Dmitry Kabalevsky was a Soviet composer and music teacher. He recorded concerti, symphonies, chamber music, and dramatic pieces. He helped establish the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and continued to be one of its principal figures during his lifetime. In addition to his deep sense of civic responsibility reflected in his educational work, his conventional position as a composer strengthened the Soviet regime and gained him a long list of awards, including the Lenin Prize in 1972 and the Socialist Labour Hero in 1974. This testifies to his capacity to work creatively under the same situations that have been daunting to many of his contemporary composers.

Kabalevsky’s early works include the Piano Sonata No. 1 (1928) and the Piano Concerto No. 2 (1935), one of his finest compositions. He is perhaps best known for the overture to his opera Colas Breugnon (1936, after the novel by Romain Rolland; rev. 1953, 1969) and for his suite The Comedians (1940). His later compositions include the operetta The Sisters (1967) and the oratorio Letter to the 30th Century (1972).