Composer, educator and pianist born in St. Petersburg to a family that moved to Moscow in 1918 where he attended the Scriabin Music School.
He started composing when he was eighteen years old and played piano for silent films until 1925, when he enrolled in the Moscow Conservatory. His teachers included Alexander Goldenweiser and Nikolai Myaskovsky.
Dmitry’s early efforts included his “Piano Concerto No. 1”, “Sonatina in C major”, and “24 Preludes”, which became a favourite of Vladimir Horowitz.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the Union of Soviet Composers and taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1932.
In the 1930s, he completed his second piano concerto and wrote his first opera, Colas Breugnon. By decade’s end, he had also penned The Comedians and joined the Communist Party.
He edited Sovetskaya Muzyka and churned out a number of patriotic songs during the Second World War. He also wrote longer pieces, such as “Into the Fire”, “Revenger of the People”, and “Vast Motherland”.
In 1946, he won the Stalin Prize for his “Quartet No. 2”, which was published in 1945. His 1947 opera, The Taras Family, won a second-class award in 1950.
In 1952, he completed his third piano concerto. He was named “People’s Artist of the RSFSR” in 1954 and “People’s Artist of USSR” in 1963. Requiem, which was written for people who had died during World War II, won the Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR in 1966. A revised version of Colas Breugnon won the Lenin Prize in 1972 and his “Piano Concerto No. 4” won the USSR State Prize in 1980. This was one of his last compositions.
He passed away on 14th February 1987 in Moscow.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra recordings
Colas Breugnon Overture
Conductor – Fritz Reiner
RCA 5602 (CD: Tchaikovsky “Pathetique” Symphony)
RCA 82876 61394-2 (CD: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; A Night on Bald Mountain)
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra recordings
Colas Breugnon Overture
Conductor – Uri Mayer
SMCD 5069 (CD: Canadian and Russian Overtures)
Minnesota Orchestra recordings
Colas Breugnon Overture
Conductor – Eiji Oue
RR 92CD (CD: Bolero!)
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