Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Russian Composer, always in some tension with the Soviet regime after 1936. Hero of Socialist Labor and Order of Lenin 1966. "...a humorously powerful sense of mockery and irony mixed with grandeur and despair."
"I write music, it’s performed. After all, my music says it all. It doesn’t need historical and hysterical commentaries. In the long run, any words about music are less important than the music."
Best known works: 5th Symphony, 10th Symphony (1953), String Quartet No. 8.