The Composer

1906 – on 25th September Dmitri Schostakowitsch was born in Petersburg.

1915 – first piano lessons - studies with his mother and as of autumn he attends the music school.

1917 – The young composer witnesses the shooting of a worker. First compositions.

1919–1925 – attends the Petrograd Music Conservatory. Scherzo for orchestra op. 1 (1919).

1922 – after his father’s death the family has financial difficulties, Schostakowitsch is granted a scholarship.

1923 – the composer comes down with tuberculosis and has to undergo surgery. After his recovery he works as pianist in a silent movie theatre. Puts finishing touches to his 1st Symphony, which he completes in 1925 [...]