Dmitri Kabalevsky

Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (Russian: Дми́трий Бори́сович Кабале́вский; 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1904 – 14 February 1987) was a Russian composer.

He helped to set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures. He was a prolific composer of piano music and chamber music; many of his piano works have been performed by Vladimir Horowitz. He is probably best known in the West for the "Comedians' Galop" from The Comedians Suite, Op. 26 and his third piano concerto.

Kabalevsky was born in Saint Petersburg. His father was a mathematician and encouraged him to study mathematics; however, in early life he maintained a fascination with the arts, and became an accomplished young pianist, including a three-year stint as a pianist in silent theatres. He also dabbled in poetry and painting. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory Music College in 1925, and against his father's wishes entered the Moscow Conservatory, studying for the next five years there composition under Nikolai Myaskovsky and piano with Alexander Goldenweiser. In 1925 he joined PROKULL (Production Collective of Student Composers), a student group affiliated with Moscow Conservatory aimed at bridging the gap between the modernism of the ACM and the utilitarian "agitprop" music of the RAPM. He became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory in 1932.

During World War II, he wrote many patriotic songs, having joined the Communist Party in 1940, and was the editor of Sovetskaya Muzyka for its special six-volume publishing run during the war. He also composed and performed many pieces for silent movies and some theatre music.

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