This reference work is certainly a valuable addition to the study of Russia and its music. . . . The dictionary is, of course, a must for academic and large public libraries or any library where research is done. "Reference Quarterly"

This important new biographical dictionary is the most comprehensive single-volume work on Russian and Soviet composers published outside of the Soviet Union to date. Incorporating contributions by a distinguished group of performers, musicologists, and other scholars, including many specialists in Russian music, it provides detailed, up-to-date information on over 2,000 composers, the majority of whom are not represented in other English-language references.

Entries vary from brief profiles of lesser-known figures to lengthy articles on major Russian and Soviet composers. Each of the longer essays summarizes current scholarship on the composer, offers new insights, and complements or corrects coverage available in standard music references. Commentary on musical style is presented in most entries, and musical influences are clarified through careful documentation of teacher-student relationships. The biographical section is followed by a selective list of compositions arranged according to media and genre. The accompanying bibliography lists works consulted as well as sources of additional information on the individual composer, and an international discography documents the breadth of the repertory committed to phonodisc, tape, and compact disc. Thorough cross-referencing facilitates the location of materials. Reflecting meticulous research and including first-hand information supplied by living Soviet composers, this work makes a significant contribution to music scholarship. This book is recommended for library reference shelves and courses in Russian music.

Establishes beyond any doubt the enormous courage of one of the giants of the age Dmitry Shostakovich's memoirs, Testimony, `related to and edited by Solomon Volkov', have been the subject of fierce debate since their publication in 1979. Was Testimony a forgery, made up by an impudent impostor, or was it the deathbed confession of a bent, but unbroken, man? Even now, years after the fall of the communist regime, a coterie of well-placed Western musicologists have regularly raised objections to Testimony, hoping with each attack to undermine the picture of Shostakovich presented in his memoirs that of a man of enormous moral stature, bitterly disillusioned with the Soviet system. Here, Allan Ho and Dmitry Feofanov systematically address all of the accusations levelled at Testimony and Solomon Volkov, Shostakovich's amanuensis, amassing an enormous amount of material about Shostakovich and his position in Soviet society and burying forever the pictureof Shostakovich as a willing participant in the communist charade. ALLAN B. HO is a musicologist, DMITRY FEOFANOV a lawyer and pianist.