William Somerset Maugham

Literature / Writers Datebook: January 25

 

 

Brief biography of the life and works of English writer William Somerset Maugham, known for his novels, plays and short stories. Famous for his novel Of Human Bondage.  

 

 

 

Early Years

William Somerset Maugham  (b. 25 January 1874 – d. 16 December 1965), was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. He was born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, then schooled in England and went to a German university. In London he became a medical student and qualified as a physician in 1897 but he never practised medicine, instead, he became a full-time writer. 

His first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), a study of life in the slums, attracted attention, but it was as a playwright that he first achieved national celebrity. By 1908 he had four plays running at once in the West End of London. He wrote his 32nd and last play in 1933, after which he abandoned the theatre and concentrated on novels and short stories. 

 

Writings and Writing Style

Maugham's novels after Liza of Lambeth include Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and Sixpence (1919), The Painted Veil (1925), Cakes and Ale (1930) and The Razor's Edge (1944). His short stories were published in collections such as The Casuarina Tree (1926) and The Mixture as Before (1940); many of them have been adapted for radio, cinema and television. His great popularity and prodigious sales provoked adverse reactions from highbrow critics, many of whom sought to belittle him as merely competent. More recent assessments generally rank Of Human Bondage – a book with a large autobiographical element – as a masterpiece, and his short stories are widely held in high critical regard. Maugham indicates in his foreword that he derived the title from a passage in Baruch Spinoza's Ethics:  "The impotence of man to govern or restrain the emotions I call bondage, for a man who is under their control is not his own master ... so that he is often forced to follow the worse, although he see the better before him." Maugham's plain prose style became known for its lucidity, but his reliance on clichés attracted adverse critical comment. Maugham was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s.

 

First World War Years  

Maugham worked for the British Secret Service during the First World War. He later drew on his experiences for stories published in the 1920s. Although primarily homosexual, he attempted to conform to some extent with the norms of his day. After a three-year affair with Syrie Wellcome which produced their daughter, Liza, they married in 1917. The marriage lasted for twelve years, but before, during and after it, Maugham's principal partner was a younger man, Gerald Haxton. Together they made extended visits to Asia, the South Seas and other destinations. Maugham gathered material for his fiction wherever they went. They lived together in the French Riviera, where Maugham entertained lavishly. After Haxton's death in 1944, Alan Searle became Maugham's secretary-companion for the rest of the author's life. 

Maugham gave up writing novels shortly after the Second World War. He died at the age of 91.

Legacy

Although most of Maugham's early successes were as a playwright, it is for his novels and short stories that he has been best known. He was a prolific writer: between 1902 and 1933 he had 32 plays staged, and between 1897 and 1962 he published 19 novels, nine volumes of short stories, and non-fiction books covering travel, reminiscences, essays and extracts from his notebooks. William Somerset Maugham's works sold prodigiously throughout the English-speaking world.

Works by William Somerset Maugham

Liza of Lambeth  1897

Of Human Bondage  1915

Ours Betters  1917

The Moon and Sixpence  1919

The Circle  1921

The Trembling of a Leaf (including 'Rain')  1921

The Painted Veil  1925

The Constant Wife  1926

Cakes and Ale  1930

The Razor's Edge  1944

  

Essay Collection:

Points of View  1958

 

Image Credit:

W. Somerset Maugham. Wikipedia Commons. Public Domain. (Maugham by Carl Van Vechten, 1934)

 

Resources:

Great British Writers, Colour Library Books (1993)

Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring (1994)

Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography. 3^rd Ed, ed. by Jennifer Uglow (1999) 

W. Somerset Maugham. en.wikipedia.org. 

 

(c) January 25, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Johann Strauss II

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook:  25 October

 

A brief biography of  Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer and conductor, known as "The Waltz King", his waltzes rich in melody and charm.

Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), is also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (German: Sohn). He was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. 

His most famous of all waltzes, 'TheBlue Danube' was originally entitled 'On the Beautiful Blue Danube', and first performed with verses. Whatever this master of light music set his hand to, the same graceful and elegant Viennese mood of melody shine through. Strauss's other key works include: waltzes 'Roses from the South' and 'Emperor', operetta 'Die Fledermaus' and 'A night in Venice', among others

In his lifetime, he was known as "The Waltz King", and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century. Some of Johann Strauss's most famous works include "The Blue Danube", "Kaiser-Walzer" (Emperor Waltz), "Tales from the Vienna Woods", "Frühlingsstimmen", and the "Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka". Among his operettas, Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron are the best known. 

Strauss was the son of Johann Strauss I and his first wife Maria Anna Streim. Two younger brothers, Josef and Eduard Strauss, also became composers of light music, although they were never as well known as their brother.

Below, enjoy Johann Strauss II's "The Blue Danube Waltz Op 314".  YouTube, uploaded by Lifting Dreams. Accessed October 25, 2022.  With paintings slideshow.  'The Blue Danube' is the common English title of 'An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314' (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. (Johann Strauss II has no relation to composer Richard Strauss, famous for symphonic tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra.)

William Blake

 Poet's Datebook: William Blake

 

Brief Biography of William Blake. English poet, artist and printmaker of the Romantic Movement.   

 

William Blake was a poet, painter, engraver, mystic and visionary. He is best-known for Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794), and recognized as one of the most original and important English poets. He used his famous process of illuminated printing to illustrate his poems. 

 

Early Life of William Blake

Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in London, England, the son of a simple tradesman. Aged four, he told his parents that he saw God put his head in the window. He never attended school but despite this he acquired a wide knowledge of languages, the Bible and English poetry. In his early teens he was apprenticed to an engraver, from whom he learned the skills that were to earn him his living.

 

Spiritual, Mystic and Visionary

Blake was an intensely spiritual man. Many people thought he was insane, having claimed to see objects ordinarily unseen or inanimate objects move. He had visions of angels and ancient figures from the Bible. He nurtured the belief that imagination should be encouraged as an important human experience. 

In his writing, as well as in his engravings, Blake broke all the conventions of his time as he searched for imaginative originality. This is not surprising as he lived in the Age of Enlightenment, born a year after the child prodigy Wolfgang A. Mozart.

 

Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience

His most famous collections of poems, Songs of Innocence, published when he was 32, and Songs of Experience, published five years later, are simple and honest expressions of spiritual and emotional feelings, yet tenderly beautiful. They include some of his best-loved poems, such as 'The Tyger' and 'The Rose.'

 

Later Years

Blake concentrated on a series of poetical works known as the Prophetic Books later in his life. He sketched out the whole history and future of humanity, using an invented mythology inspired by the Holy Bible. As with his earlier books, they were not popular and earned him virtually no money that time. Only his work as an illustrator was respected in his day.

 

Final Years

After 1818, Blake did not write anything but created some of his greatest illustrations for editions of Dante's Divine Comedy and the biblical Book of Job. He died at the age of 69, on August 12, 1827. 

 

A lovely, haunting well-known quote by William Blake:

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

 

William Blake Work

Poetical Sketches, 1783

An Island in the Moon, 1784

Songs of Innocence, 1789

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, c. 1790-1793

Songs of Experience, 1794

The Book of Urizen 1794

The Four Zoas, 1797

Milton, c. 1804-1808

Jerusalem, c.1804-1820

 

Resources:

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English by Ian Ousby (1993)

Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Edinburgh. Chambers Harrap, 2002

Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring. New York: Larousse, 1994

 

(Note: I originally wrote & published this piece for Suite101.com, December 7, 2008. / Tel) 

 

(c) 2010. Updated November 28, 2021. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.  

Scott Joplin, King of Ragtime

Classical Composer Datebook: November 24

 

 

Joplin paved the way for early jazz using syncopated, off-beat rhythm

Brief biography of Scott Joplin, known as 'King of Ragtime' in the later 19th-Century. Famous for 'The Entertainer' piano music - used in the blockbuster movie 'The Sting.'      


Scott Joplin, American black composer and pianist, nicknamed 'King of Ragtime,' made his name after the publication of his "Maple Leaf Rag, for piano", which sold over a million copies. He was among the first black composers to have his works published. His music “Piano Rags” particularly The Entertainer, with film arrangement of Marvin Hamlisch, has been made popular as the main theme to the 1973 blockbuster film “Sting” starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. 

 Joplin's Early Life

Joplin, was born in Texas on November 24, 1868. He was the son of a former slave, however, both parents were musically talented, and from them he got his first piano lessons. At 15, he left home to pay his way playing in bars and brothels.  In 1893, he was becoming known, enough to play at the Chicago World’s Fair. He set up his first band. Two years later, he studied music at George Smith College for Negroes in Missouri. 

Listening Pleasure

Scott Joplin: Complete Works (Rags, Marches, Waltzes& Songs). YouTube, uploaded by Majestic George. Accessed January 16, 2024.

Dario Ronchi plays the Maple Leaf Rag to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Scott Joplin's death. YouTube, accessed January 16, 2024.

Joplin's Career

In 1899, Scott Joplin's bestseller "Maple Leaf Rag" was published. He published many rags, including the acclaimed The Entertainer and the The Ragtime Dance and later produced more extended compositions. Some of those he published were collaborative.  "The Entertainer" ragtime piece became extremely famous in 1973, for its arrangement by composer Marvin Hamlisch in the blockbuster film "The Sting" starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The story is about two con men who avenge the death of their friend on a gangster.  The film won an Academy award-winning score in music.  

In 1903 he formed the Scott Joplin Ragtime Opera company, initially to stage his opera A Guest of Honor. He settled in New York City in 1907, where he also started work on his opera Treemonisha. This was not successful in his lifetime. 

Joplin's Death and Revival of Treemonisha

Joplin died severely depressed in 1972, aged 50, when another jazz great Duke Ellington was 18 years old. The same year after Joplin's death, Treemonisha was revived.
 

Joplin's Awards 

• Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970

• Pulitzer Prize award for music in 1976, Posthumous.

Joplin's Legacy

Scott Joplin goes down in musical history as a jazz composer with his reputation resting on classic rags, paving the way for early jazz.

List of Scott Joplin's Major Work
 

• Maple Leaf Rag, for piano  1899

• The Entertainer and Elite Syncopations, for piano  1902

• A guest of Honor, opera  1903

• The Ragtime Dance, for piano  1906

• Pine Apple Rag, for piano  1908

• Wall Street Rag, for piano 1909

• Treemonisha, opera  1916

 

Photo Credit:

Scott Joplin. Public Domain

Resources:  

• IMP BV (1996)

• The Grove Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, London: Macmillan Publishers (1994)

 

(Note: This piece was originally written and published for Suite101.com, 19 October 2007. I've amended it for Inspired Pen Web. / Tel.  24 November 2021.)  

 

(c) October 2010. Updated January 16, 2024. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved

William S. Gilbert

 Musicals / Librettist Datebook: November 18

 

English Librettist and Playwright, Best Known as Sullivan's Opera/Operetta  Partner

 

Brief  biography of the life and times of William S. Gilbert, of 'Gilbert and Sullivan' comic opera/operetta partnership. 

 

Sir William Gilbert, librettist, playwright, poet and illustrator, collaborated with Sir Arthur Sullivan on an immensely successful comic operas. His lyrics are often exuberant and full of humour with brilliant rhyme and rhythm. Some of their famous works include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado.

 

Early Life of Gilbert

William Schwenck Gilbert was born on November 18, 1836, in Strand, London, a son of a retired naval surgeon who later became a novelist and a short story writer. He had an ordinary upbringing apart from an unusual episode when he was kidnapped in Italy, at the age of two, by a gang who demanded a random for his release.

He studied at King's College London. He took training as an artillery officer and was taught military science with hopes of participating in the Crimean War. He did not graduate until it was over, at which point he still joined the militia and stayed being a member for twenty years.      

Career in Law

After his military training, Gilbert worked in a government bureau. Thanks to his aunt who bequeathed an inheritance, Gilbert pursued an interest and became a barrister.  He did work as a barrister at the age of 28, but this was short-lived as he failed to attract significant briefs. Before leaving his law practice, he married an army officer's daughter. 

Below,  Favourite Gilbert & Sullivan Moments. YouTube, uploaded by Gilbert & Sullivan Festival. Accessed November 18, 2021. 

Martha Argerich

Classical Music / Concert Pianist

 

     Martha Argerich. (Photo: Wiki CC)

 

Martha Argerich (born June 5, 1941), is an Argentine-Swiss classical concert pianist. She is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of all time. Argerich is a polyglot and has lived in Belgium, Switzerland (where she has citizenship) and France. A precocious child, Argerich began nursery aged two years and eight months, where she was the youngest child. She started learning the piano at the age of three. At the age of five, she moved to teacher Vincenzo Scaramuzza, who stressed to her the importance of lyricism and feeling. Argerich gave her debut concert in 1949 at the remarkable age of eight, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor and Beethoven's First Piano Concerto in C major.

 

The family moved to Europe in 1955, where Argerich studied with Friedrich Gulda in Austria, whom Argerich describes as one of her major influences. She later studied with other prominent piano teachers at the time. In 1957, at sixteen, she won both the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition within three weeks of each other. Following this success, Argerich had a personal and artistic crisis; she did not play the piano for three years and considered giving it up to train as a secretary or doctor. She credited Anny Askenase (the wife of Stefan Askenase) with encouraging her to return to the piano. Following her return, Argerich won the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition in 1965. 

 

Featured videos: 

 

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1. / Martha Argerich, piano - Charles Dutoit, conductor. Orchestre de la Suisse Romande 1975. YouTube, uploaded by EuroArtsChannel. Accessed June 5, 2021.

 

 

 

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30. Martha Argerich HQ Complete. Riccardo Chailly conducting the Berlin Orchestra.  Youtube, uploaded by mmoynan. Accessed June 5, 2021. 

Argerich has been married three times. Her first marriage, to composer-conductor Robert Chen and with whom she had a daughter, lawyer and violist Lyda Chen-Argerich, ended in 1964. From 1969 to 1973, Argerich was married to Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit, with whom she had a daughter, Annie Dutoit. Argerich continues to record and perform with Dutoit. In the 1970s, she was also briefly married to pianist Stephen Kovacevich, with whom she has a daughter, Stéphanie. Although they made few recordings together during their marriage, Argerich and Kovacevich still frequently perform together.

Argerich gained international prominence when she won the seventh International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1965, at age 24. In that same year, she debuted in the United States in Lincoln Center's Great Performers Series. In 1960, she had made her first commercial recording; it received critical acclaim upon its release in 1961. She has since recorded works by composers. It is with Schumann's works that she describes feeling a particular connection to.

Argerich has remarked in interviews of feeling "lonely" on stage during solo performances. Since the 1980s, she has staged few solo performances, concentrating instead on concertos and, in particular, chamber music, collaborating with instrumentalists in sonatas. 

In 1990, Argerich was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. After treatment, the cancer went into remission, and a recurrence in 1995, eventually metastasizing to her lungs and lymph nodes. Following an experimental treatment at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica pioneered by oncologist Donald Morton, Argerich's cancer went into remission again. In gratitude, Argerich performed a Carnegie Hall recital benefiting the institute. As of 2020, Argerich remained cancer-free. 

Through her annual festival and her appearances as a member of the jury at international competitions, Argerich has also promoted younger pianists. She performs annually at the Lugano Festival. She has also created and been a General Director of the Argerich Music Festival and Encounter in Beppu, Japan, since 1996. 

In 2002, director Georges Gachot [de] released Martha Argerich, Evening Conversation, a documentary film. Stéphanie Argerich Blagojevic directed a documentary film about her mother, Bloody Daughter, based on film shot since her childhood.

Despite her aversion to the press and publicity that has resulted in her remaining out of the limelight for most of her career, she is widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists in history. Her performance of Liszt's First Piano Concerto conducted by Daniel Barenboim at The Proms 2016 prompted this review in The Guardian: 

 

"It was an unforgettable performance. Argerich celebrated her 75th birthday in June this year, but that news doesn’t seem to have reached her fingers. Her playing is still as dazzling, as frighteningly precise, as it has always been; her ability to spin gossamer threads of melody as matchless as ever. This was unmistakably and unashamedly Liszt in the grand manner, a bit old-fashioned and sometimes even a bit vulgar at times, but in this of all concertos, with Barenboim and the orchestra following each twist and turn, every little quickening and moment of expressive reflection, it seemed entirely appropriate". 

 

Argerich returned to the Proms at the age of 78 in 2019 to perform Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto under the baton of Barenboim, a performance described as "mesmerizing".

 

Awards:

 

Argerich is multi-awarded worldwide with highest honours in the area of her expertise. 

 

Martha Argerich at conferment of Kennedy Centre Honors by President Barack Obama (2016). Youtube, uploaded by The Uptake by Bridgemakers. June 5, 2026.

 

 

Recommended Links: 

 

A Birthday Salute to Martha Argerich. Celebrating Passion & Artistry.  Interlude. Written by George Predota. June 5, 2025. Accessed June 5, 2026. 

 

Madame X: Dinner with the dark lady of the piano.  By Alex Ross, November 4, 2002. Accessed June 5, 2018.

 

Martha Argerich: 80 Year Old SUPER VIRTUOSO!! How Is This Even Possible?  Youtube, uploaded by Rick Beato. Accessed June 5, 2022.

Martha Argerich: The Undisputed Queen of the Keyboard. By Bill King, January 24, 2025. Substack.com. Accessed June 5, 2025. 

 

Moments we love about Martha Argerich /Musician Best Moments /Stories of Pianist /OnePeep Music.  Youtube, uploaded by OnePeepMusic. Accessed June 5, 2021. 

 

“We humans need music” – Martha Argerich at 80 – Ever Totally Irresistible. Piano Street Magazine. June 23rd, 2021 in Piano News by patrick. Accessed January 20, 2023.

 

Image Credit:

 
Martha Argerich. creativecommons.org. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0). Accessed June 5, 2018. 

 

Resources:

 

Martha Argerich. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed June 5, 2018.  

 

Martha Argerich: 80th Birthday Celebration. UDiscover Music. Accessed June 5, 2021.

Martha Argerich: Argentine Pianist. Britannica. Accessed June 5, 2021.

 

Martha Argerich's intimate portrait: Bloody Daughter - Film by Stéphanie Argerich

 

"Martha Argerich is a legend of the music world but she doesn't act like one", by Anne Midgette, Dec. 2, 2016. The Washington Post. Accesed June 5, 2018. 

 

(c) June 2018. Updated June 5, 2026. Tel Asiado. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Honoré de Balzac

Literature / Writers Datebook: May 20

 

Biography and works of French writer Honore de Balzac, novelist, playwright and short story writer, considered one of the greatest novelists of France.

 

Balzac was a great French novelist and playwright. Some people say he was the greatest novelist of all time. His works have had a huge influence on the development of the modern novel, and along with his colorful life that has become part of literary legend.

 

Early Life of Balzac

Honoré de Balzac was born on May 20, 1799 in the French city of Tours. His prosperous, middle-class family moved to Paris when he was 15, and he was forced by his father to study law, but eventually after he completed it in 1819, he promptly began to write fiction and persuaded his family to support him so that he could be a writer.

From the age of 22, Balzac wrote tirelessly from the age of twenty-two. He worked very long hours regularly producing stories, magazine articles and plays. But his first plays and novels are not very good and earned him no money.

The Novelist

When he was thirty years old, he produced his first novel, The Chouans, which tells about the peasants during the French Revolution. Wanting to get more money to support his writing, he undertook various business ventures, most of them incurred him more debts. But he persisted and for the rest of his life he was pursued by creditors. This was also primarily because he insisted on living beyond his means. His appetite for food, wine and frolic was legendary.

The Human Comedy 

In his mid-30s, Balzac began organizing his novels and plays in a more systematized form under the collective title La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy), which he wrote between 1842 and 1848. It's considered his greatest work. The word 'comedy' also meant 'story' in Balzac's time. This work is Balzac's attempt to create a complete picture of the French society in terms of its human behavior and specific conditions, including military and political life.  

Literary Contribution

When he died in August 17, 1850, at the age of fifty-one, Balzac completed nearly 100 books in the series. Many of them were individual masterpieces. There were over 2000 characters from all sections of society, some of whom appear at different stages of their lives.

 

Books by Honoré de Balzac

The Chouans, 1829

The Wild Ass's Skin, 1831

The Thirty-Year Old Woman, 1831-34

The Girl with the Golden Eyes (La Fille aux yeux d'or), 1834-1835

Droll Stories, 1832-1837

Eugénie Grandet, 1833

Father Goriot (Pere Goriot), 1835

Lost Ilusions (Illusions perdues), 1837-1843

Cousin Bette, 1846

 

Photo Credit:

Honoré de Balzac. Public Domain

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. Larousse (1994)

McGovern, Una, Ed. Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern. Chambers (2002)

Ousby, Ian. Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge. (1993)

 

 

(c) May 2010. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Gustav Mahler

Classical Music / Composers Datebook:  July 7

Late Romantic Czech-Born Austrian Composer

"A symphony must be like the world, it must embrace everything." ~ Gustav Mahler, a remark to Sibelius, Helsinki, 1907.


A brief profile of Gustav Mahler 

Mahler is famous for symphonies, in particular, "The Symphony of a Thousand" and lieder (songs).

Gustav Mahler  (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911), was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation.  A Jew, he was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic. His family later moved to nearby Iglau (now Jihlava), where Mahler grew up.

He composed some large-scale symphonies, for instance, The Song of the Earth, and many with voices,including Symphony No. 2 Resurrection, Symphony No. 6 in A minor, sometimes referred to as "Tragic" or Tragische, Symphony No. 8 The Symphony of a Thousand, and Symphony No. 10, left unfinished at his death. Mahler also composed orchestral lieder songs. His Symphony No. 5 was composed in 1901 and 1902, mostly during the summer months at his holiday cottage at Maiernigg. 

Dmitry Shostakovich

Classical Music / Composers Datebook: September 25 

 

Brief biography of Russian composer and pianist Dmitri Shostakovich, his life and works. One of the 20^thcentury's greatest symphonists. Famous for Symphony No. 5, considered his finest composition.

Early Years

Dmitry, Dmitri (traditional English) or Dimitri (Dmitriyevich) Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg on September 25, 1906. His parents were both intellectuals and talented musicians. He initially studied with his mother, a professional pianist. He trained at St. Petersburg Conservatory when he was 10 years old and became an outstanding pianist. Three years later, he studied at the Petrograd Conservatory with Alexander Glazunov. At age 19, his Symphony no.1 was his graduation piece, which brought him early international attention. His creative development was determined more by events at home.

Family

Shostakovich married a scientist, Nina Varzara, and they had two children: Maxim became a conductor and pianist, and Galya (Galina), a biologist. He wrote many pedagogical works for his children who were also his piano students. 

Below: Schostakowitsch: 7. Sinfonie (»Leningrader«) ∙ hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Marin Alsop, Conductor. Youutube, uploaded by Frankfurt Radio Symphony. Accessed September 25, 2018.