Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer of the 20th century. He made important strides in musical composition during his lifetime, and his legacy includes a unique harmonic identity based on stark contrasts, use of the grotesque, and a lack of a clear tonal centre.
His work often has a political undertone, as he found his fame at first through the Soviet Union. Later in his life politics became rather problematic for him, and some works such as his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk were banned from performance.
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