Galina Ustvolskaya

Galina Ustvolskaya (born 17th June 1919) was born in St Petersburg. She was a pupil of Dmitri Shostakovich from 1939 to 1947 but shows only a few of his stylistic influences. As a modernist she had very few public performances. Until the fall of the USSR, only the violin sonata of 1952 was played with any frequency. On an exchange visit, Roy Harris of the American delegation found it "kind of ugly".

Given the secular priorities of life in the Soviet Union, it is surprising that 4 of her symphonies, but not the first (1955) , have Christian subtitles. Symphony no 2 - "True and Eternal Bliss" (1979) Symphony no 3 - "Jesus Messiah, Save Us" (1983) Symphony no 4 - "Prayer"(1985/7) (6 minutes long) Symphony no 5 - "Amen" (1989/90) She is also the author of "Compositions" (numbers 1 to 3). She could be classed as a new Russian mystic, along with Sofia Gubaidulina. She is a recluse.