The western premieres of the final three string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich will be held at a conference in Cambridge celebrating his 100th anniversary.

The Russian composer will be commemorated with three days of concerts and lecture-recitals this September hosted by the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Music with international guest musicians and speakers.

Born in 1906 to a liberal family, Dmitri was a child prodigy whose music would lead him into a complicated relationship with the Communist Party, receiving a number of state awards during his career as well as being denounced twice, in 1936 and 1948.

By the time he was 12, he had written a funeral march in memory of two leaders of the Kadet party murdered by Bolshevik sailors. When he graduated from the Petrograd Conservatory in 1926, he had already composed his first symphony which won him international fame.

Acclaimed as the greatest composer of the Soviet period, his music frequently includes sharp contrasts and elements of the grotesque.

Though best known for his symphonies and string quartets, he created operas, concertos and film music. He wrote the scores for some of Russia’s best known movies, from the ‘Fall of Berlin’ (1949) to ‘King Lear’ (1969).

The conference will bring his work to life through performances by Colin Stone, Alissa Firvosa and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet.

The event will take place from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 September 2006 at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Tickets are available via the UK Shostakovich Society website.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.