Composer Galina Ustvolskaya: The Shostakovich-Trained Iconoclast
B y Emily E. Hogstad t, Interlude Composer Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) has been called “the lady with the hammer” and is known for her connection to Dmitri Shostakovich . Galina Ustvolskaya and her dog But she was so much more than this. She was also fiercely independent, staggeringly talented, and completely unafraid. She not only refused to fit in a musical mold but threw out that mold entirely. Today, we’re taking a look at the life and times of Soviet composer Galina Ustvolskaya. Ustvolskaya’s Childhood Galina Ustvolskaya was born on 17 June 1919 in Petrograd to an unmusical family. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother was a teacher from impoverished nobility. Her childhood was lonely and full of financial pressures. “I would wear an old coat of my father’s (which was too long for me) and his muffler, which I gave to a young friend. I loved to give gifts, although we did not have anything to spare. Since childhood, I could not tolerate these kinds of pressures.” Her des...