Tishchenko was a Russian composer and pupil of Shostakovich. Like his mentor, he impressed initially as a pianist before his abundant creativity as a composer took precedence. Born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) in 1939, Tishchenko found increasing freedom to experiment as a young composer during the cultural thaw under Khrushchev. Having studied at the Leningrad Music College with Galina Ustvolskaya, he went to the Leningrad Conservatoire, where in 1962 he embarked on postgraduate studies with Shostakovich before joining the staff himself. He remained there until his death in 2010. Drawing on influences not only of Shostakovich but of a younger generation of Soviet composers, who embraced the officially frowned-upon Western avant-garde in unconventional ways, Tishchenko’s music displays a fondness for unusual instrumental combinations and structures that subvert expectations. His large output contains much orchestral music (including eight numbered symphonies, a piano concerto and two concertos each for violin and cello), chamber music and exuberantly imaginative music for piano including 11 sonatas.