[ Virgin Classics / CD ]
Release Date: Thursday 21 March 1991
Dmitri Shostakovich (25 September 1906 - 9 August 1975) was a Russian composer and pianist, and a prominent figure of 20th-century music. Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union, but later had a complex and difficult relationship with the government. Shostakovich's music is characterized by sharp contrasts, elements of the grotesque, and ambivalent tonality; the composer was also heavily influenced by the neo-classical style pioneered by Igor Stravinsky, and (especially in his symphonies) by the post-Romanticism associated with Gustav Mahler.
Chamber Symphony for string orchestra
arr. Rudolf Barshai
Symphony No.14
for soprano, bass, string orchestra and percussion