors even before 1948. However, he moved with the times, as is evidenced by his two books on Stravinsky, the first being a crude attack on the renowned master, while the second gave a more favourable appraisal. DDS ridiculed him in the preface of Rayok as ‘Yasrustovsky’.
Yavorsky, Boleslav (1877–1942), composer and music theorist. Pupil of Tanyeev. Developed theory of ‘modal rhythm’ and created a symmetrical system based on tritone and its resolution, which he applied to all music. Had an enormous influence as a teacher at the Kiev and Moscow Conservatoires. His personality and theories had a profound influence on DDS, as testified by the intensive correspondence between them during DDS’s student years.
*Yudin, Gavriil (1905–91), conductor. Cousin of Mariya Yudina. Studied at Petrograd/Leningrad Conservatoire. Had a modest career as a conductor within the Soviet Union.
Yudina, Mariya (1899–1970), pianist. Pupil of Leonid Nikolayev. A person of enormous erudition and great enthusiasm for new causes. Hence she studied philosophy, architecture, poetry, etc. Had an enormous following in Russia, but never performed outside the country. Her unpredictable behaviour (e.g. reciting poetry during concerts) and espousal of religion were anathema to Soviet ‘officialdom’. Her performances were characterized by highly individualist and sometimes eccentric interpretation, which could inspire, but could also irritate. From mid 1950s devoted her energy to the cause of new music, corresponding with Stravinsky and Stockhausen.
Yutkevich, Sergei (1904–85), film and theatre director, designer and artist. Pupil of Meyerhold. Director of Agitgroup ‘Sinyaya Bluza’. Worked with Eisenstein in his theatre productions. Co-founded FEKS with Kozintsev and Trauberg. DDS wrote the music for three of his films, including Counterplan.
Zakharov, Vladimir (1901–56), member of RAPM in 1920s. From 1932 director of Piatnitsky Choir. In 1948 he was appointed one of the Union of Composers’ Principal Secretaries, and in this capacity was one of the most ferocious persecutors of ‘formalist’ composers.
Zamyatin, Evgeni (1884–1937), writer. Acquired fame in the 1920s with his utopian novel We. In 1931 he wrote to Stalin asking permission to leave the Soviet Union, rather than suffer the ignominious moral death of silence by censorship. His request was granted. Zamyatin died in Paris. Collaborated briefly with DDS and Preis on the libretto of The Nose.
Zaslavsky, David (1890–1961), political publicist. Close to Lenin pre-1917. During 1930s to 1950s he worked on the editorial board of Pravda. Confessed author of the article ‘Muddle Instead of Music’ that appeared anonymously in Pravda on 28 January 1936.
Zhdanov, Andrei (1896–1948), Party member and from 1934 Central Committee member. He succeeded Kirov as First Secretary in Leningrad in 1934. Early in 1946 he left his duties in Leningrad and assumed responsibility for ideology. As such his name is associated with the 1946–48 campaigns against the intelligentsia.
Zhilyaev, Nikolai (1881–1942), composer and music theorist. Teacher at Moscow Conservatoire. DDS regarded him as one of his musical mentors. His loyalty to his friend Marshal Tukhachevsky led to his own arrest in 1937 and death in prison.
*Zhitomirsky, Daniil (1906–92), writer and musicologist. Studied at Moscow Conservatoire during late 1920s. Member of RAPM and of its splinter group Prokoll. Started a journalistic career in the late 1920s. In 1929 he wrote a polemic article in Proletarsky Muzikant condemning DDS’s The Nose, noting that DDS ‘had strayed from the main road of Soviet Art’. After dissolution of RAPM in 1932, Zhitomirsky changed his radical ideological position, and suffered a period of disgrace.
*Zhukova, Lidia (née Tsimbal; 1907–85), pianist. Studied at the Petrograd Conservatoire. Emigrated to USA.
Zhutovsky, Boris (1934–), artist of ‘unofficial’ trend. Attacked by Khrushchev in 1962 for his ‘abstract’ painting. Later he befriended Khrushchev and was briefly married to his daughter. Recently he has acquired a reputation outside Russia.
Zinoviev, Grigori (real name Radomyslsky) (1883–1936), Bolshevik revolutionary close to Lenin. Controlled Leningrad Party Organization 1921–6. Formed ‘left’ opposition with Kamenev. Expelled from Party three times from 1927. Arrested in 1935. Tried and condemned at the notorious show trial of 1936.
Zoshchenko, Mikhail (1895–1958), humorous writer. Acquired great popularity in the 1920s for his short sketches about the ‘new way of life’ in Soviet Russia. Was also loved for his deadpan manner when publicly reciting these sketches. Attacked (together with Akhmatova) in the Leningrad newspaper Star in 1946 as part of Zhdanov’s campaign against ‘formalists’. DDS much admired his work, and was on friendly terms with him.