Rodion shchedrin biography of michael

Biography

Composer and pianist Rodion Shchedrin is among the more prominent figures to emerge from the Soviet Union after Dmitry Shostakovich. Shchedrin's extensive catalog of compositions, which encompasses many genres, has evolved from tonal to aleatoric to what he has called "post-avant-garde," and he has often incorporated folk music and liturgical themes.

Among his most popular works are his ballets written or arranged for his wife, prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya.

Shchedrin was born in Moscow, then the capital of the Soviet Union, on December 16, The son of a music theorist and writer, he was encouraged in his musical interests from a very young age.

Initial studies at the Moscow Conservatory were interrupted by Russia's participation in World War II, but in , he entered the Moscow Choral School, and three years later, he returned to the Conservatory where he studied piano with Yakov Flier and composition with Yuri Shaporin.

At the same time, his interest