Rodion Shchedrin

Composer and pianist Rodion Shchedrin is among the more prominent figures to emerge from the Soviet Union after Dmitri 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, 1932. The son of a music theori...