Russian Composer. His works include 27 symphonies, 13 string quartets, nine piano sonatas, a violin concerto and several song cycles. A professor of composition at Moscow University from 1919 to 1948, his most famous pupil was Aram Khachaturian. Hailed in his country for carrying on Russia's symphonic tradition, he was awarded a Stalin Prize in 1941 and named People's Artist of the USSR in 1946. But in a 1948 campaign launched by Stalin's cultural henchmen, Myaskovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Khachaturian, and Shebalin were all accused of writing "anti-people music". He was fired from the Conservatory and his music was banned. The Soviet government "posthumously rehabilitated" Myaskovsky in 1958, but the damage was done. Only recently has his music enjoyed a (modest) revival.
Russian Composer. His works include 27 symphonies, 13 string quartets, nine piano sonatas, a violin concerto and several song cycles. A professor of composition at Moscow University from 1919 to 1948, his most famous pupil was Aram Khachaturian. Hailed in his country for carrying on Russia's symphonic tradition, he was awarded a Stalin Prize in 1941 and named People's Artist of the USSR in 1946. But in a 1948 campaign launched by Stalin's cultural henchmen, Myaskovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Khachaturian, and Shebalin were all accused of writing "anti-people music". He was fired from the Conservatory and his music was banned. The Soviet government "posthumously rehabilitated" Myaskovsky in 1958, but the damage was done. Only recently has his music enjoyed a (modest) revival.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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