Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906–1975) was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century.

Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union under the patronage of Leon Trotsky's chief of staff Mikhail Tukhachevsky, but later had a complex and difficult relationship with the Stalinist bureaucracy. His music was officially denounced twice, in 1936 and 1948, and was periodically banned. Despite this, he also received accolades and state awards and served in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. Despite the official controversy, his works were popular and well received.

Dmitri Shostakovich in The War That Came Early
In the aftermath of the "big switch" of 1940, when Britain and France aligned with their former enemy Germany against the Soviet Union, Peggy Druce realized she couldn't here the music of Dmitri Shostakovich without thinking "Oh, yeah. He's a Red". She wondered if his music would outlast his politics.