Sviridov

A pupil of Shostakovich who wrote piano trios and sonatas early on and then, from about forty, almost nothing but vocal music — choral works and song cycles on Yesenin, Blok and Pushkin.

He was one of the few figures of the Soviet period who was officially accepted without producing occasional pieces to order. His language is built on Russian Orthodox chant and folk song, and the textures are often extremely spare: one melody, a few chords, a great deal of empty space. The Waltz from his suite for the film of Pushkin's The Snowstorm is his most widely known piece, and most Russians can hum it.