Here is the first full-length biography of the Soviet composer who is perhaps the most controversial figure in the field of contemporary music. Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg the year after the abortive revolution of 1905, and spent his boyhood and adolescence in the midst of the unrest and turmoil of the World War period and the Bolshevik Revolution, It was his mother--an extraordinary woman and an able musician--who kept the family together after the death of the father. She assumed the role of breadwinner and was Dmitri's constant companion and his first piano teacher. Out of her determination to give her talented son his chance was born the Shostakovich First Symphony. From the time of its first public performance, the young composer has been recognized as one of the most promising musicians of our time. This fine biography has made a thorough and sympathetic study of the family background and of the composer himself, and offers an interesting explanation for the sensational developments of Shostakovich's recent years, which have been marked by the banning of his opera Lady Macbeth of Mzensk, and by the attacks of the Soviet press. With the production of his Fifth Symphony came his return to popularity; the reception given his Seventh was a triumph.

Excerpt from Dmitri Shostakovich: The Life and Background of a Soviet Composer Ernest Newman writes: In a first biography of any great artist a good deal-that concerns his opinions of Other people and his relations with other people has to be dis creetly touched in with the lightest of strokes, if only because there are intimacies and susceptibilities on all sides to be considered. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a new release of the original 1943 edition.