Dmitry Shostakovich (* St. Petersburg, 1906 - + Moscow, 1975) immediately
made a name for himself with his First Symphony. In spite of political
pressure from the Soviet authorities on account of his alleged "Western
formalism", and in spite of certain critiques from Western commentators,
Shostakovich is considered as the Soviet Union's major symphonist and one
of Russia's greatest composers. The influence of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-
Korsakov, Mahler, Stravinsky and Hindemith is evident in his early works.